Napoli Shkolnik Applauds U.S. Supreme Court Decision to Reject Liability Shield at Center of Purdue Pharma Settlement

Firm Will Pursue Litigation Against Sacklers

Napoli Shkolnik, one of the nation’s leading firms litigating against the national pharmaceutical companies that fueled the opioid crisis, praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today to reject the liability shield at the center of Purdue Pharma’s settlement. The liability shield would have protected members of the Sackler family from civil claims related to the opioid epidemic.

Napoli Shkolnik sued the Sacklers in 2018, as part of their ground-breaking Nassau County case against several pharmaceutical companies. Their case against the Sacklers could not go to trial because of the shield of bankruptcy. Now, their litigation against them can proceed.

In 2021, a jury found Teva Pharmaceuticals and five other companies responsible for causing a public nuisance in Nassau County by minimizing the addictiveness of opioids with misleading marketing. The Napoli Shkolnik trial team included Partners Hunter Shkolnik, Salvatore C. Badala, Joseph L. Ciaccio, and Shayna E. Sacks.

In 2022, Napoli Shkolnik and their partners reached an agreement with opioid manufacturers Teva and AbbVie to structure a combined $6 billion settlement paid directly to state and local governments of communities impacted by the opioid epidemic. The case was negotiated by Partner Hunter Shkolnik, along with fellow members of the National Prescription Opiate Litigation Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee Negotiating Team.

That year, Napoli Shkolnik also helped reach a $3.1 Billion multi-state settlement secured in a national prescription opiate litigation MDL.

Read the full press release here.