Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on May 5 that a $7.4 billion national settlement with Purdue Pharma Inc. and its owners, the Sackler family, has become effective. As a result, Texas will receive $286.5 million, a sum that pushes the state’s total recoveries from opioid-related litigation past the $3 billion milestone.
The settlement funds, which will be distributed over a 15-year period through 2039, will be used for addiction treatment programs. The agreement also permanently bars the Sackler family from selling opioids in the United States.
This recovery is a significant component of the state’s goal to address the synthetic opioid crisis. According to independent reporting from The Texas Tribune, these multi-billion dollar settlements are intended to provide stable, long-term funding for local governments to combat an epidemic that has claimed thousands of lives annually in recent years.
The settlement stems from a 2018 lawsuit filed by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), which preceded Purdue Pharma’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in September 2019. According to a press release, Paxton’s office played a primary role in the subsequent bankruptcy negotiations, representing a coalition of states seeking to hold the manufacturer of OxyContin accountable for allegedly downplaying the addiction risks of its products.
The majority of the $286.5 million will be distributed directly to participating Texas counties and cities to support community-based abatement programs. Previous settlements with pharmaceutical distributors and manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson and McKesson, laid the groundwork for this multi-billion dollar recovery total.
“While no amount of money can undo the devastation caused by the opioid crisis, these funds will be used to both hold Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable as well as help those affected to recover and rebuild,” Attorney General Paxton said.