Mediator: Sacklers willing to pay more in Purdue settlement

By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

A report filed in federal bankruptcy court says members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma are willing to increase their contribution to a nationwide opioid settlement by more than $1 billion. That would bring the total contribution from the Sacklers to between $5.5 billion and $6 billion. The money would be used to combat a crisis that has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades. The mediator who filed the report Friday also is asking a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge for more time to help broker a deal between the OxyContin maker and states that had objected to an earlier settlement.