The maker of OxyContin and nine states’ attorneys have agreed to a new settlement of opioid lawsuits that will bring more money to victims in Maryland and D.C.
The settlement requires members of the Sackler family — who own Purdue Pharma, the drug’s manufacturer — to pay between $5.5 million and $6 million and apologize to victims.
The District is expected to receive more than $31 million. Maryland’s settlement portion is about $132 million. In an email, Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General told WTOP it couldn’t comment on its settlement because it’s “ongoing.”
This latest deal comes after months of negotiation between the states’ attorneys and the Sackler family. It is at least $1.2 billion more than a settlement agreed upon last year. That one was ultimately rejected by a judge.
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said the District will spend the money on victims and survivors of opioid use, especially those in Black and brown communities, which have been unduly impacted by the crisis.
“Settlement is by far the best way to help solve a serious and complex public health crisis,” the Sackler family wrote in settlement documents.
The family said it has not done anything wrong, but regrets that OxyContin “unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.”
A bankruptcy judge must still approve the new settlement.