Maryland could get $90 million in tentative opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma

A prescription opioid manufacturer and the family running it have preliminarily agreed to pay out billions to states to settle litigation involving their alleged contribution to the opioid crisis — with Maryland in line to get $90 million of that amount.

The tentative agreement was announced Monday by attorneys general representing 55 states and territories, imcluding Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. He said the attorneys general had signed on to a preliminary agreement with Purdue Pharma, which could bring an end to not only multiyear, multistate litigation on the issue, but also an end to the Sackler family’s ownership of the company.

“The Opioid Crisis is responsible for thousands of deaths across Maryland, forever changing the lives of countless families who have lost a loved one to addiction,” Brown said in a written statement Monday. “The money from this settlement could be a lifeline for those struggling with addiction and could provide Maryland communities with millions to help Marylanders recover from this deadly disease.”

The company called the preliminary agreement a “critical milestone” to help ease the opioid crisis and compensate victims, according to a written 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,” according to the statement.

“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 said.

Purdue is known for manufacturing prescription opioid products such as OxyContin. Litigation against the company claims that its aggressive marketing of prescription opioids contributed to increases in addiction and overdose deaths.

The Purdue settlement could reach up to $7.4 billion paid out over 15 years to the states and territories in the preliminary agreement. Maryland’s cut could potentially exceed $90 million depending on the final agreement, though the exact figures have not yet been decided.

The settlement “will end the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and ability to sell opioids in the United States,” according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the attorneys leading the case as it moved through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

There’s a bankruptcy court hearing on the disclosure statement scheduled for Wednesday.

Maryland has already secured millions in opioid settlements. In February 2024, Brown announced Maryland would be receiving $238 million in opioid settlements from four pharmacies, including Walmart and Walgreens. Those funds go towards the state’s Maryland Opioid Restitution Fund to help combat the opioid crisis.

While the states’ lawsuit proceeded, Baltimore decided to pursue legal action on its own, a gamble that appears to have paid off. The city, which has been particularly hard hit by the opioid crisis, had already received $252.5 million in settlement agreements as of August from a number of different pharmaceutical companies.