$5.5B judgment against Purdue Pharma paves way for opioid deal

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Published  April 29, 2026 11:11am CDT
FOX Local

FILE-Purdue Pharma headquarters stands in Stamford, Connecticut.  (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The Brief 

    • A judge ruled that Purdue Pharma has been ordered to pay $5.5 billion in fines.
    • Purdue Pharma will have to fund a settlement which in part will allocate millions of dollars to people affected by the opioid crisis. 
    • The OxyContin maker previously pleaded guilty to duping government regulators and paying doctors to facilitate higher opioid sales.

Purdue Pharma was sentenced on Tuesday to $5.5 billion in fines ​and penalties connected to the company’s 2020 guilty plea to charges of deceiving government regulators and paying kickbacks to doctors to bolster opioid sales.

Reuters noted that under a plea deal, much of the $5.5 billion in fines will go unpaid, with the Department of Justice collecting $225 million if Purdue manages its remaining assets to repay ‌creditors, primarily state and local governments saddled with the cost and impacts of the opioid crisis areas. 

RELATED: States agree to $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma in opioid case

The company, as part of a plea deal, also admitted to paying kickbacks ​to doctors to boost OxyContin sales and to mislead federal regulators about its efforts to curtail illegal drug use. Purdue Pharma, the maker of painkiller OxyContin has been criticized for setting off the opioid crisis.

What does the Purdue Pharma judgment mean for people impacted by the opioid crisis?

Why you should care:

Tuesday’s sentencing in a New Jersey federal court opens a path for Purdue Pharma to dissolve into bankruptcy and utilize its assets to fund a $7.4 billion settlement, which includes an $865 million fund to reimburse individuals affected by the opioid epidemic.

Meanwhile, victims who spoke in court on Tuesday shared their frustration with a bankruptcy settlement that might shut out many individuals who have been ​unable to find their old prescription records needed ​to qualify for a payment. 

RELATED: Supreme Court grapples with OxyContin maker's bankruptcy deal, with billions of dollars at stake

U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo told Purdue's lawyers ⁠that they should collaborate with claimants who are having trouble finding their old prescription records, rather than spurning them.

Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case concluding

The backstory:

After more than six years in court, Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy case is coming to a close after appeals that went as far as the Supreme Court.

The sentencing was one of the final hurdles before the bankruptcy settlement could proceed. Reuters reported that Purdue expects to arise from bankruptcy on May 1, ending its previous operations and morphing into a new nonprofit ​organization that will manufacture opioid addiction treatment and overdose-reversal medicines.

In 2007, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to misbranding and fraud charges related to its marketing of OxyContin. The company admitted that it falsely promoted the drug as less addictive and less likely to cause withdrawal symptoms than other pain medications.

The Source: Information for this story was provided by Reuters and previous FOX Local reporting. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.


 

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