The pharmaceutical company and its owners have been accused of profiting from the opioid epidemic, including from over-prescription of drugs like OxyContin.
The Sacklers would pay the six billion dollars over 18 years, with more money paid on the front end. California would get nearly half-a-billion dollars to help fund opioid addiction treatment and prevention.
Attorney General Bonta hailed the agreement:
"This settlement will ensure states across the nation receive up to $6 billion of relief nationally, up to $1.7 billion above the initial bankruptcy plan that was being proposed, including nearly half-a-billion dollars to California specifically."
Also among today’s settlement terms: the Sackler family’s name may be removed from buildings, institutions and scholarships. Today’s settlement also makes public several legal records that had not yet been previously disclosed.
The current settlement still needs to be finalized and approved by the courts.
The CDC reports that about 136 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose, including from legal drugs they were prescribed. Nearly one million people have died since the epidemic began, and many more suffer from addiction.