Purdue Opioid Settlement: What Ohioans Should Know

OHIO — Thousands of local governments across the country, including some in Ohio, may soon get a share of $10 billion to be distributed over time in a settlement reached Thursday with OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma over its role in 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, and 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.

“The Sackler families are pleased to have reached a settlement with additional states that will allow very substantial additional resources to reach people and communities in need,” the apology reads.

“The families have consistently affirmed that settlement is by far the best way to help solve a serious and complex public health crisis. While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.”

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.

Ohio will also receive $24.7 million from McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm that worked with Purdue. The money will be used to fund program combating the opioid epidemic in the Buckeye State.

"In September, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, with cooperation from hundreds of local governments, settled a lawsuit with distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen worth more than $808 million over 18 years," the Ohio Attorney General's office said on its website. The state has also joined a settlement with Johnson & Johnson.

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.

In Ohio, opioid deaths surpassed 5,400 during that period. Between 2007 and 2020, according to the Ohio Attorney General's office, nearly 39,000 Ohioans died from opioid overdoses.

The deal doesn’t give the Sacklers immunity from criminal charges, though there is no indication any are forthcoming, 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.

Also, the Sacklers 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 key differences between the latest Purdue settlement and one reached last year with the company:

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 reporting.