Attorneys general from all 55 U.S. states and territories, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, have agreed to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, to resolve lawsuits over the company's role in the opioid crisis.
The deal ends a yearslong legal battle with the pharmaceutical giant, which created and aggressively marketed the prescription painkiller OxyContin. Per the terms of the agreement, Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers will pay out the settlement sum over 15 years. Pennsylvania will receive roughly $200 million during that period, and New Jersey will collect an estimated $124.5 million. The final sums are subject to local municipalities signing onto the agreement.
The settlement is the largest in the U.S. involving parties accused of fueling the opioid crisis.
The bulk of the $7.4 billion will be distributed over the first three years of the payment timeline. The Sacklers will pay $1.5 billion and Purdue $900 million in the first installment. The parties will then pay $500 million after one year, another $500 million after two years and $400 million by the third year. The funds will support addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programs.
The settlement extends beyond financial penalties. The Sackler family also is barred from selling opioids in the country, and Purdue cannot market or lobby the drugs. U.S. states and other creditors will select a new board of trustees to determine the future of the company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019.
These bankruptcy proceedings initially led to a $4.3 billion settlement, which several states rejected. The next round of negotiations resulted in a $6 billion proposal. The Supreme Court struck down this deal over the protections it extended to the Sacklers from future litigation. Under the latest agreement, individuals can still sue the family in civil court.
"The Sacklers put greed and profit over human lives, and with this settlement, they will never be allowed to sell these drugs again in the United States," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.
Pennsylvania A.G. Dave Sunday signed onto the deal in January. It is subject to approval from a federal bankruptcy court, which will hold a hearing "in the coming days," the state attorney generals said.
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