Opioid Addiction Lawsuits and Settlements

Opioid addiction has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths over the past two decades. Drug companies like Purdue Pharma (maker of OxyContin), distributors like CVS and Walmart, and others are facing legal action on a number of fronts, including from state, city, and county governments.

A wave of "mass tort"-style lawsuits from individual plaintiffs may still be coming, but a number of recent huge settlement deals (and Purdue Pharma's $7.4 billion bankruptcy plan) may stem that tide. In this article, we'll:

• look at the intersection of the opioid crisis and the law
• discuss some high profile settlements involving opioid manufacturers
• explain the $7.4 billion opioid injury settlement and Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan approved in November 2025
• look at the $26 billion settlement between four of the biggest drug and health care companies in the U.S. and the thousands of state and local governments that sued them.

How Did the Opioid Crisis Start?

It's fairly safe to say that Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin kicked off the opioid crisis in the 1990s. Purdue and its owners, the Sackler family, are accused of aggressively marketing opioid drugs and misleading the public on just how addictive these medications are.

In 2007, Purdue pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges that it had misrepresented OxyContin’s risks to stakeholders. Ten years later, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid epidemic a national crisis. The U.S. soon saw an average of 50,000 opioid-related deaths a year, and the numbers continued to rise.

The Covid-19 pandemic added stress and grief to an already untenable situation for those addicted to opioids, and those in recovery. August 2019 to July 2020 saw the highest number of overdose deaths of all drugs, and opioids were attributed with 73% of those deaths, according to Bloomberg.

As of 2025, the overall drug overdose numbers have finally started to decline.

Opioid Crisis Investigation and Settlements

Investigators have cast a wide net in identifying those responsible for the opioid epidemic, in an effort to determine what they knew and when. Multiple defendants have come under scrutiny, from manufacturers to prescribers and distributors.

Early lawsuits revealed thousands of documents detailing how McKinsey & Company, a marketing consultant to Purdue Pharma, promised to “turbocharge” opioid sales. McKinsey advised Purdue to focus on marketing high-dose prescriptions, despite clear evidence that the opioid epidemic in the U.S. had been escalating for years. The revelations prompted McKinsey to settle investigations into its role in the opioid crisis for $600 million in February 2021. States will use the settlement proceeds for opioid prevention and recovery programs.

Inundated with lawsuits, and likely in an effort to manage the litigation, Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in 2019. In November 2020, the federal bankruptcy judge approved Purdue’s $8.3 billion settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice in which Purdue pleaded guilty to three criminal charges. The deal let individuals within the Sackler family forfeit $225 million, a mere fraction of the fortune they earned on the backs of Americans who suffer the consequences of lifelong addiction.

Over the last decade, drug manufacturers, pharmacy chains, and other companies have agreed to pay (or been ordered to pay) hundreds of billions of dollars to state governments, cities, and others. Many of these deals include the funding of programs and other resources to help fight opioid addiction and its effects at the local level.

Let's look at a few recent settlement deals and other opioid-related legal news.

Purdue Pharma's Bankruptcy and Settlement Deal

The biggest fish seemed to have been taken out of the pool of opioid lawsuit defendants in September of 2021, when a bankruptcy court ruling dissolved Purdue Pharma. The most controversial part of the resulting settlement deal required members of the Sackler family (owners of Purdue Pharma) to pay $4.5 billion as compensation to claimants and toward the battle against opioid addiction, but it also let the Sacklers themselves off the hook for most future legal action over harm caused by opioids.

In December 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon ruled that the bankruptcy court had no legal basis for preventing opioid addiction lawsuit claimants from suing the Sacklers.

In March 2022, Purdue Pharma, members of the Sackler family, and a number of key states reached a revised agreement in which the company and its individual members would pay up to $6 billion dollars to help address, treat, and prevent opioid addiction in communities across the country. But this latest iteration raised many of the same objections that came in response to the 2021 agreement, since the Sacklers themselves would still avoid personal liability for their role in the opioid crisis.

The U.S. Supreme Court Weighs in on Immunity for the Sacklers

In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court announced a long-awaited ruling on the deal, holding that the Sacklers couldn't be shielded form personal liability as part of the bankruptcy settlement.

The decision opened the Sacklers back up to personal liability for their role in contributing to the opioid crisis, but it also derailed payment of $6 billion that would have compensated plaintiffs and provided much-needed funding to fight that same crisis.

The parties returned to the negotiating table.

