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The Sackler family and the opioid maker they founded, Purdue Pharma, have agreed to pay $7.4 billion to jointly settle liability over their role in the opioid crisis, after an earlier deal fell apart. Ended the month’s discussion.
This latest deal, which still needs bankruptcy court approval, is $1.4 billion more than the previous agreement between the parties. The new settlement was agreed to between more than a dozen US states and other individuals who filed lawsuits against the company.
The drugmaker initially filed for bankruptcy in a New York federal court in 2019 to handle hundreds of cases related to its role. The opioid crisis. As part of the deal, the Sackler family will pay $6.5 billion over the next 15 years, while Purdue $900 million to pay.
“Families across New York and across the country are suffering tremendous pain and loss because of the opioid crisis,” New York Attorney-General Leticia James, one of those who helped broker the deal, said Thursday. “While no amount of money will fully repair the damage they caused, this huge influx of funds will bring resources to communities in need so we can heal.”
The latest Purdue settlement is one of the largest potential payouts stemming from the U.S. opioid crisis, which has led to more than 600,000 deaths since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A previous $6 billion settlement between the Sackler family and creditors — largely negotiated during the pandemic — was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer. The agreement hinges on protecting family members from future lawsuits, which the high court said is not permissible unless family members themselves file for bankruptcy.
According to a statement from the New York Attorney-General’s Office, the new agreement is designed so that Sacklers are not automatically protected from liability, but victims must agree not to take further legal action to receive payouts.
The Supreme Court’s decision left lawyers and companies scrambling to decide how to resolve so-called “mass torts,” where corporate product liability claims range from tens of thousands of victims to tens of millions or even billions of dollars.
Funds pledged by the Sacklers and Purdue will be used to fund opioid addiction treatment and recovery programs over the next 15 years, the Texas attorney-general’s office said.
Critically for many of the victims, members of the Sackler family will no longer be allowed to sell opioids in the United States as part of the settlement, and Purdue’s ownership has ended.
The Sackler family did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
