States agree to $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma in opioid litigation
All 50 states as well as Washington, D.C., and four U.S. territories have agreed to sign a $7.4 billion settlement with the company and once-prominent family behind OxyContin, officials announced Monday.
The settlement resolves pending litigation against Purdue Pharma, which, under the leadership of the Sackler families, invented, manufactured and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades, according to the lawsuits. States and cities across the country said it fueled waves of addiction and overdose deaths.
The attorneys general in 55 states and territories have signed on to the historic settlement, which they said will end the Sacklers' ownership of Purdue and bar them from making, selling or marketing opioids in the U.S.
MORE: Purdue Pharma, Sackler families boost contribution in opioid settlement to $7.4 billion
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia led the team that negotiated the settlement, which marks the largest of its kind involving the opioid crisis, officials said.
"As Pennsylvania families and communities suffered during an unprecedented addiction crisis, Purdue and the Sacklers reaped the mammoth profits from their products," Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a statement. "This monumental settlement achieves the top priority of getting as much money as quickly as possible to prevention, treatment, and recovery programs across the Commonwealth. My office will continue engagement with municipal leaders to ensure millions of dollars reach every corner of the state."
Purdue introduced OxyContin, a brand name of oxycodone, in the 1990s and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 after the company was sued thousands of times.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a prior settlement in June 2024 that would have awarded $6 billion to state and local governments.
The Sacklers and Purdue subsequently boosted their settlement contribution to $7.4 billion.
"Today's announcement of unanimous support among the states and territories is a critical milestone towards confirming a Plan of Reorganization that will provide billions of dollars to compensate victims, abate the opioid crisis, and deliver opioid use disorder and overdose rescue medicines that will save American lives," Purdue said in a statement on Monday. "We appreciate the extraordinarily hard work of the state attorneys general and our other creditors in getting us to this point, and we look forward to soliciting creditor votes on the Plan after the disclosure statement is approved."
The $7.4 billion will support opioid addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programs over the next 15 years.
A significant amount of the funds will be distributed in the first three years, with the Sacklers paying $1.5 billion and Purdue paying approximately $900 million in the first payment, followed by $500 million after one year, an additional $500 million after two years, and $400 million after three years.
MORE: Supreme Court blocks Purdue Pharma opioid settlement that shields Sackler family of liability
'There will never be enough justice, accountability or money to restore the families whose lives have been wrecked or to right the terrible consequences of the Sackler family's craven misconduct," Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement on Monday. "What we announce today is both momentous and insufficient, the culmination of years of tumultuous negotiations and legal battles all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court."
Now that the state sign-on period has ended, local governments across the country will be asked to join the settlement, contingent on bankruptcy court approval. A hearing on that matter is scheduled on Wednesday.
A board of trustees selected by participating states in consultation with other creditors will determine the future of Purdue, which will continue to be overseen by a monitor and will be prevented from lobbying or marketing opioids.
ABC News' Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
States agree to $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma in opioid litigation originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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an hour ago
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BOSTON — Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year they were officially allowed to enter the race, has died. She was 86. An obituary for the A.L. Jacobsen Funeral Home in Huntington Station, N.Y., said Kuscsik died June 8 of respiratory failure after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. 'Nina was more than a pioneer, determined women's running advocate and celebrated icon within the sport. To us, she was a friend who will always be remembered for her kindness, joyful laugh and smile,' the Boston Athletic Association said on Instagram. 'Nina held the distinct honor of winning the 1972 Boston Marathon and recognized the platform that came with that triumphant moment, inspiring thousands of women to reach their own goals and finish lines in the decades since. The BAA extends heartfelt condolences to Nina's family, friends and all in the running community who were touched by her grace.' According to the obituary, Kuscsik graduated from high school at 16, studied nursing for two years and received her license at 18 after petitioning to change a New York law that required nurses to be 21. She won state championships in speed skating, roller skating and cycling — all in the same year — before turning to running when her bicycle broke. She ran the Boston Marathon four times from 1968-71 — before women were officially welcomed, a period retroactively recognized as the Pioneer Era — and then won the first official women's race in 1972. She was also the first woman to enter the New York race in 1970 and was one of the 'Six Who Sat' — six women who refused to start the '72 New York City Marathon for 10 minutes to protest an Amateur Athletic Union rule that the women's race had to be separate from the men's. She won that year and the next year as well. She later served on AAU and USA Track and Field committees drafting rules for women's running. Kathrine Switzer, who entered the 1971 Boston Marathon using her initials and became the first woman to officially compete, called Kuscsik 'one of our greatest leaders.' 'Nina was not only a champion runner but was instrumental in the official acceptance of women in distance running because she did years of tough work of changing rules, regulations and submitting medical evidence to prove women's capability,' said Switzer, who started alongside Kuscsik and six other women who met the qualifying time for the the 1972 Boston race. 'Eight of us registered, eight of us showed up and all eight of us finished. It was a stunning moment — and a blistering hot day — but appropriately enough, Nina won.' In addition to the more than 80 marathons she ran over her lifetime, Kuscsik set the American record for the 50-mile run in 1977 and won the Empire State Building Run-Up three straight years from 1979-81. She was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999.
