Albany, NY – In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to reject a nationwide settlement to pay out victims of opioid addiction, Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, Chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, released the following statement:

“What should have been a transformational day in the fight against opioid addiction turned into a new roadblock for families whose lives have been forever changed by the drug Oxycontin. Although the Sackler Family, owners of Purdue Pharma, will not be protected from civil lawsuits brought against them by the victims of opioid addiction, billions of dollars that could have been used to combat this epidemic on a national level are now uncertain.

More than a quarter of a million Americans have lost their lives to opioid addiction over the past 25 years due to prescription opioid overdoses. Opioids have been particularly detrimental to the working class and communities of color for decades, with young Americans and people of color being the hardest-hit groups in the epidemic last year. While the future handling of this drug crisis remains uncertain, we must now find ways to support the communities ravaged by opioids through legislation and rehabilitation as we search for the best path forward.”