A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
One of the darkest, most complicated chapters of the U.S. opioid crisis may finally be nearing an end.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family who own the company have reached a $7.4 billion opioid settlement with all 50 states and U.S. territories. If it's approved, the plan would end a legal fight over the harm caused by OxyContin, the company's opioid painkiller.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's addiction correspondent Brian Mann is here now. So, Brian, we're going to dive into the legal and financial part of this settlement in just a second. First, though, remind us how Purdue Pharma and OxyContin changed America.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Well, it's really huge. Opioid pain medications, A, used to be doled out very cautiously by doctors and hospitals. And what we've learned in legal documents made public during this court fight is that under the leadership of members of the Sackler family, Purdue Pharma convinced regulators in the health care industry OxyContin could be used a lot more liberally, they said, without a huge risk of addiction or overdose, and that turned out not to be true. Ryan Hampton is an addiction activist now. He was hooked on OxyContin for a decade.
RYAN HAMPTON: They completely destroyed my life. They took almost everything that I had away from me.
MANN: And Purdue Pharma has pled guilty twice to federal crimes for false marketing. The Sacklers were never charged with crimes, and they've denied any wrongdoing. But a lot of public health experts believe this company's actions cleared the way for the opioid/fentanyl crisis that killed more than 50,000 people last year alone.
MARTÍNEZ: So Purdue Pharma is in bankruptcy now, and there's a new deal that states have signed off on. What's new in this deal?
MANN: Yeah, so the big change is this deal would no longer force people who believe they were harmed by OxyContin to drop civil lawsuits that are directed at members of the Sackler family. The last attempt at a deal that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court included broad legal protections for the Sacklers. That was really controversial. Under this deal, the Sacklers are expected to pay roughly $6.5 billion out of their personal fortunes. They'll give up ownership of the company, but they won't get that broad immunity from lawsuits. I reached out to the Sacklers for comment about this and haven't heard back. But legal experts I talked to say this version of the settlement is a lot more likely to survive legal challenges.
MARTÍNEZ: How will this money be spent if this deal is finalized?
MANN: Most of the money, including a billion dollars coming from Purdue Pharma's company coffers, will go to states and communities over the next 15 years. Activists hope this money will be spent helping more people in addiction get better treatment and health care.
One thing I'm hearing a lot of concern about, though, is that this money could wind up redirected just to prop up existing programs. That's because the Trump administration is now trying to make deep cuts in federal spending. Also, A, $850 million of this money is going to go to individual victims and families harmed by OxyContin. Ryan Hampton, the activist I spoke to, said he only expects to receive about $3,500.
HAMPTON: And for $3,500 to be a paycheck to absolve Purdue's role in destroying my life is a meaningless gesture. But at this point, I'm ready to put this behind me.
MANN: So as we near the end of this legal battle over OxyContin, Hampton and others I've been talking to say they're left with really big questions here about whether this led to any kind of real justice.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann. Brian, thank you.
MANN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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