Utah joins $7.4B settlement with Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Utah is joining a $7.4 billion national settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family over their alleged role in the U.S. opioid epidemic.
The state will receive $57 million to combat the impact of the epidemic on communities.
The settlement ends the Sacklers' control of Purdue Pharma and limits future opioid sales and marketing.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah on Monday joined 54 other states and territories in signing onto a $7.4 billion settlement agreement with Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin, and the Sackler family over their alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic.

According to a news release from the state Department of Commerce's Division of Consumer Protection, the Beehive State is set to receive $57 million to combat the impact of the opioid epidemic on its communities.

"It really starts with the Sacklers," Utah Department of Commerce executive director Margaret Busse told KSL.com in January. "Those were the folks that were making the decisions that, frankly, out of their greed, wanted to sell as many opioids as possible — and wanted to overcome any guardrails that might have been put in place for folks that would be susceptible to addiction."

The impact of the epidemic on Utah was widespread and too often fatal for those affected.

Between 2002 and 2015, opioid prescriptions surged by over 1 million. From 2013 to 2015, Utah ranked seventh in the nation in prescription drug poisoning deaths. According to the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner, prescription opioids were responsible for the deaths of 1,611 people in the state between 2014 and 2019.

The most recent data from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services reports 606 drug overdose deaths in 2023, with 27.9% involving at least one prescription opioid. Many of these deaths were from heroin and fentanyl overdoses that began with prescription opioid abuse, the health department says.

Utah families deserve this resolution after Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family recklessly harmed our communities and contributed to the opioid epidemic.

–Utah Attorney General Derek Brown

The American Enterprise Institute estimated the cost of nonfatal opioid overdoses to the Beehive State at $1,827 per person, totaling around $524 million for a single year in 2015.

In 2019, the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, represented by the Office of the Utah Attorney General, filed an administrative action against Purdue Pharma, Richard Sackler and Kathe Sackler, alleging they participated in deceptive practices by aggressively marketing opioid medications like OxyContin as being safe, despite knowing of their highly addictive nature.

Additionally, the division alleged Purdue Pharma intensified the crisis in Utah by providing nearly $200,000 in gifts and payments to Utah prescribers between 2013 and 2017 and employing 186 sales representatives who conducted in-person marketing visits to 5,000 prescribers.

"Utah families deserve this resolution after Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family recklessly harmed our communities and contributed to the opioid epidemic," Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in the release issued Monday. "I will continue to use all the tools I have available, including litigation and prosecution, to protect Utahns in the future from these deadly drugs."

Under the settlement terms, the Sackler family will pay $6.5 billion over the next 15 years, with approximately $900 million coming from Purdue Pharma upon its emergence from bankruptcy protection.

The agreement also ends the Sacklers' control of Purdue Pharma and restricts its sale of opioids in the United States. Purdue Pharma's future lobbying and marketing efforts will also be closely monitored and limited.

Utah's $57 million from this settlement will be in addition to the $540 million the state is set to receive from other previously agreed-upon settlements, with $275 million designated for the state and $265 million for counties. These funds will support the Utah Opioid Task Force and continue addressing the epidemic in communities, said the release.

"Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family caused immense harm and innumerable lives lost through their deceptive marketing and greed," Busse said in the release. "Utah never stopped its work to hold Purdue and the Sacklers accountable for what they have done and the devastation they have caused."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.