Judge approves opioid settlement for Purdue Pharma and Sackler family members who own the company

A federal bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday formally approved OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harms of opioids.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane gave reasoning Tuesday for approving the plan, which requires members of the Sackler family who own the company to contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years. Most of the money is to go to government entities to fight the opioid crisis that has been linked to 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999.