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The Sacklers and the opioid maker they founded, Purdue Pharma, have agreed to pay $7.4 billion to settle liability over their role in the opioid crisis, ending months of negotiations after an earlier deal collapsed. Ta.
This latest agreement, which still requires bankruptcy court approval, is $1.4 billion larger than a previous agreement signed between the parties. The new settlement was reached with more than a dozen U.S. states and other individuals who filed lawsuits against the company.
The drug company originally filed for bankruptcy in New York federal court in 2019 to manage hundreds of lawsuits over its role in the opioid crisis. As part of the agreement, the Sacklers will pay $6.5 billion over the next 15 years and Purdue will pay $900 million.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the officials who helped broker the agreement, said Thursday that “families across New York and across the country are suffering immeasurable pain and loss caused by the opioid crisis.” Ta. “No amount of money can fully repair the damage they have caused, but this significant influx will bring resources to communities in need so we can heal. It will be.”
The latest settlement in Purdue is one of the largest possible payouts from the U.S. opioid crisis, which has killed more than 600,000 people since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A previous $6 billion deal between the Sacklers and their creditors, largely negotiated during the pandemic, was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer. The agreement was based on protecting the family from future lawsuits, but the high court said it could not be allowed unless the family filed for bankruptcy themselves.
A statement from the New York State Attorney General’s Office said the new agreement does not automatically make the Sacklers liable for damages, but it does not require victims to take any further legal action in order to receive compensation. He says he has to agree.
The Supreme Court’s ruling has left lawyers and companies struggling to decide how to resolve so-called “mass torts,” with product liability claims by companies affecting thousands of victims and total damages in the hundreds. Billions of dollars, even billions of dollars in some cases.
The money contributed by the Sacklers and Purdue will be used over the next 15 years to fund opioid addiction treatment and recovery programs, according to the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
Crucially for many victims, as part of the agreement, the Sacklers will no longer be allowed to sell opioids in the United States, and their ownership of Purdue will be terminated.
The Sacklers did not respond to requests for comment.
