Crime

Purdue Pharma Settlement Secures $1.58M for USVI Opioid Response

The U.S. Virgin Islands is set to receive approximately $1.58 million over the next 15 years as part of a historic $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, announced on January 22, 2025. The agreement, which addresses the pharmaceutical giant’s role in fueling the opioid crisis through aggressive marketing of OxyContin, marks a notable step toward accountability and recovery funding for communities across the United States and its territories. For the USVI, the settlement offers a critical lifeline to bolster treatment, prevention, and recovery programs for opioid addiction. The settlement, negotiated by a bipartisan coalition of 15 state attorneys general and joined by all 55 eligible U.S. states and territories, including the USVI, is the largest of its kind targeting individuals responsible for the opioid epidemic. It requires the Sackler family, Purdue’s owners, to pay up to $6.5 billion and Purdue to contribute roughly $900 million, with a significant ...