OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s settlement, by the numbers
May 1, 2026, 6:01 AM
Tanny Austin cries while looking at tombstones with the names of victims of the opioid crisis, including her son Sean Austin, during a rally outside of a courthouse in Newark, N.J., Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is set to dissolve and be replaced with a new company operating in the public interest under the settlement of thousands of lawsuits that goes into effect Friday.
It’s among the largest in a series of settlements over the toll of opioids over the past several years. It’s particularly prominent because some people pin the nation’s opioid epidemic to the sales efforts behind OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller that became available in 1996.
Here’s a look at the epidemic and settlement by the numbers.
More than this many deaths in the U.S. have been connected to opioid overdose since 1999, according to federal data. The epidemic’s death toll was first driven by prescription opioids, then heroin, and most recently — and most deadly — fentanyl.
The minimum money provided by the Purdue settlement. Most of it — at least $6.5 billion — is to come from members of the Sackler family who owned the company. They’ve also given up any interest in the drugmaker, which family members stopped controlling before it filed for bankruptcy in 2019. As part of the settlement, Purdue is being replaced by Knoa Pharma, with a board appointed by states and a mission to fight the opioid epidemic.
The estimated value of all opioid lawsuit settlements since 2019, according to analysis by Opioid Settlement Tracker. The companies that have settled suits with state and local governments and other groups include drugmakers, wholesalers, pharmacy chains and at least one consulting firm. Most of the money in the agreements is required to be used to deal with the epidemic.
How many years the Purdue settlement money will be provided over. The biggest amounts will come early in that period.
The number of individuals charged with crimes as part of the U.S. Department of Justice probe into Purdue that resulted in a guilty plea by the company.
Number of U.S. Supreme Court justices, out of nine, who ruled in 2024 to reject an earlier version of Purdue’s settlement. They found that members of the Sackler family would have improperly received personal protection from lawsuits through the corporate bankruptcy process. Under the final deal, groups that reject payments can still sue members of the family.
The amount members of the Sackler family received in payouts from Purdue from 2008 to 2018, according to a 2019 audit. They have not received distributions since then. Nearly half that money went to taxes the Sacklers paid on behalf of the company. A congressional committee report in 2021 estimated that the family members had a total net worth of $11 billion at the time.
The number of company documents to be made public as part of the Purdue settlement. Like other opioid industry documents, they’re to be maintained by the University of California San Francisco and Johns Hopkins University.
The approximate expected maximum payout to individuals — or their survivors — who can show they were harmed by Purdue opioids that were prescribed to them. The other major industry settlements don’t include any individual payments to victims.
