More states back $7.4 billion Purdue Pharma opioid settlement

Maryland Attorney General preliminarily agrees to colony with Purdue Pharmaceuticals

Maryland Attorney General preliminarily agrees to colony with Purdue Pharmaceuticals 00:30

Fifty-five attorneys wide astir the state person present signed connected to a $7.4 cardinal colony with drugmaker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, implicit the opioid crisis, officials said.

Fifteen states initially agreed to the colony successful January. Since then, an further 34 states, 5 territories and Washington, D.C., joined the settlement, according to details released Monday by attorneys wide progressive successful the case. Oklahoma reached a separate $270 cardinal settlement successful 2019.

If the colony is approved successful court, it would extremity the Sacklers' power of Purdue, shaper of the addictive painkiller OxyContin, and artifact the household from selling opioids successful the U.S., officials said.

"For decades, the Sacklers enactment profits implicit people, and played a starring relation successful fueling the epidemic of opioid addictions and overdoses," New York Attorney General Letitia James said successful a statement. "While nary magnitude of wealth tin afloat heal the demolition they caused, these funds volition prevention lives and assistance our communities combat backmost against the opioid crisis."

The wealth volition beryllium paid retired implicit the people of 15 years, but officials said implicit fractional of the funds volition beryllium distributed during the archetypal fewer years. The Sacklers volition marque an archetypal outgo of $1.5 cardinal and Purdue volition wage astir $900 million. Then the Sacklers volition wage $500 cardinal aft a year, an further $500 cardinal aft 2 years and $400 cardinal much aft 3 years.

Not each states volition person the aforesaid amount. California expected to person arsenic overmuch arsenic $440 million. Colorado estimated it would cod astir $75 million. New Jersey estimated it would get up to $124.5 million. New York expected to person up to $250 million.

In a connection to CBS News, Purdue said the colony funds volition beryllium utilized to "compensate victims, abate the opioid crisis, and present opioid usage upset and overdose rescue medicines that volition prevention American lives."

"We admit the extraordinarily hard enactment of the authorities attorneys wide and our different creditors successful getting america to this point," the institution said.

The woody leaves Purdue successful bankruptcy with oversight by a show and prevents the institution from lobbying oregon selling opioids. The states progressive successful the colony volition name a committee of trustees to oversee the institution and find its future.

The previous Purdue bankruptcy settlement was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court past year. In a 5-4 decision, the justices said that Sackler household members could not beryllium shielded from liability for civilian claims related to the opioid epidemic. The archetypal colony would person required the Sacklers and Purdue to wage implicit $4.5 billion.

Katrina Kaufman contributed to this report.

• Purdue Pharma
• Opioid Epidemic
• Sackler Family