An investigation beginning in 2020 by the FBI into Purdue Pharma’s continuous marketing of opioid drugs to over 100 health care providers ended with a $7.4 billion settlement.
On Monday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the state will get $108 million over the next 15 years from this settlement.
“I'm proud to secure another $100 million to fight the opioid crisis in Arizona – and from some of the worst offenders, who worsened the opioid crisis across the country for their personal profit,” Mayes said.
Purdue Pharma is a pharmaceutical company known for manufacturing OxyContin, a highly addictive painkiller. The company was founded in the 1800s, but dissolved in 2021 after agreeing to pay billions in settlements for opioid marketing and overdose issues.
This will bring Arizona's total to $1.1 billion from opioid company settlements intended to fund addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programs.
"My office will never stop aggressively investigating and prosecuting the bad actors responsible for the opioid abuse epidemic and the scourge of fentanyl in our streets,” Mayes said.
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Danny Neumann is a nurse in the emergency department at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix. -
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