The company and the prominent family behind the drug OxyContin agreed Thursday to increase their financial contribution to solving the massive opioid lawsuit.
The Sacklers and Purdue Pharma upped their contribution to $7.4 billion after the US Supreme Court. It voided a previous settlement in June 2024. If approved, the new plan would end the costliest corporate bankruptcy since the opioid crisis in the US.
Purdue, led by the Sackler families, invented, manufactured and aggressively marketed opioids for decades, according to the lawsuits. States and cities across the country said it spurred waves of addiction and overdose deaths.
The pharmaceutical company introduced OxyContin, a brand of oxycodone, in the 1990s and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 after the company was sued thousands of times.
Under the terms of the settlement, the Sacklers’ control of Purdue Pharma ends. That $7.4 billion will go directly to US communities — including states, counties, cities and territories — over the next 15 years to support opioid addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programs.
Nor will the Sacklers be protected from future lawsuits as they previously sought.
Bottles of OxyContin prescription pain pills made by Purdue Pharma LP sit on a counter April 25, 2017 in Provo, Utah.
George Frey/Reuters, FILE
“Families across New York and across the nation are experiencing tremendous pain and loss caused by the opioid crisis,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office helped negotiate the settlement.
“The Sackler family profited relentlessly at the expense of vulnerable patients and played a significant role in starting and fueling the opioid epidemic,” he continued. “While no amount of money will fully repair the damage, this tremendous revenue will bring resources to communities in need so we can heal.”
Purdue Pharma planned to emerge from bankruptcy last year on the terms that the Sacklers were completely released from all civil opioid claims, even if they did not declare bankruptcy themselves. In return, the Sacklers agreed to pay $6 billion.
The Supreme Court rejected the Sacklers’ attempt to use Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy to shield them from liability.
Under the new terms, a significant amount of the settlement funds will be distributed over the first three years, with the Sacklers paying $1.5 billion and Purdue paying nearly $900 million in the first payment, with $500 million to be added after a year, with an additional $500 million. after two years, and $400 million after three years.
A board of trustees elected by the participating states in consultation with other creditors will decide the future of the company. Purdue will continue to be overseen by a monitor and will be barred from lobbying or marketing opioids.
“This story is about a family of ruthless billionaires who thought they were above the law, only to be chased by states that never backed down,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said Thursday. “Today, we are forcing Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family to pay $7.4 billion for their role in fueling one of the most devastating public health crises in American history.”
Purdue Pharma said in a statement to ABC News: “We are very pleased to have reached a new settlement that will provide billions of dollars in compensation to victims, to alleviate the opioid crisis and provide life-saving treatment and overdose rescue drugs. we have worked with our creditors in mediation, and are now focused on finalizing the details of a new Plan of Reorganization, which we hope to present to the bankruptcy court.”
