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Purdue Pharma, along with the Sackler family who owns the embattled drug company, have reportedly agreed to pay $4.5 billion to fifteen states in an opioid settlement reached Wednesday.
The states that agreed to the opioid epidemic settlement with Purdue include Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. These states, along with 10 others who have not yet reached an agreement, did not join an earlier settlement with 24 states prior to a bankruptcy announcement made by Purdue and the Sackler family in 2019.
The $4.5 billion settlement comes after hundreds of calls and meetings between the states and representatives for Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, say court documents.
Three states who signed on the latest agreement, Massachusetts, New York and Minnesota, announced Thursday that they will use their share of the $4.5 billion settlement to fund opioid treatment and abatement programs. They also pledged to expose Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family’s role in fueling the opioid epidemic.
“This deal gets one of the nation’s most harmful drug dealers out of the opioid business,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to Law360.
“They cannot get away with this so they can do it all over again,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reportedly said of the deal.
Purdue has also agreed to release tens of millions of new documents to shed further light on the opioid epidemic that has raged across the nation for decades. The Sackler family has also reportedly given up naming rights connected to their charitable contributions, as well as authority over their $175 million family charitable trust fund under the terms of the deal. The family will also pay an additional $50 million.
Purdue and the Sackler family were besieged by claims that their blockbuster opioid drug, OxyContin, fueled a nationwide drug epidemic.
In 2017, the State of Oklahoma went after Purdue and a number of other pharmacy companies alleging they “executed massive and unprecedented marketing campaigns” that misrepresented the risks of opioid-based drugs, netting a $270 million settlement in 2019.
Additionally, Purdue paid an undisclosed amount to resolve the claims in nearly 3,000 individual lawsuits alleging that their OxyContin and other opioid products were irresponsibly produced.
The $4.5 billion opioid epidemic settlement agreement comes as Purdue will submit its Chapter 11 plan to bankruptcy court in August.
“This resolution to the mediation is an important step toward providing substantial resources for people and communities in need. The Sackler family hopes these funds will help achieve that goal,” a representative for the Sackler family said in an email to Law360.
For its part, representatives for Purdue Pharma asserted that the settlement builds on previous agreements.
“We will continue to work to build even greater consensus for our plan of reorganization, which would transfer billions of dollars of value into trusts for the benefit of the American people and direct critically-needed medicines and resources to communities and individuals nationwide who have been affected by the opioid crisis,” said Perdue Pharma reportedly stated in a Law360 email.
Were you affected by the opioid epidemic? What do you think of the $4.5 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma? Tell us in the comment section below.
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203 thoughts onOxyContin-Maker Purdue Inks $4.5B Opioid Epidemic Settlement With 15 States
Oxycontin caused my husband to be dizzy, and he fell and hit his head, causing a brain bleed and surgery to remove the blood and pressure on his brain. He subsequently died. How can I join this lawsuit?
How do you speak with someone about this?
I am interested in talking with someone on how to be added to this case too. I went though year of a living hell because of these so called medicine.
This non-addicting opioid has and is still playing a roll in the life that was only dreamed of, my life fail down around me and before I could do anything it was too last I was completely over my head, from overdose to suicide attempts this drug has affected me in every aspect of my life if that’s what I still live, adding me would and could not recover a life well LOST, but anything would put it in my head that I HAD A PART in putting these legal drug dealers on blast and shutdown, thanks for listening!!!
Add me
That stuff is so toxic,I had been on many other pain meds from a motorcycle accident back in 1985 and by 2001 it was time to try something new because I was just beginning recovery when my Dr. suggested Oxys, telling me that they were less addictive and more effective! Well within two months I was melting them down and firing them up as fast as I got them,untill I hit bottom again and attempted suicide by cop which I even screwed that up and ended up in jail for the stupidest crime on the books but I only wanted to get the cops there to end my pain!
Received letter to vote, not sure whether to vote yes or no, legal jargon is confusing, its like the voting questions on the ballots, they word it all backwards trying to trick you, sounds like if you vote yes, you are releasing the debtors from any liability, so sounds to me you would vote no.
Please add me
Please add me
Yes these drugs are awful, I am a walking billboard right now. Please add me.
Add me please
My mom took oxy for many years from 5 mg to 20mg 4 x day n more due to health issue cancer urostomy colostomy n other medicine
I was on hydrocodone cough syrup from Purdue pharma for about 5-7 years for chronic cough. I always run out of 16 oz bottle before it was due again which was every 10 days. I could not wait to taste it again, I was hooked. I’d sleep a lot or my mood changed until I had it in my hands again.
oh poor you. I was on Oxy 80s for 5 years following a neck surgery – that escalated to an intraveinous heroin addiction. 3 overdoses and 16 years later I’m still fighting the addiction with methadone and counseling.
I here you. I was on 80mg 6 a day and 60 mg 3 a day for break through pain. 11 years of living hell. I weighed 120 pounds when I started taking them. Weighed 209 when I stopped. That is only weight. That shit destroyed my life and me. Spent a lot of time in the hospital because the pharmacies always ran out and I would get so sick and nobody would do nothing so many times. Almost burn my house down I don’t know how many times just relationships almost died because I got the lining of my stomach and my Soffa guess eaten away because of it I went through hell for 11 years because of that shit. Good luck in your future.