Attorney General Tong Announces All 55 Attorneys General Sign On to $7.4 Billion Purdue Settlement

Press Releases

06/16/2025

Attorney General Tong Announces All 55 Attorneys General Sign On to $7.4 Billion Purdue Settlement

Connecticut will receive up to $64 million over 8 years

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today announced that all 55 attorneys general, representing all eligible states and U.S. territories, agreed to sign on to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family. The Sackler family has also informed the attorneys general of its plan to proceed with the settlement, which would resolve litigation against Purdue and the Sacklers for their role in the creating and worsening the opioid crisis across the country. Now that the state sign-on period has concluded, local governments across the country will be asked to join the settlement contingent on bankruptcy court proceedings.

Connecticut, along with New York, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia led the bipartisan team that negotiated this settlement.

“There will never been enough justice, accountability or money to restore the families whose lives have been wrecked or to right the terrible consequences of the Sackler family’s craven misconduct. What we announce today is both momentous and insufficient, the culmination of years of tumultuous negotiations and legal battles all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, every single attorney general, representing all states and territories nationwide, has signed onto an historic settlement that permanently ends the Sacklers’ control over Purdue and their ability to ever sell opioids again, and forces the company and the family to pay $7.4 billion for their role in igniting one of the most devastating public health crises in American history. This is $1.4 billion more than the settlement reached in 2022, and $3.1 billion more than the settlement Connecticut rejected in 2021. I will continue to urge that the millions of dollars Connecticut receives be used to save lives through opioid treatment and prevention, as well as to provide direct support to victims and their families,” said Attorney General Tong.

Under the Sacklers’ ownership, Purdue made and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades, fueling the largest drug crisis in the nation’s history. The settlement ends the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and their ability to sell opioids in the United States. Communities across the country will directly receive funds over the next 15 years to support addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery. This settlement in principle is the nation’s largest settlement to date with individuals responsible for the opioid crisis. Connecticut’s state and local governments will receive as much as $64 million from this settlement over the next eight years.

Most of the settlement funds will be distributed in the first three years. The Sacklers will pay $1.5 billion and Purdue will pay roughly $900 million in the first payment, followed by $500 million after one year, an additional $500 million after two years, and $400 million after three years.

Like prior opioid settlements, the settlement with Purdue and the Sacklers will involve resolution of legal claims by state and local governments. The local government sign-on and voting solicitation process for this settlement moving forward will be contingent on bankruptcy court approval. A hearing is scheduled on that matter in the coming days.

Attorney General Tong will continue to urge that a significant portion of these early payments be used to fund a trust for direct support for survivors of the opioid epidemic, as well as family members of victims and survivors, as was agreed to in the settlement ultimately upended by the Supreme Court.

In addition to delivering $7.4 billion to address the opioid crisis, the settlement 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 under the settlement.

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 the 2007 State Attorneys General Consent Judgments, and after six years will make public documents subject to the waiver of privilege.

Connecticut first filed suit against Purdue and individual members of the Sackler family in 2019, alleging that the company and family peddled a series of falsehoods to push patients toward its opioids, reaping massive profits while opioid addiction skyrocketed. Connecticut expanded and amended that suit later in 2019 to add additional defendants and allegations, including the fraudulent transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars from Purdue Pharma to the Sacklers to shield their wealth from accountability.

Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in September 2019. In 2021, the bankruptcy court approved an inadequate Purdue bankruptcy plan that granted a lifetime legal shield to the Sackler family, unlawfully blocking states like Connecticut from pursuing claims against the family. The plan required the Sackler family to pay $4.3 billion over nine years to the states, municipalities and plaintiffs that sued the company. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia objected to and ultimately appealed the plan. The United States Trustee, an arm of the Department of Justice, also appealed.

In December 2021, the U.S. District Court vacated the Purdue bankruptcy order, agreeing with the dissenting states that the bankruptcy court lacked authority to force states to release their claims against the Sackler family.

The District Court decision paved the way for Attorney General Tong and the eight other dissenting states to negotiate a new settlement forcing Purdue and the Sacklers to pay $6 billion to victims, survivors and states, to permanently exit the global opioid business, and to force the Sacklers to reckon face-to-face with victims and survivors at a public hearing.

That $6 billion settlement was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, sending the states back to mediation in an even stronger position.

Members of the Sackler family included in the settlement 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.

Connecticut has led nationwide efforts to secure more than $50 billion nationwide to combat the opioid epidemic, including $600 million for Connecticut alone to support treatment, prevention, and recovery. That money has begun to flow. Connecticut’s Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, comprised of health professionals, individuals with lived experience, and state and municipal leaders is responsible for allocating and accounting for opioid settlement funds.

Attorney General Tong is joined in securing this settlement in principle by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, Wyoming.

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
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