$7.4 Billion Bankrupty Plan and Injury Settlement Approved

In November 2025, a bankruptcy judge approved the final Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan, through which Sackler family members (who didn't themselves file for bankruptcy as individuals) would dissolve the company and pay up to $7 billion of their own money to those who suffered harm and loss because of the nationwide opioid epidemic.

According to The New York Times, the plan "represents the biggest settlement with a single pharmaceutical company," and "will bring long-sought payments to states, municipalities, hospitals and school districts, plus nearly 150,000 personal injury victims and families of babies born with symptoms of opioid withdrawal."

A few months before the bankruptcy deal was finally approved, all states in the U.S. and several territories agreed to a $7.4 billion settlement deal with Sackler family members and Purdue Pharma. According to the New York Attorney General's office, the deal will:

• end the Sacklers’ control of Purdue Pharma and their ability to sell opioids in the U.S., and
• deliver funding to support opioid addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery programs in communities all across the country.

States Reach $17 Billion Deal With Drug Makers and Pharmacies

In June 2023, over a dozen states announced a final settlement agreement of at least $17 billion with drug manufacturers Teva and Allergan, and pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens. Cities, counties, and other local governments in these states were allowed to sign on to the deal (or opt out and pursue their own settlements), and a national administrator was set to start releasing funds by the end of 2023.

Jury Verdict Against Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS Taken Away

In November 2021, a federal jury in Cleveland, Ohio found that three of the biggest pharmacies in the nation—Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS—contributed to a "public nuisance" by ignoring clear warning signs related to opioid prescriptions. Jurors also found that the pharmacies failed to implement proper oversight protocols that might have stemmed the tide of opioid addiction, overdose, and death in two Ohio counties.

The jury's verdict was the first in any kind of lawsuit over harm caused by opioid addiction. After the verdict was announced, the federal judge overseeing the case ruled that the three defendants should pay more than $650 million in damages.

This victory was short-lived. The pharmacies appealed to the Sixth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, which ruled that only the Ohio Supreme Court could decide whether Ohio law recognizes public nuisance claims in a case like this one. In late 2024, the state court said Ohio law doesn't allow such claims.

This means the jury verdict gets taken away, and Ohio officials—who previously opted not to participate in cases that have reached settlements thus far—will have to decide on their next move.

Native American Tribes Reach Massive Opioid Settlement

In February 2022, hundreds of Native American tribes reached a $590 million settlement with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and three of the biggest drug distributors in the country (AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson), according to The New York Times.

Compared with other groups, the Native American population has suffered a disproportionately high number of opioid-related deaths, and the largest chunk of the $590 million settlement is slated for addiction treatment and related health services, execution of which is to be overseen by tribal health experts.

Four Companies Reach $26B Settlement Over Opioids

In February 2022, four of the biggest drug and health care companies in the U.S.—AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, Johnson & Johnson and McKesson—reached a $26 billion deal to settle thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments, over the role these companies played in causing and perpetuating the nation's opioid crisis.

According to NPR, "[m]ost of the money will go to fund drug rehab and harm reduction programs at a time when opioid overdoses are killing more Americans than ever before."

Walgreens Liable for San Francisco's Opioid Crisis

In August 2022, a federal judge decided that pharmacy chain Walgreens played a big part in the city of San Francisco's opioid crisis, by failing to exercise proper oversight over the prescriptions it was filling, and ignoring obviously suspicious orders rather than reporting them to proper authorities. The ruling followed another successful application of the "public nuisance" argument discussed above.

Read the decision, courtesy of the City Attorney of San Francisco website.

Can You File an Opioid Addiction Lawsuit?

While most of the opioid-related legal action so far has been started by states, cities, counties, and tribal governments, individuals might be able to file a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and others, when they meet certain criteria. While these factors will vary among law firms, in general, individuals harmed by opioids can file a lawsuit when the victim was prescribed an FDA-approved opioid, and:

• died from an overdose
• was hospitalized due to an overdose, or
• was treated for addiction in inpatient rehab.

Individual lawsuits claim opioid manufacturers and distributors caused or contributed to victims’ addictions. The most viable individual claims appear to be wrongful death cases, although addiction in and of itself is an injury for which victims might be compensated.

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to the viability of an individual lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and others (including the massive 2025 Purdue Pharma bankruptcy and settlement deal). If you're considering legal action over addiction or any other type of harm linked to opioid use, your best first step might be talking to an attorney to get a sense of the current legal landscape and your options.