South Carolina to get $72.8 million as part of national settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – South Carolina is set to receive nearly $73 million as part of a multi-billion-dollar settlement with pharmaceutical manufacturer Purdue Pharma over its alleged role in the national opioid crisis.

55 attorneys general agreed to a $7.4 billion settlement with the drug company and its owners, the Sackler family, to resolve ongoing litigation regarding “their role in creating and worsening the opioid crisis across the country,” the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office announced Monday.

The settlement, first announced in January, would end the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and their ability to sell opioids in the United States. It replaces an earlier agreement that was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer because it would have shielded the family from civil lawsuits.

The deal has yet to be finalized — local governments will be asked to sign on contingent on bankruptcy court proceedings — but South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said the state would get $72.8 million over the next 15 years to support addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery.

“This settlement doesn’t lessen the pain of the families who’ve lost loved ones to opioid addiction or overdoses, but it’s a huge step toward holding this company and its founders accountable for the havoc they helped create,” Wilson said. “It will also fund efforts to help those currently affected by opioid addiction and hopefully prevent others from going through this nightmare.”

Most of the funds will be distributed within the first three years, officials said, with the Sacklers paying $1.5 billion. Purdue would pay $900 million in the first round of payments, followed by $500 million after one year, an additional $500 million after two years, and $400 million after three years.

OxyContin first hit the market in 1996, and Purdue Pharma’s aggressive marketing of it is often cited as a catalyst of the nationwide opioid epidemic, with doctors persuaded to prescribe painkillers with less regard for addiction dangers.

Nearly 727,000 people died from an opioid overdose between 1999 and 2022, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes overdose deaths linked to prescription and illegal opioids.

The new settlement brings the total settlement funds South Carolina has secured to help combat the opioid crisis to nearly $750 million, according to Wilson’s office.

The Associated Press contributed.