Purdue Pharma together with the Sackler family reached an agreement with a $7.4 billion settlement to handle opioid crisis lawsuit proceedings announced New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday. The revised settlement agreement raises the total payout by more than $1 billion beyond a previous version that faced Supreme Court rejection and needs court authorization to proceed.
Under the settlement agreement the Sackler family will provide payments up to $6.5 billion spanning 15 years supported by $900 million from Purdue Pharma. The substantial funds derive from two main sources to assist victims and fund substance use disorder treatment along with emergency overdose medication distribution. As part of the settlement the Sacklers will transfer ownership of Purdue Pharma to become an entity directly governed by states and other plaintiffs through public-benefit governance.
The agreement stands as part of an organized response to combat the opioid crisis because multiple pharmaceutical firms will collectively pay about $50 billion. The U.S. has experienced hundreds of thousands of opioid-related deaths since OxyContin’s debut in 1996 while fentanyl has worsened the national crisis in recent years. 
The Sackler family has received broad condemnation because people believe they chose financial gain above protecting public health. The family denies responsibility despite external investigations into their wealth which resides primarily offshore. Through this settlement the family receives protection from legal challenges by participating parties though they retain exposure in case an existing agreement faces dissolution.
Kara Trainor joined other victims who praised the settlement for helping establish accountability because she became addicted to OxyContin after a back injury. Everything in my life exists because something shady happened when a company chose profits above human survival according to Trainor.
The agreement represents a milestone stride in opioid crisis management by concluding multiple years of intense confrontation with drug addiction.
