Purdue and Sackler family agree $7.4bn OxyContin settlement happymamay

Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family that controls it have agreed to pay up to $7.4bn (£6bn) to settle claims relating to the powerful painkiller OxyContin.

The deal represents an increase of more than $1 billion over the previous settlement Which the US Supreme Court rejected in 2024According to news agencies AP and Reuters.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Sacklers agreed to pay up to $6.5 billion and Purdue agreed to pay $900 million.

OxyContin, often a gateway to stronger drugs like heroin, has been blamed for fueling America’s deadly opioid crisis and has generated billions of dollars for the Sackler family.

The New York Attorney General’s Office said the agreement will fund support for opioid addiction treatment and prevention across the United States.

“We are very pleased to have reached a new agreement that will provide billions of dollars to compensate victims, alleviate the opioid crisis, and provide treatment and overdose relief medications that will save lives,” Purdue said in a statement.

The deal still needs court approval, and some details have not yet been ironed out, but the AP said it was among the largest settlements reached in a series of lawsuits filed by local and state governments, Native American tribal governments and others seeking to charge… Corporate responsibility. to the deadly epidemic.

Under President Donald Trump, the federal government is not expected to oppose the new deal, according to the Associated Press.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong told Reuters that the settlement would help bring closure to victims of the opioid crisis.

“It’s not just about the money,” Tong said. “There’s not enough money in the world to fix it.”

Under the previous plan rejected last year, the Sacklers would have been granted immunity from lawsuits in exchange for a $6 billion payment.

The AP said a current court order blocking lawsuits against Sackler family members is set to expire Friday, but a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has been asked to keep it in place throughout February pending final details.

One woman, who was in recovery for 17 years after becoming addicted to a painkiller following a back injury, praised the deal.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Cara Trainor said: “Everything in my life is shaped by a company that puts profits over human lives.”

Purdue became a household name in the United States as the manufacturer and promoter of OxyContin — a prescription painkiller that it promoted as safe, despite recognizing that it was highly addictive and widely abused.

Since 1999, just a few years after the drug became available, deaths from opioid overdose have risen to the tens of thousands annually.

Court filings allege that the Sacklers were aware of the legal risks long ago, and withdrew about $11 billion from the company in the decade before its bankruptcy. They stashed a lot of money offshore, while using some of it to pay company taxes, making it difficult to recover.