Mass could see $100M in new opioid settlement

Massachusetts could receive more than $100 million as part of a new $7.4 billion settlement in principle between prosecutors in more than a dozen states, Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, Attorney General Andrea Campbell announced Thursday.

More than six months after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an earlier $6 billion settlement, attorneys general struck a new deal with the Sackler family and their company over Purdue’s alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic.

The potential agreement will need to be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. If a judge gives the green light, the settlement would halt Purdue’s ability to sell opioids in the United States, end the Sackler family’s control of the company, and fund billions of dollars of opioid addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programs, according to Campbell’s office.

Massachusetts could receive up to $108 million as a result of the settlement, according to Campbell’s office, which described the deal as “the nation’s largest settlement to date with individuals responsible for contributing to the opioid crisis.”

“The Sackler family will forever be remembered as a symbol of greed, profiting off pain to destroy countless lives across the Commonwealth and country,” Campbell said in a statement. “While this settlement cannot bring back the lives lost, it will bring in much-needed funds to begin to remediate the damage and ensure that the Sacklers can be held accountable for the lasting devastation they have caused. I am incredibly grateful to the families who turned their pain into purpose to inform our work in this space.”

Other attorneys general who joined Campbell on the settlement in principle represent the states of New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

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