Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Purdue/Sackler $7.4 billion opioid settlement goes into effect

South Carolina to receive almost $73 million

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Attorney General Alan Wilson announced today that a $7.4 billion settlement reached with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, has become legally effective, capping nearly a decade of work by attorneys general from across the country in pursuing investigations and litigation over Purdue’s and the Sacklers’ role in fueling the opioid crisis. The attorneys general launched a multistate investigation of Purdue in 2016, and South Carolina sued Purdue in 2017.

After Purdue filed for bankruptcy in September 2019 amid massive litigation against it, the attorneys general have taken a lead role in the bankruptcy proceedings, including negotiating a new settlement that secured more money from the Sacklers after the Supreme Court in June 2024 invalidated provisions in a prior settlement. The settlement provides funds to communities across the country, as well as to individual victims and other groups that filed claims in the bankruptcy proceedings.

“We were one of the first states that sued Purdue back in 2017 to hold this company accountable for the opioid epidemic that has killed thousands of South Carolinians,” Attorney General Wilson said. “The bankruptcy and appeals process has delayed resolution for years, but with this step, we’re finally nearing the finish line. South Carolina will receive approximately $72.8 million over the next 15 years to assist with recovery and prevention for the families and communities that were plagued by these highly addictive drugs." 

Fifty-five attorneys general representing all eligible U.S. states and territories previously signed onto the settlement. It resolves litigation against Purdue and the Sacklers for producing and aggressively marketing opioids in the United States, fueling the largest drug crisis in the country’s history.

The settlement permanently bars the Sacklers from selling opioids in the U.S. and delivers funds for addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery to communities across the country over the next 15 years.

Most settlement funds will be distributed in the first three years. The Sacklers are paying more than $1.5 billion today, followed by approximately an additional $500 million in May 2027, $500 million in May 2028, and $400 million in May 2029. Additionally, Purdue is paying approximately $900 million today.

This settlement is another milestone success in Attorney General Wilson’s decade-long fight to bring relief to South Carolina from the opioid crisis. In addition to Purdue, Attorney General Wilson sued the three major opioid distributors—Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen (now known as Cencora)—in 2019. South Carolina has also settled opioid claims against several other companies that manufactured opioids—Janssen, Allergan, and Teva—as well as the large national pharmacy chains of Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and Kroger. Recovery from two other opioid manufacturers (Endo and Mallinckrodt) was obtained through claims filed against those companies in bankruptcy.  And this past summer, Attorney General Wilson announced settlements with opioid manufacturers Alvogen, Amneal, Apotex, Hikma, Indivior, Mylan, Sun, and Zydus.

From all these settlements, South Carolina has now secured more than $256 million in funds for opioid abatement programs throughout the State, and Attorney General Wilson expects the State to receive more than $500 million in additional funds over the next 15 years. In total, Attorney General Wilson’s opioid recovery for the State of South Carolina will exceed more than three-quarters of a billion dollars.

The settlement also means that Purdue’s manufacturing operations will transfer effective today to Knoa Pharma LLC, which will be overseen by a board of directors that had no connection to Purdue. The settlement prevents Knoa from marketing opioids and provides for an independent monitor to ensure it provides these medicines in the safest possible manner that limits the risk of diversion.

The settlement also provides that Purdue and the Sacklers will make public more than 30 million documents related to their opioid business.

Attorney General Wilson is joined in reaching the settlement by attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.