On Mar. 19, 2025, Bankrupt drugmaker Purdue Pharma filed a new bankruptcy plan, a major step towards finalizing a proposed opioid settlement of at least $7.4 billion after a setback in the U.S. Supreme Court last year. 

The payments are aimed at resolving thousands of lawsuits alleging that the company’s pain medication OxyContin caused a widespread opioid addiction crisis in the United States. The headline figure had been previously flagged by Purdue and its owners, members of the wealthy Sackler family. 

The formal bankruptcy plan filed Tuesday, in White Plains, New York, fleshes out the settlement with new details about how the money will be allocated to states, local governments and individuals harmed by the crisis. The cash value of the plan assumes full creditor participation. Purdue said it expects widespread creditor support for the deal. 

The company plans to begin soliciting votes and opt-in decisions from its creditors in May. After that process is concluded, the plan would be submitted to a U.S. bankruptcy judge for final approval. 

The new bankruptcy plan was filed nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court upended the company’s previous attempt to resolve the lawsuits through a bankruptcy settlement that would have granted the Sacklers sweeping civil immunity from opioid lawsuits.

Purdue’s new plan responds to that ruling by giving creditors the choice to opt in to the settlement if they wish to be paid. Those who do not wish to join the settlement are free to pursue lawsuits against the Sacklers, who have said they would vigorously defend themselves in court. The Sacklers are putting up between $6.5 billion and $7 billion for the new settlement, a $1 billion increase over the deal that was rejected last year.

Purdue will pay $900 million of its own funds, and make several non-monetary concessions, including transforming itself into a public benefit company devoted to producing medicine for treating opioid use disorder and reversing overdoses. The new plan, like the previous one, aims to ensure that states and local governments use their settlement payments to address the harms of the opioid crisis.