Purdue Pharma LP, owned by the Sackler Family, reached a settlement agreement to pay $6 billion in cash to resolve the litigation that accused the company of fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic.
According to a court filing revealed Thursday, the Sackler family agreed to pay at least $5.5 billion in cash, which the U.S. will put towards reversing the effects of the opioid crisis that led to almost 500,000 deaths and overdoses over 20 years.
As reported by Reuters, the final value of the deal could increase as the family sells off its assets.
“While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities,” the Sackler family said in a statement.
The settlement requires the family to give up control of Purdue Pharma, currently based in Stamford, Connecticut, so it can be turned into an entity that helps fight the crisis. The deal will not shield any individual family members from litigation.
A judge will still need to approve the settlement before the stipulations begin. This current settlement follows a previous one made last year that was appealed by eight states and the District of Columbia. The appellants were Connecticut, Washington, California, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.
The previous settlement, requiring the Sacklers to pay $4.5 billion, was rejected for a provision that would protect individual Sackler family members from litigation.
Those same eight states agreed to go through with the deal and protect the Sackler family from litigation if they would increase the payment amount and agree to individuals’ terms for the states. U.S. Judge Colleen McMahon in New York would wind up overturning the deal because of the protection that surrounded it.
In 2019, Purdue filed for bankruptcy while facing thousands of lawsuits accusing the company of negligence in the opioid crisis and would later plead guilty to misbranding and fraud charges related to its marketing of OxyContin from 2007 to 2020.
