OKLAHOMA CITY — The maker of OxyContin and the family that owns the company have reached a $270 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma over the prescription painkiller’s role in the nation’s deadly opioid crisis, a person familiar with the agreement said Tuesday.
But some activists were furious, saying they were denied the chance to hold Purdue Pharma fully accountable in public, in front of a jury. Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin more than 20 years ago and marketed it aggressively to doctors. It has made tens of billions of dollars from the drug in but has been hit with close to 2,000 lawsuits from state and local governments trying to hold the company responsible for the scourge of addiction. Those lawsuits now threaten to push Purdue Pharma into bankruptcy.
The agreement was announced after the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Monday denied a request from drugmakers to postpone the start of the state’s trial in May. “They can’t settle,” she said. “That would be a huge disservice to the tens of thousands of families here in the United States who buried a child. That’s blood money from our children.”
As the accusations have mounted, the Sacklers have faced personal lawsuits and growing public pressure. A Massachusetts court filing made public earlier this year found that family members were paid at least $4 billion from 2007 until last year.