Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced that a $7.4 billion settlement reached with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, has become legally effective, capping nearly a decade of work by attorneys general from across the country who pursued investigations and litigation over Purdue’s and the Sackler family’s role in fueling the opioid crisis. 

Raoul and a bipartisan coalition of 55 attorneys general, representing all eligible states and U.S. territories, secured the settlement in June 2025, resolving the litigation and providing funds to communities across the country, as well as individual victims and other groups who filed claims in the bankruptcy proceedings. The settlement also permanently bars the Sackler family from selling opioids in the U.S. and delivers funds for addiction treatment, prevention and recovery to communities across the country over the next 15 years. 

“No amount of money will ever put right the devastating effects of Purdue’s and the Sacklers’ prioritization of profits over people’s lives and the welfare of our communities. This settlement, which requires the Sacklers to hand over billions of dollars and mandates that the company no longer exist, is the culmination of a decade of work by my office and countless others across the country. “I am proud of the dedication of the attorneys in my office’s Consumer Protection Division, who worked many hours to secure a settlement to fund services for Illinoisans affected by opioid addiction. I will continue to ensure settlement funding is distributed equitably throughout the state to help support programs that are trying to mitigate the opioid addiction crisis.”   

Raoul and a coalition of attorneys general launched an investigation of Purdue in 2016. Illinois sued Purdue in April 2019 and broadened the lawsuit to include members of the Sackler family in August 2019. Since Purdue filed bankruptcy in September 2019, the attorneys general have taken a lead role in the bankruptcy proceedings, including negotiating a new settlement that obtained more money from the Sackler family after the Supreme Court invalidated provisions of a prior settlement in June 2024. 

The settlement reached by Raoul and the attorneys general is the nation’s largest settlement with individuals responsible for the opioid crisis. Illinois and the state’s local governments will receive approximately $148.8 million in abatement funds from this settlement over the next 15 years.  

Most of the settlement funds will be distributed in the first three years. The Sacklers will pay $1.5 billion, and Purdue will pay approximately $900 million in the first payment. They will also pay $500 million after one year, an additional $500 million after two years, and $400 million after three years.   

The announcement is the latest in Attorney General Raoul’s ongoing efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and hold accountable companies whose deceptive practices increased opioid prescriptions at the expense of public health. To date, national investigations and litigation against the pharmaceutical industry over the opioid crisis have led to more than $58 billion in settlements, with Illinois’ share at over $1.6 billion.  

Details and updated reporting on the spending and uses of Illinois’ opioid settlement funds can be found on the state’s Opioid Settlements Initiative website, which details uses of opioid settlement funds the state and local governments receive.    

Attorney General Raoul urges anyone who believes they or a loved one may be addicted to opioids to seek help by calling the Illinois Helpline for Opioids and Other Substances at 833-2FINDHELP, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.   

Joining Raoul in in reaching the settlement are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.