The Wrongologist

The Daily Escape:

Capitola, CA – December 2021 photo by Matt Hoffman Photography

Some good news this week from the NYT:

“A federal judge on Thursday evening unraveled a painstakingly negotiated settlement between Purdue Pharma and thousands of state, local and tribal governments that had sued the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin for the company’s role in the opioid epidemic, saying that the plan was flawed in one critical area.”

The judge, Colleen McMahon of the US District Court for the Southern District of NY, said that the settlement, which was part of a bankruptcy restructuring plan for Purdue that was approved in September by US bankruptcy judge, Robert Drain, shouldn’t go forward because it released the company’s owners, the billionaire Sackler family, from any personal liability in civil opioid-related cases:

“This Court concludes that the Bankruptcy Code does not authorize such non-consensual non-debtor releases: not in its express text…not in its silence…and not in any section or sections of the Bankruptcy Code that, read singly or together, purport to confer generalized or “residual” powers on a court sitting in bankruptcy. For that reason, the Confirmation Order (and the Advance Order that flows from it) must be vacated.”

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services:

“More than 760,000 people have died since 1999 from a drug overdose.”

Connecticut’s Attorney General, William Tong was against the Purdue/Sackler settlement from the start. He had this to say after the new decision:

“This is a seismic victory for justice and accountability that will re-open the deeply flawed Purdue bankruptcy and force the Sackler family to confront the pain and devastation they have caused….this fight was never about the money. It was about holding Purdue and the Sacklers accountable for the lives stolen and destroyed by their relentless greed. That is why Connecticut helped lead the charge against the plan, and why we will continue to push for true justice and accountability…”

Morally, the deal as originally approved was outrageous. OTOH, this is America! Generally, morality isn’t a necessary part of what we do. It’s very hard to be optimistic about wealthy Americans actually seeing justice in our court system, but overturning the decision gives us a sliver of hope that they’ll have to pay a real price. Clearly, the Sacklers and Perdue Pharma will appeal, and it’s anybody’s guess whether this ruling will hold up.

We know that many of the little people are serving long sentences for dealing Oxycontin, Purdue’s drug. We know that hundreds of thousands of men and women have died from using Oxycontin. But nobody is talking about criminal charges against the Sacklers.

In a just world, they’d be serving life sentences. But we certainly don’t live in a just world.

We don’t even live in a just country.

Enough of the world for this week, it’s time to focus on what’s really a cause for concern in America: Christmas gifts. More accurately, the lack of Christmas gifts. Some people get this chore done in November, while others procrastinate.

Here at the Mansion of Wrong, we’ve finally put up our seasonal decorations, although many fewer than in prior years. We have a smaller tree, and no outside lights. Wrongo isn’t clear why we’re not going all-out this year, maybe it’s the never-ending, ever-evolving virus. It’s difficult to say.

But before you fire up the laptop for another round of internet shopping, take a short break for our Saturday Soother.

Pour a hot steaming cup of Ethiopia Limu Burka Gudina – Natural ($17.25/12 oz.) from Trumbull, CT’s Shearwater Coffee Roasters, said to taste of pineapple, blackberry and lemon.

Now, grab a chair by a window and survey the great outdoors. Here in CT, you’re looking at snow on the ground. Put on your wireless headphones and listen to “”The Fellowship” by Howard Shore, from the soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Here it is played by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra:

This beautiful score should remind us that not all great classical music was written in the 1700s-1800s.