Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Points To 'Historic' Opioid Settlement
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Wednesday backed a multistate settlement with Purdue Pharma, maker of the painkiller OxyContin, and said Florida will continue other legal efforts stemming from the opioid epidemic.
The Washington Post reported that Purdue Pharma had reached a tentative settlement with 23 states and more than 2,000 cities about the company's role in selling opioids linked to addiction and deaths across the country.
The Post reported that the settlement was thought to be worth $10 billion to $12 billion. Moody released a statement late Wednesday backing the settlement.
"After months of pursuing justice for Florida we have negotiated a historic, multibillion-dollar agreement in principle to hold Purdue Pharma responsible for its role in the national opioid epidemic," Moody said in the statement.
"Sadly, this agreement cannot bring back those who have lost their lives to opioid abuse, but it will help Florida gain access to more life-saving resources and bolster our efforts to end this deadly epidemic.
I want to assure Floridians that we will continue to aggressively pursue our state case against all remaining defendants." But some attorneys general, such as Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, opposed the settlement, which also involves the Sackler family that owns Purdue Pharma.
"The families who were hurt by Purdue and the Sacklers have spoken loud and clear that this case demands real accountability, and I will continue to fight for that," Healey said in a statement Wednesday.
"It's critical that all the facts come out about what this company and its executives and directors did, that they apologize for the harm they caused, and that no one profits from breaking the law. These families deserve justice."
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