New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Jan. 23 that Purdue Pharma and the family that owns the company have agreed to pay up to $7.4 billion in a settlement over OxyContin lawsuits.
“For decades, the Sackler family fueled waves of opioid addiction and overdose deaths across the country, causing our families immense devastation and loss,” James said on social media platform X.
The funds will be used for opioid treatment and prevention programs throughout the country, she said. New York will get up to $250 million. She said her office has also reached an agreement with opioid manufacturers and distributors who will give $3 billion to combat the crisis.
In the first three years, $1.5 billion of the settlement will be paid out to states, local governments, individuals, and other parties who have previously sued the family and the pharmaceutical company.
After that, $500 million will be paid after one year, another $500 million after two years, and $400 million after three years.
“Families throughout New York and across the nation are suffering from the immense pain and loss wrought by the opioid crisis,” James said. “The Sackler family relentlessly pursued profit at the expense of vulnerable patients, and played a critical role in starting and fueling the opioid epidemic. While no amount of money will ever fully repair the damage they caused, this massive influx of funds will bring resources to communities in need so that we can heal.”
The attorneys general for California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia have joined James in securing the settlement.
If approved by the court, the settlement will have the Sacklers paying up to $6.5 billion and Purdue $900 million.
The settlement will also bring an end to the Sacklers’ control of the company and place it into the hands of a board of trustees selected by the participating states.
Purdue manufactured pain medication such as hydrocodone, fentanyl, and OxyContin. OxyContin was heavily marketed and prescribed, leading to thousands of overdoses and deaths, James said.
In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the opioid manufacturer’s proposed bankruptcy settlement that was initially proposed in 2019.
The bankruptcy settlement would have shielded the Sackler family from civil lawsuits while earmarking $6 billion to settle future lawsuits.
In exchange, the family would have been removed from liability in future litigation.
The current settlement, James said, does not offer the Sackler family protection from future lawsuits but is instead “built on consensual releases in exchange for the payments the Sacklers will be making.”
Matthew Vadum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
