Attorney General Tong Statement Following Bankruptcy Court Confirmation of $7.4 Billion Purdue Settlement

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11/18/2025

Attorney General Tong Statement Following Bankruptcy Court Confirmation of $7.4 Billion Purdue Settlement

Connecticut to Receive up to $64 million for Opioid Treatment and Prevention, and Direct Support to Victims and Their Families

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong announced today that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has confirmed the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan, approving a $7.4 billion settlement between 55 attorneys general, Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler Family.

The settlement resolves litigation against Purdue and the Sacklers for their role in the creating and worsening the opioid crisis across the country.

“Today’s confirmation permanently exiles the Sackler Family from the addiction industry and ensures that their name be forever synonymous with greed, shame and devastation. There is no amount of money, no amount of justice that will ever make whole the lives lost, and families destroyed by the Sackler Family and Purdue Pharma’s craven pursuit of profit. What we have today is a $7.4 billion promise to every victim, every family and every community that we will never stop fighting for them, and that we will use every opportunity from this settlement to save lives through treatment and prevention, as well as direct support to victims and their families,” said Attorney General Tong.

Under the Sacklers’ ownership, Purdue made and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades, fueling the largest drug crisis in the nation’s history. The settlement ends the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and their ability to sell opioids in the United States. Communities across the country will directly receive funds over the next 15 years to support addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery. This settlement in principle is the nation’s largest settlement to date with individuals responsible for the opioid crisis. Connecticut’s state and local governments will receive as much as $64 million from this settlement over the next eight years.

Most of the settlement funds will be distributed in the first three years. The Sacklers will pay $1.5 billion and Purdue will pay roughly $900 million in the first payment, followed by $500 million after one year, an additional $500 million after two years, and $400 million after three years.

Attorney General Tong will continue to urge that a significant portion of these early payments be used to fund a trust for direct support for survivors of the opioid epidemic, as well as family members of victims and survivors, as was agreed to in the settlement ultimately upended by the Supreme Court.

In addition to delivering $7.4 billion to address the opioid crisis, the settlement reflects the end of the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and bars them from selling opioids in the United States.

The settlement will make public more than 30 million documents related to Purdue and the Sacklers’ opioid business. The document repository will now also contain documents relating to compliance with the 2007 State Attorneys General Consent Judgments, and after six years will make public documents subject to the waiver of privilege.

Connecticut first filed suit against Purdue and individual members of the Sackler family in 2019, alleging that the company and family peddled a series of falsehoods to push patients toward its opioids, reaping massive profits while opioid addiction skyrocketed. Connecticut expanded and amended that suit later in 2019 to add additional defendants and allegations, including the fraudulent transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars from Purdue Pharma to the Sacklers to shield their wealth from accountability.

Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in September 2019. In 2021, the bankruptcy court approved an inadequate Purdue bankruptcy plan that granted a lifetime legal shield to the Sackler family, unlawfully blocking states like Connecticut from pursuing claims against the family. The plan required the Sackler family to pay $4.3 billion over nine years to the states, municipalities and plaintiffs that sued the company. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia objected to and ultimately appealed the plan. The United States Trustee, an arm of the Department of Justice, also appealed.

In December 2021, the U.S. District Court vacated the Purdue bankruptcy order, agreeing with the dissenting states that the bankruptcy court lacked authority to force states to release their claims against the Sackler family.

The District Court decision paved the way for Attorney General Tong and the eight other dissenting states to negotiate a new settlement forcing Purdue and the Sacklers to pay $6 billion to victims, survivors and states, to permanently exit the global opioid business, and to force the Sacklers to reckon face-to-face with victims and survivors at a public hearing.

That $6 billion settlement was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, sending the states back to mediation in an even stronger position.

Connecticut, along with New York, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia led the bipartisan team that negotiated this settlement.

Members of the Sackler family included in the settlement include the eight heirs of Purdue founders Raymond and Mortimer Sackler who served on the Board of Purdue: Richard, Kathe, Mortimer Jr., Ilene, David, and Theresa Sackler; and the estates of Jonathan and Beverly Sackler. In addition, their associated trusts, advisers, and most of their children and heirs are also included.

Connecticut has led nationwide efforts to secure more than $50 billion nationwide to combat the opioid epidemic, including $600 million for Connecticut alone to support treatment, prevention, and recovery. That money has begun to flow.

Connecticut’s Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, comprised of health professionals, individuals with lived experience, and state and municipal leaders is responsible for allocating and accounting for opioid settlement funds.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
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