End Substance Use Disorder Responds to Proposed Settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family

Today, states announced an updated $6 billion settlement agreement with Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, and the Sackler family for their roles in fueling the opioid epidemic. End Substance Use Disorder released the following statement:

”Today’s proposed settlement agreement sends the message that billionaires can profit off the lives of innocent children, parents, and grandparents with little repercussion,“ said Erin Schanning, president of End Substance Use Disorder. “While families grieve the loss of loved ones to overdoses and millions suffer from the opioid epidemic, the Sacklers are walking away with billions of dollars without even admitting to wrongdoing. We understand the need to fund our nation’s prevention and treatment systems, but this settlement will do nothing to discourage greedy corporate actors from placing profits before health and safety for future generations.”

The parties first announced a settlement proposal in July 2021 that would have totaled $4.5 billion. Eight states and the U.S. Department of Justice objected to the proposal on the grounds that it gave the Sackler family unprecedented legal immunity from all opioid-related lawsuits. While a U.S. bankruptcy court approved the settlement, a U.S. district court judge later blocked it due to that controversial grant of immunity.

The eight states that had previously rejected to the settlement proposal signed on to the newly released settlement, which now includes $6 billion in funding. The release from legal liability for the Sacklers is still in the agreement. Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family will not admit to any wrongdoing and the Sacklers will be released from civil liability for opioid-related lawsuits. The Sacklers will still be subject to criminal liability. Purdue Pharma has twice pleaded guilty to federal charges that it misled healthcare providers by marketing Oxycontin as safe and non-addictive.

Under the agreement, the states will drop their opposition to Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan, which is currently blocking the settlement of the claims brought by more than 3,000 plaintiffs. Purdue Pharma will release 20 million documents on top of the 13 million that the company has already produced.

The updated settlement agreement includes a recommendation that the Sacklers face families who have lost loved ones to overdoses and people who have experienced opioid use disorder in a hearing. The Sacklers may also not object to the removal of their name from medical centers, museums, and institutions of learning.

The U.S. bankruptcy court must still approve the settlement.

End Substance Use Disorder has joined with leading organizations to endorse a set of guiding principles for how states, cities, and counties should use funds received from the opioid litigation and has recognized the White House for issuing a model state law for the use of opioid litigation funds.