Washington Wins $113M By Challenging Purdue Settlement

OLYMPIA, WA — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson's refusal to accept Purdue's "flawed" bankruptcy plan has paid off, securing the state an additional $113 million from the pharma giant to battle the opioid epidemic.

Back in September, Purdue Pharma's owners, the Sackler family, announced a bankruptcy plan to pay $4.3 billion over nine years to a coalition of private plaintiffs, municipalities and states — including Washington — that had sued Purdue for fueling the opioid epidemic.

Purdue produces OxyContin, and the suits alleged that Purdue deceptively marketed the drug to falsely convince the public that it was effective for treating pain with a low risk of addiction.

If Washington had accepted the initial proposal, it would've received roughly $70 million from the Sacklers, paid out over the next decade. Considering that the Sackler family withdrew nearly $11 billion from Purdue at the height of the opioid crisis, the Attorney Genera's Office argued the proposed settlement was inadequate — so inadequate the Sackler family would still likely end up richer by the time they were finished paying it off.

By challenging the proposal, Washington and eight other states won an additional $1.175 billion from the Sacklers— $113 million of which will go to Washington, bringing the state's total winnings to $183 million.

Ferguson says, he's glad to see that his refusal to settle paid off.

“Rather than join the majority of states in settlement, Washington chose to lead the fight against the Sacklers and Purdue,” Ferguson said. “As a result, we won more than $100 million for Washington state to address the opioid epidemic, and more than $1 billion for states, cities and tribes across the country. We stood up to the Sacklers and forced them to relinquish more of their fortune to help undo the damage they caused.”

The proposed resolution still needs to be approved by the bankruptcy court. If, for whatever reason, the bankruptcy plan is not upheld, Ferguson has vowed to continue fighting to hold the Sacklers and Purdue accountable for the opioid epidemic.

Washington's lawsuit alleged Purdue's deceptive marketing helped drive an addiction epidemic that took the lives of 8,000 Washingtonians between 2006 and 2017. At the peak of the opioid epidemic in 2011, Washingtonians had been prescribed a combined 112 million daily doses of opioids — 16 opioids for every person in the state. In 2015, Asotin, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Columbia, Garfield, Pend Orielle, Lewis and Benton Counties had more opioid prescriptions than living people.