Sackler family, Purdue Pharma reach $7.4 billion settlement with 15 states over opioid crisis

The Sackler family and Purdue Pharma, the maker of the addictive painkiller oxycontin, have reached a $7.4 billion settlement with a bipartisan coalition of 15 states for fueling the opioid crisis, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday. 

The settlement bars the Sackler family from selling opioids in the U.S. and ends its control of Purdue. This comes seven months after the Supreme Court overturned a prior deal with Purdue that would have given the Sackler family immunity from future opioid lawsuits, a provision that is not part of the new deal.

This is the largest settlement with contributors to the opioid crisis in the U.S. The Sackler family will pay the vast majority of the settlement — a total of $6.5 billion over 15 years — while Purdue will pay nearly $900 million up front, if it's approved by the court.