San Mateo County secures major opioid settlement after years of legal battle against Purdue and the Sacklers
San Mateo County, California – This week, San Mateo County reached a major turning point in its long-running quest to hold those accountable for the damage done by the opioid epidemic. The most recent turn in the County’s legal struggle marks the end of years of courtroom battle and a real start toward healing for a community that is still dealing with addiction, loss, and systemic failure.
San Mateo County was one of the first governments to sue Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. The Sackler family made and aggressively marketed addictive opioids, which helped cause one of the deadliest public health disasters in modern history. County officials pushed forward with thousands of other communities around the country, determined to hold those responsible for the families whose lives were forever damaged by addiction and overdose.
Their case stretched across years of bankruptcy hearings and national negotiations. In 2019, Purdue filed for Chapter 11 protection since the corporation was under a lot of legal pressure. The Sackler family asked for wide immunity from future civil lawsuits during the bankruptcy process. San Mateo County and many other plaintiffs strongly rejected this proposal. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the immunity plan, which led to additional negotiations regarding reaching an agreement.
The talks ended in January 2025, when the Sacklers, Purdue Pharma, states, and counties across the country reached a final settlement of $7.4 billion. As part of that agreement, the Sacklers will provide San Mateo County about $3.3 million in new remediation funds over the course of several years. The Purdue bankruptcy estate will also give the county about $1.5 million. The County’s opioid budget is now roughly $49 million, thanks to past agreements.
These dollars are already changing how actions are executed. Settlement money has made detox programs stronger, added more medication-assisted therapy to county jails, improved recovery assistance at San Mateo Medical Center, and made it easier for people to get overdose reversal drugs. The County has also put money into community-based behavioral health providers, improved services at the Redwood City Navigation Center, and set up an Overdose Steering Committee to coordinate prevention efforts across agencies.
County authorities stress that no legal or financial outcome can bring back the dead, ease the pain, or heal the trauma that has been passed down through generations. But being responsible is important, not just in name but also in action. The settlement makes sure that the people and companies responsible for the terrible harm will now help rebuild the systems that are needed to fix it.
The money will keep going to treatment, recovery, and lifesaving interventions, keeping a promise to the people who need it most. The fight was long, and the loss was huge, but this success shows that things are moving in the right direction toward healing, one life, one step, and one community at a time.
