The maker of OxyContin and nine states’ attorneys have agreed to a new settlement of opioid lawsuits that will bring more money to victims in Maryland and D.C.
The settlement requires members of the Sackler family 鈥� who own Purdue Pharma, the drug鈥檚 manufacturer 鈥� to pay between $5.5 million and $6 million and apologize to victims.
The District is expected to receive more than $31 million. Maryland鈥檚 settlement portion is about $132 million. In an email, Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General told 海角社区app it couldn’t comment on its settlement because it’s “ongoing.”
This latest deal comes after months of negotiation between the states’ attorneys and the Sackler family. It is at least $1.2 billion more than a settlement agreed upon last year. That one was ultimately rejected by a judge.
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said the District will spend the money on victims and survivors of opioid use, especially those in Black and brown communities, which have been unduly impacted by the crisis.
鈥淪ettlement is by far the best way to help solve a serious and complex public health crisis,鈥� the Sackler family wrote in settlement documents.
The family said it has not done anything wrong, but regrets that OxyContin 鈥渦nexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.鈥�
A bankruptcy judge must still approve the new settlement.
