Purdue Pharma Settlement Different Than Big Tobacco Lawsuit, AG Says

The state of Oklahoma has reached a settlement with Purdue Pharma, one of the leading manufacturers of prescription painkillers.

The last settlement of this magnitude that held manufactures responsible was 23 years ago when Oklahoma joined several other states in filing a lawsuit against the tobacco industry. That resulted in a multi-billion-dollar settlement and a huge payout for Oklahoma.

Oklahoma's Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Big Tobacco in 1996.

By 1998, 45 other states filed similar lawsuits and four of the largest tobacco companies agreed to negotiate a national settlement called the "Master Settlement Agreement."

That forced the tobacco industry to end its efforts to target youth in their marketing campaigns and to compensate states for healthcare costs. Attorney General Mike Hunter said tobacco companies continued to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The idea with this new settlement is to decrease the need for prescription painkillers.

"It's not apple and apples, the tobacco settlement contemplated that the manufacturers would continue to sell cigarettes and cigars and smokable products," said Hunter. "So, what we're hopeful for is a dramatic abatement of the sale of pharmaceutical opioids."

As part of the Master Settlement Agreement, states receive an annual payment from the tobacco industry as long as cigarettes are sold nationally.

According to TSET, Oklahoma has received more than a billion dollars since the settlement. That money is used to fund programs for treating and preventing tobacco use.