State expecting $125M in latest settlement with Purdue Pharma
By: Scott Fallon
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... New Jersey will receive up to $125 million in the latest settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners over deceptive marketing of a highly addictive painkiller that led to one of the larges drug crisis in U.S. history.
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The settlement, announced on June 16, [2025] comes as the number of overdose deaths in New Jersey has plummeted in recent years.
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Suspected overdose deaths dropped to 1,813 last year [2024] hitting an all-time high of 3,144 in 2021, when the opioid epidemic combined with the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemci to cause a surge, medical examiner data shows. The downward trend appears to be continuing whit 501 suspected deaths so far in 2025 as midyear approaches.
..... New Jersey's $125 million is part of a $7.4 billion settlement reached among 50 states, four U.S. territories and Washington, D.C., in a lawsuit against Purdue and its owners, the Sacklers family. the money is slated to be sued for addiction treatment and prevention.
..... It was one of many lawsuits initiated by state against opioid manufactures in recent years. New Jersey has been awarded about $1.3 billion including the latest settlement. The Sacklers became the focus of prosecutors for their alleged direct role in flooding the market with prescriptions drugs, particularly Oxycontin, that fueled a wave of addictions and overdoses.
..... "The Sacklers put greed and profit over human lives, and with this settlement, they will never be allowed to sell these drugs again in the United States," Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.
..... Drug deaths in New Jersey rose sharply over the course of a decade as more people became addicted to prescription painkillers, mirroring a national trend. Overdose deaths tripled from 1,096 in 2012 to the high point in 2021. The settlement money will be shared by the state and local governess. It is supposed to be used only to combat addiction.
..... "While we know that no amount of money can erase the pain for those who lost loved ones to this crisis, this settlement will help prevent future tragedies through education, prevention and other resources," Platkin said.