Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, along with 54 attorneys general, announced on Monday a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family.
This financial settlement resolves litigation against Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers for their role in the opioid crisis.
According to Skrmetti’s press release, when the Sacklers owned Purdue Pharma, it heavily marketed and manufactured opioid products for decades.
When Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin, an opioid painkiller, in 1996, the company made over $35 billion on that product, according to SCOTUSblog.
Between 1999 and 2022, the CDC estimates that almost 727,000 people died from an opioid overdose.
The settlement prevents the Sacklers from controlling the pharmaceutical company and selling opioids in America.
The funds given to states and territories will be received over the next 15 years. They will go towards addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery.
As a state, Tennessee will get more than $90 million over this time span. Most of the money will be given to the state in the first three years.
For the initial payments, the Sacklers will provide Tennessee with $1.5 billion, while Purdue will pay approximately $900 million.
After the first year, Tennessee will get $500 million. After the second and third year, Tennessee will get $500 million and $400 million, respectively.
“No sum of money can ever fix the devastation inflicted by Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family,” said Skrmetti. “Our office has delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to the Opioid Abatement Council. We will continue our fight to hold accountable those companies responsible for the crisis and work to support Tennessee communities victimized by the opioid epidemic.”
Following this announcement, Skrmetti’s press release states that the process will involve resolving legal claims by state and local governments.
“The local government sign-on and voting solicitation process for this settlement will be contingent on bankruptcy court approval,” the press release says.
The hearing for these legal claims is expected to happen soon.
Attorneys general from all 50 states and five U.S. territories were a part of this settlement.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
