Rhode Island will receive nearly $30 million as part of a national $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, Attorney General Peter Neronha announced Monday.
The settlement was supported by the attorneys general in all 50 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C., and four territories. The settlement resolves litigation against Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers for their role in fueling the opioid crisis, largely through aggressive marketing of the long-acting prescription opioid, OxyContin.
“The role of Purdue Pharma, and the Sackler Family in particular, in the opioid epidemic cannot be understated: together they are responsible for hundreds of thousands of lives lost or damaged, families broken, and communities in pain,” Neronha said in a statement Monday. “Purdue and the Sacklers knowingly pumped highly addictive opioids into cities and towns across America, for the sake of greed and profit, no matter the human cost.”
Under the pending settlement, Rhode Island would receive over $27 million upfront. The remainder would come over the next 15 years, with funds set aside for litigation costs and possible future proceeds from the sale of Purdue’s assets. Eighty percent of the funds will go to the state general fund for opioid response, while 20% will be shared with municipalities across the Ocean State.
The Sackler family contributes $1.5 billion to the settlement, while Purdue adds approximately $900 million upfront, plus additional payments of $500 million in the first and second years and $400 million in the third year. The $7.4 billion settlement with both the family and company comes after both parties upped their offer following a 2024 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to block a previous $6 billion settlement. That settlement would have absolved the Sacklers of any wrongdoing.
The settlement also ousts the Sacklers from control of Purdue Pharma, and forbids the family from future involvement in opioid sales.
Purdue Pharma told Rhode Island Current in a statement Monday: “Today’s announcement of unanimous support among the states and territories is a critical milestone towards confirming a Plan of Reorganization that will provide billions of dollars to compensate victims, abate the opioid crisis, and deliver opioid use disorder and overdose rescue medicines that will save American lives.”
“We appreciate the extraordinarily hard work of the state attorneys general and our other creditors in getting us to this point, and we look forward to soliciting creditor votes on the Plan after the disclosure statement is approved,” the statement continued.
The settlement is subject to bankruptcy court approval, with a hearing scheduled for June 18, according to Purdue. The company filed for bankruptcy in March and plans to restructure following the settlement.
Neronha’s office has so far recovered $312 million in funds from national settlements with drug manufacturers and pharmacies connected to the opioid epidemic.
“These funds are making a real difference for Rhode Islanders, by, for example, expanding the state’s inpatient and outpatient treatment capacity, and driving down overdose and overdose deaths,” Neronha said in his statement.
The Rhode Island Department of Health reported last week that overdose deaths in Rhode Island declined for the second consecutive year in 2024, following a peak in 2022.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
