A New York bankruptcy judge ruled Tuesday that subpoenas for financial information involving the Sackler family, which owns the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, can move forward as the company continues to make its way through the bankruptcy process.

Purdue Pharma filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September amid a flood of lawsuits related to the opioid crisis; the company makes the widely used drug OxyContin, which is one of the main substances blamed for opioid addiction.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain of the Southern District of New York ordered that the financial records from more than two dozen members of the Sackler family and dozens more associated companies and trusts can be subpoenaed and requested for discovery.

Drain ordered that discovery material produced by financial institutions will be designated "outside professionals' eyes only," a category that gives access to outside counsel and associated staff and subcontractors. Information with that designation will not be publicly filed unless required by a court order, according to a protective order in the case.

In August, before Purdue Pharma declared bankruptcy, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed 33 subpoenas for financial information associated with the Sacklers.

The bankruptcy filing came just after one of those subpoenas uncovered nearly a billion dollars in wire transfers from Purdue Pharma to a private Sackler account, according to James' office.

James praised the ruling in a statement Wednesday, criticizing the Sacklers for receiving "the benefits of bankruptcy protection without filing for bankruptcy themselves."

"Just because Purdue Pharma has declared bankruptcy does not mean its owners deserve special protections under the law," she said. "We will immediately be issuing new subpoenas to multiple banks and financial institutions to determine where the Sacklers have stored their money over the years and how much has been stashed away. This case will not come to an end without these key pieces of information."

A spokesperson for Davis Polk & Wardwell, which is representing Purdue in the bankruptcy process, did not immediately respond to request for comment.