The chief prosecutor of several states announced on Thursday that the family members of the Oskkangding manufacturer Purdue Pharmaceutical Company and the company itself agreed to pay up to $ 7.4 billion in a new reconciliation agreement to deal with this Litigation losses caused by the loss caused by strong prescription painkillers.
The agreement received the consent of Purdue Pharmaceutical Company, members of the company's Sacle family, and lawyers representing the state and local governments, as well as thousands of opioid crisis victims. protocol.
In the new agreement, the Sacle family agreed to pay up to $ 6.5 billion and abandon the ownership of the company, and the latter will pay nearly $ 900 million. The maximum capital contribution of family members is 500 million US dollars than previous transactions.
This is one of the largest reconciliation agreements reached by the Aboriginal Tribe Government and other institutions in the past few years. These litigation aims to investigate the company's responsibility for fatal epidemic. In addition to the transactions of the University of Purdue, other transactions worth about 50 billion US dollars are also announced, most of which need to be used to curb the crisis.
The transaction still needs the court approval, and some details have not yet been finalized. Even if each state agrees, a department of the Federal Ministry of Justice still opposes the previous reconciliation plan and complains the struggle to the US Supreme Court. But under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the federal government is expected to not oppose the new agreement.
Purdue University, headquartered in Stanford, Connecticut, said in a statement: "We are very happy to reach a new agreement that will provide billions of dollars to compensate the victims, alleviate the opioid crisis, and provide treatment and treatment and treatment and treatment Taking rescue drugs to save life. "
The representatives of the Sacle family members did not immediately respond to the comments request.
Kara Trainor, a Michigan woman, has recovered for 17 years. She said that 23 years ago, after receiving the prescription of OxyContin to treat back damage, she began to be addicted to opioids. She praised the transaction.
"Everything in my life is shaped by a company that places profits on life," she said.
One of the 15 prosecutors participating in the incident and the chief prosecutor of New York State, Letitia James, said: "Although more money can not be fully repaired, the damage is completely restored, but the influx of large amounts of funds will be influx. Bring resources for communities in need so that we can cure trauma.
At the center of the opioidist crisis, the chief prosecutor JB McCuskey agreed to the transaction, but made severe remarks to the company and its owners. The Republican said in a statement: "Although the lives of the West Virginia are destroyed by the addiction of opioids, the Sacle family makes a lot of money every time someone is addicted - Do not consider the loss of their drugs to people, families, and our community.
Not every state has signed. A spokesman for Washington Chief Prosecutor Nick Brown said the office is still reviewing the transaction and weighing its choice.
According to the new proposal, as the previous proposal, members of the Sacle family will also give up the ownership of Purdue University. They have resigned from the position of the company's board of directors, and they have not obtained excessively from Purdue University before applying for bankruptcy protection. The company will become a new entity, and its board is appointed by the states and other people in the company.
Individual victim lawyer Ed Neiger said that 800 million to 850 million U.S. dollars will also be used to assist the victims or survivors of the opioid crisis; this is what most opioid drug reconciliation does not have Function. According to the Office of the New York Prosecutor's Office, the agreement also includes reserved funds of up to $ 800 million to pay for the future settlement costs for the future of the Sacleria family.
Last year, the Supreme Court rejected the previous agreement because it protects the influence of Ashikang's civil lawsuit from Ashikang Dingding's civil lawsuits, although these family members have not bankruptcy. The new agreement only protects the lawsuits filed by the entity that family members agree to reconcile.
If the new agreement is not approved, a lawsuit against members of the Sacle family may be triggered. The U.S. bankruptcy judges are expected to decide whether to retain temporary protection measures to February on Friday.
The new reconciliation agreement may draw a new chapter for the long legal legend caused by opioid drug crisis. Some experts assert that the crisis begins after Oustekin was listed in 1996. Since then, opioids have been related to the death of hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. Since the United States has been discovered since 2020, the most fatal period is the factors of illegal Fenti that leads to more than 70,000 people per year.
The members of the Sacle family were regarded as villains because of the role played by this private company, and their names were deleted from the art museums and universities around the world. They continue to deny that there are any accusations for improper behavior.
It is estimated that the total value of family members is higher than the value of billions of dollars in the reconciliation, but most of the wealth may be obtained from the offshore account and may not be obtained through litigation.
Connecticut's chief prosecutor and Democrat William Tang said that the reconciliation agreement will not bring economic bankruptcy to the family.
"This is a family affected by this crisis. This involves a group of people and a family. They are the most infamous illegal actors ... We are holding their responsibility," he said.
Purdue University faces thousands of lawsuits due to the opioid crisis and seeks bankruptcy protection in 2019. One of the allegations was that the company conveyed such information to the doctor: the risk of addiction for strong painkillers was very low.
In a document in October 2024, a branch of the family promised to defend themselves in any case that allowed to continue, calling the core legal theory of the lawsuit -Purdue and Sakler family members created "public nourishment "Break" - "There is no advantage at all."
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The Associated Press, a reporter from Hartford, Connecticut, David Collins, and Anthony Izigayle, Anthony Izigi, Olbani, New York, contributed to this report.