PA To Receive $1 Billion In Landmark Purdue Pharma Opioid Case

PENNSYLVANIA — Thousands of local governments across the country, including many in Pennsylvania, are in line to receive a share of $10 billion in a landmark opioid lawsuit against Purdue Pharma. The OxyContin manufacturer has been found responsible for contributing to the nation’s deadly opioid crisis.

The Purdue Pharma settlement, outlined in a mediators report filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, still must be approved by a judge. It came after members of the Sackler family, who own the company, increased their cash contribution to as much as $6 billion.

Importantly, the Sacklers agreed not only to apologize, something they haven’t unequivocally done in the past, but also to give victims and their families a forum in court to tell the family directly of the toll opioid use took on their and their loved ones’ lives.

All 67 counties in Pennsylvania, as well as 241 municipalities with a population of 10,000 or more, will receive the funds. "Pennsylvania (is) on track to receive the full $1.07 billion, with funding beginning to flow into our communities as early as April," the Attorney General's Office said in a statement.

A total of 70 percent of the funds will be distributed to the counties, 15 percent to the state, and 15 percent to other jurisdictions within the state that have put forward their own litigation against Purdue.

Previously, Johnson & Johnson and the “big three” distributors, McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, agreed to a landmark $26 billion settlement of 3,000 opioid crisis-related lawsuits nationwide. That money will be distributed to virtually every state and local government in the country. The first checks to states should start arriving in April.

The Purdue settlement announced Thursday also requires the Sackler family to relinquish control of the Stamford, Connecticut-based company so it can be turned into a new entity whose profits will be used to fight the opioid crisis, The Associated Press reported.

An earlier settlement with Purdue was thrown out by a federal judge after eight states and the District of Columbia appealed because it protected members of the Sackler family from individual lawsuits. They agreed to the deal after the Sacklers kicked in more money and agreed to make a public apology. In exchange, the family is protected from civil lawsuits.

In advance of the opioid lawsuits settlements, more than 40 states have passed laws or established criteria for use and distribution of the money, and others have bills in progress, according to the Opioid Settlement Tracker. Written and produced by Christine Minhee when she was a Soros Justice Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington Law School, it keeps track of opioid settlements and spending plans and how, or if, they’ll be used to bolster the public health response to drug use.

In general, the money is to be spent on evidence-based programs that save lives, make investments in prevention programs for youths, focus on racial equity, and pledge fairness and transparency for those who apply.

More than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5 percent from the same period a year prior, according to federal health data released last year. About 75,675 of those deaths, an increase over the 56,065 reported in the prior 12-month period, were attributed to opioid overdoses, including some 5,600 in Pennsylvania.

The deal doesn’t give the Sacklers immunity from criminal charges, the AP reported. In February, though, a group of seven U.S. senators, all Democrats, asked the Justice Department to consider criminal charges against family members.

Under the deal, victims and their families will share in a $750 million fund, something that hasn’t been part of other opioid settlements. Some 149,000 people have made claims in advance, The AP reported.

States can create additional victim compensation plans with their share of the settlement.

The Sacklers further agreed they won’t fight institutions when they take steps to remove the name from buildings the family helped fund, and to make more company documents public.

Most of the money in the settlement will flow to state and local governments, Native American tribes, and some hospitals.

The Sacklers’ cash contribution has gone up by at least $1.2 billion, and the attorneys general for all 50 states and the District of Columbia have now agreed. As recently as Feb. 18, a mediator said a small but unspecified number of states were still holding out.

The new plan still requires U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain’s approval. Appeals related to the previous version of the plan could continue moving through the court system.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.