Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced that she, along with a bipartisan coalition of negotiating attorneys general, has reached a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with members of the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, Inc. (Purdue) for their instrumental role in creating the opioid crisis.
“This is a bittersweet moment for everyone who has continued to fight to hold the Sacklers and Purdue accountable,” said AG Jennings. “Nothing can bring back what we’ve lost – but, if approved, this agreement would deliver over $27 million to Delawareans right away. These resources are especially precious here and now, as a small state that has suffered some of the worst harm in the nation. I’m grateful to our team and to the attorneys general around the country who have stuck with us in the fight to hold the Sacklers accountable and bring help home.”
Purdue, under the Sacklers’ leadership, invented, manufactured, and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades, fueling waves of addiction and overdose deaths across the country. The settlement ends the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and ability to sell opioids in the United States, and will deliver funding directly to communities to support opioid addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery programs.
The $7.4 billion settlement in principle, the nation’s largest settlement to date with individuals responsible for contributing to the opioid crisis, comes after the United States Supreme Court overturned a prior multistate settlement with the Sacklers and Purdue in June 2024. That prior settlement, which included up to a $6 billion contribution from the Sacklers, was achieved in substantial part to the advocacy of AG Jennings and a handful of other states that had objected to the $4.5 billion Sackler contribution initially approved by the Bankruptcy Court. Today’s announcement of a $6.5 billion contribution from the Sacklers directly builds on that work, preserving the economic benefit of Delaware’s prior deal and further broadening the availability of additional monetary relief to all participating states.
Under the new agreement, Delaware would immediately receive over $27 million from Purdue and the Sacklers. AG Jennings’ efforts in extended negotiations previously helped increase the Sacklers’ payment to the states by $1 billion; her negotiations now have resulted in Delaware receiving the full economic benefit of its 2022 settlement in one upfront payment, rather than in deferred payments over the course of 18 years, as contemplated by the prior deal. The terms of the Delaware settlement will be contingent on amending Title 16, Chapter 48B of the Delaware Code to cover this settlement.
For Delaware, this settlement not only preserves the economic benefit of the prior deal, but also achieves one of AG Jennings’ primary goals: securing funds to address Delaware’s opioid crisis as quickly as possible. Today’s settlement reflects the present value of what would have been 18 years of payments into the future. This not only avoids the risk of non-payment by the Sacklers, but also ensures that Delaware will have greater flexibility to address the crisis now.
In addition to the monetary payment, the settlement also reflects the end of the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and bars them from selling opioids in the United States. A board of trustees selected by participating states in consultation with the other creditors will determine the future of the company. Purdue will continue to be overseen by a monitor and will be prevented from lobbying or marketing opioids.
If approved, the settlement will make public more than 30 million documents related to Purdue and the Sacklers’ opioid business. The document repository will now also contain documents relating to compliance with a prior settlement by Purdue in 2007, and after six years will make public documents subject to the waiver of privilege.
In 2021, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved a multistate settlement covering Purdue and the Sackler family that would have required them to pay $4.5 billion. AG Jennings objected to this prior deal along with 8 other attorneys general and successfully negotiated to increase the Sackler contribution to $5.5 billion, with a contingency for $500 million more. Together with an assumed $900m contribution from Purdue, this brought the prior settlement up to roughly $6.9 billion. That settlement was scuttled in June 2024, when the United States Supreme Court invalidated the previous bankruptcy settlement with the Sacklers, holding that they were not entitled to a blanket or automatic shield from liability. The current settlement in principle does not offer the Sacklers any such automatic protection, but rather is built on consensual releases in exchange for the payments the Sacklers will be making.
Members of the Sackler family included in the settlement in principle include the eight heirs of Purdue founders Raymond and Mortimer Sackler who served on the Board of Purdue: Richard, Kathe, Mortimer Jr., Ilene, David, and Theresa Sackler; and the estates of Jonathan and Beverly Sackler. In addition, their associated trusts, advisers, and most of their children and heirs are also included.
Joining Attorney General Jennings on the negotiating team that secured the settlement in principle are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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