Purdue Family and Sackler Agree on $7.4 Billion OxyContin Deal

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

The deal represents an increase of more than $1 billion over a previous deal. which was rejected in 2024 by the United States Supreme Courtaccording to the AP and Reuters news agencies.

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

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

“We are very pleased that a new agreement has been reached that will deliver billions of dollars to compensate victims, mitigate the opioid crisis, and provide life-saving overdose treatment and rescue medications,” Purdue said in a statement. release.

The settlement still needs court approval and some of the details have yet to be worked out, but the AP says it is one of the largest settlements reached in a series of lawsuits by local, state, Native American tribal and other governments seeking hold companies accountable. for the deadly epidemic.

According to AP, under President Donald Trump, the federal government is not expected to oppose the new agreement.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong told Reuters 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.”

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

Court documents allege that the Sackler family had long been aware of the legal risks and withdrew about $11 billion from the company in the decade before its bankruptcy. They stashed much of the money abroad and used some to pay corporate taxes, making recovery difficult.