Indiana attorney general backing proposed opioid settlement

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s attorney general says he is supporting the tentative multibillion-dollar settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma because it would get money flowing to help deal with the deadly national opioid crisis.

The statement from Attorney General Curtis Hill released Wednesday is his first about the deal since it was announced a week ago. Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma has since filed for bankruptcy in its plan to settle thousands of lawsuits against it and the Sackler family, which owns the company.

Hill says the Sacklers are held directly accountable for their role by being required to pay $3 billion under the deal. Hill says the alternative to the deal “is protracted litigation with an uncertain future.”

Two dozen state attorneys general oppose the deal, decrying it as woefully inadequate.