OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is negotiating a multibillion-dollar deal over the US opioid crisis that would take into account the number of overdose deaths and other factors to determine how to split the money.
FILE - This Feb. 19, 2013 file photo shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. State attorneys general and lawyers representing local governments said Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019, they are in active negotiations with Purdue Pharma, maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, as they attempt to reach a landmark settlement over the nation's opioid crisis.
The formulas would take into account several factors, including opioid distribution in a given jurisdiction, the number of people who misuse opioids and the number of overdose deaths. In the case of the opioid litigation, some of the plaintiffs have said they want direct control over the money to make sure it goes toward treating and preventing addiction and covering some of the taxpayer costs associated with the deadly epidemic, including mental health services, police calls and foster care for children of addicts.
The talks are being overseen by a federal judge in Cleveland. But Purdue wants any settlement to apply to all claims against it, according to a person familiar with the talks but not authorized to discuss them publicly. That would include the nearly 2,000 lawsuits in federal court and the hundreds of other local government and state lawsuits filed in state courts.
Government health officials have pegged the economic toll of the prescription opioid epidemic at more than $78 billion per year, according to a 2016 estimate by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The figure includes the costs of medical care, addiction treatment, lost productivity and legal expenses.
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