Fifteen states, including Connecticut, have agreed to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced at a press conference on Jan. 23.
The agreement is a settlement in principle, meaning it hasn’t been signed yet. If it goes through, Connecticut will receive $64 million from the settlement over the next eight years.
In 2024, around 1,400 people died of drug overdoses in Connecticut, according to Tong. Between 2012 and 2022, more than 10,000 people died in the state.
Among those people were Kyle and Mathew Fitzgerald, and Michael Gagnon. Their mothers, Liz Fitzgerald and Christine Gagnon, were standing next to the podium during the press conference.
“We would trade $7.4 billion times two to get your boys back,” Tong said to Fitzgerald and Gagnon. “We don’t want more families, but there are going to families, because this crisis isn’t going anywhere. And this money is about walking this walk with families like the Fitzgeralds, like the Gagnons, like all the other families in the state, walking with walk with them for the rest of their lives.”
Around 1,200 to 1,300 people die of drug overdoses every year in Connecticut, according to the First Selectman of Ridgefield, Rudy Marconi. Drug overdoses kill more people than motor vehicle accidents and gun violence combined.
“This settlement is a significant step forward in addressing the immense harm caused by the opioid epidemic,” said Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Commissioner Nancy Navarretta in a press release published on the same day as the briefing. “This settlement holds Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable for their role in this public health crisis while providing our state with critical resources to expand treatment and recovery efforts. These funds will help save lives, support families, and strengthen communities. Our commitment remains resolute as we work to provide the care and resources needed to help individuals, families, and loved ones recover and rebuild their lives.”
Connecticut has already received over $158 million from opioid settlements, and will receive an additional $600 million, Navarretta said at the press briefing. So far, the state has spent $91.3 million on addiction prevention, treatment and harm reduction initiatives. On top of that, the state plans to invest $56.8 million to help people recovering from addiction find stable housing.
The present agreement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family is the most recent chapter in a saga of negotiations and legal battles. Initially, the Sackler family made a $6 billion settlement in 2022 for its role in the opioid epidemic. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned this settlement in June, 2024.
“This story is about a family of cruel billionaires who believed they were above the law, pursued by states who never backed down. Today, we are forcing Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family to pay $7.4 billion for their role in igniting one of the most devastating public health crises in American history. This is $1.4 billion more than the settlement reached in 2022, and $3.1 billion more than the settlement Connecticut rejected in 2021,” said Tong in the press release. “I have said since day one that this fight has been about justice and accountability for the hundreds of thousands of victims and families wrecked by the opioid epidemic. There will never be enough justice or dollars to restore those families or right this terrible wrong. I will continue to insist that Connecticut’s settlement funds be used to save lives through opioid treatment and prevention, including direct relief to victims and their families.”
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Opioids took my mother’s life. In 2015 after years of opioid abuse facilitated by doctors. How can I get a piece of this settlement.