Sackler Family Settles Purdue Opioid Case for $7.4 Billion (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: We have some breaking news now, the Sackler families in Purdue Pharma have agreed to increase their settlement in a mass opioid litigation case. States, cities, and other entities sued the company, blaming the painkiller for an increase in opioid-related deaths. Now the Sackler families in Purdue Pharma have settled for $7.4 billion, a billion dollars more than previously offered in a settlement. ABC News Senior Investigator Correspondent Erin Kuturski has the latest on that. So Erin, walk us through this settlement, because they tried to settle before that ended up falling apart, so what are they saying now?

Speaker 2: Well it fell apart because the U.S. Supreme Court said the Sackler families couldn't automatically be shielded from litigation from those who didn't buy into the settlement under the terms of Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy. The company was filing for bankruptcy, not those individuals, so that provision is gone. But the money has increased significantly, $7.4 billion to roll out over a period of 15 years, and it will immediately go to all these states and cities and towns and communities that were ravaged by the opioids crisis.

Speaker 1: It's not just money though here, what other restrictions does Purdue Pharma face now?

Speaker 2: Purdue Pharma is out of the opioids business, and Purdue Pharma really came to exist because of opioids, OxyContin in particular. But now it's out of that game, members of the Sackler families can have nothing to do with opioids, and it's going to be a board of directors made up of the very same entities that sued Purdue Pharma to decide what the company should do next, but it's going to look a whole lot different than it was.

Speaker 1: All right, Senior Investigator Correspondent Erin Kuturski, Erin, thank you.