Signs in the shape of headstones, with information on people who died from using OxyContin, line a security fence outside the Supreme Court Monday, Dec. 4, 2023.Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

When the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that members of the Sackler family can’t be shielded from future lawsuits related to the opioid crisis, the justices threw into question a massive, carefully crafted settlement involving the states, local governments, tribes, and individuals that had sued flagship opioid maker Purdue Pharma.

The the 5-4 ruling jeopardizes a bankruptcy plan for Purdue that would have released billions of dollars to combat the ongoing opioid crisis in exchange for the Sackler family’s immunity from all current and future opioid liability.

In 2019, facing thousands of lawsuits, Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy—but not before the Sacklers had moved roughly $11 billion from the company to their personal accounts. “Fearful that the litigation would eventually impact them directly, the Sacklers initiated a ‘milking program,'” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in the majority........

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