Here's what to know about Purdue Pharma's deal

OxyContin maker's efforts to settle suits over opioid toll on the verge of approval.

- BY GEOFF MULVIHILL

A judge said Friday that he planned to approve a deal for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family who own the company to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids, allowing money to start flowing to victims as soon as next spring.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Sean Lane said he would spell out his reasoning in a hearing this week.

Here’s what to know.

The Sackler family

Members of the Sackler family have been widely viewed as villains in an overdose epidemic that has been linked to 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999, including from heroin and illicit fentanyl.

Though most opioids were sold by other companies, many people have described the marketing of OxyContin, which was sold starting in 1996, as a key event that propelled the crisis.

With legal troubles mounting, family members left the company's board of directors in 2018 and have not received any payouts from it since then. But in the decade prior to that, they received more than $10 billion from the company that has been in the family for decades. About half that money went to pay taxes.

Under the deal, they'll contribute up to $7 billion and cease to own the company.