Attorney General Dave Sunday announced on Friday that a $7.4 billion national opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family has become legally effective.
This landmark agreement resolves litigation over their role in fueling the opioid crisis. Pennsylvania is expected to receive more than $205 million from the settlement over the next 15 years, with funds beginning to arrive in late 2026.
The settlement aims to hold Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable for producing and aggressively marketing opioids in the United States, which contributed to the nation’s largest drug crisis. It will provide funding for communities across Pennsylvania and nationwide, as well as to individual victims and other groups who filed claims.
Attorney General Dave Sunday described the agreement as a significant step forward.
“This $7.4 billion settlement is a major step in holding Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable for fueling the opioid crisis,” Sunday said. “It delivers critical resources to communities and victims across Pennsylvania and the nation. While it cannot undo the harm caused by those responsible, it does hold them accountable and provide support for those impacted.”
The financial distribution plan outlines that most settlement funds will be disbursed within the first three years. The Sackler family is set to pay more than $1.5 billion today, followed by approximately $500 million in May 2027, another $500 million in May 2028 and $400 million in May 2029.
Additionally, Purdue is paying approximately $900 million today. With this agreement, Pennsylvania has now secured over $2 billion in total opioid settlement funds.
The path to this settlement involved nearly a decade of investigations and litigation. A coalition of attorneys general launched a multistate investigation into Purdue in 2016 and Pennsylvania subsequently sued the company in 2019.
After Purdue filed for bankruptcy in September 2019 due to massive litigation, attorneys general took a leading role in the bankruptcy proceedings. They negotiated a new settlement after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated provisions in a prior settlement in June 2024.
The agreement includes stringent measures against the Sackler family, permanently barring them from selling opioids in the U.S. Purdue’s manufacturing operations are also transferring to Knoa Pharma LLC, which will be overseen by a board of directors with no prior connection to Purdue.
The settlement prevents Knoa from marketing opioids and mandates an independent monitor to ensure the safe provision of these medicines, limiting the risk of diversion.
In a move toward greater transparency, Purdue and the Sacklers will make public more than 30 million documents related to their opioid business. These documents are expected to shed light on their past practices.
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