A person familiar with the agreement says the company that has made billions of dollars selling the drug OxyContin and the family that owns it have reached a $270 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma over its role in the opioid crisis.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the settlement amount to The Associated Press because the person was not authorized to discuss the terms before an official announcement expected later Tuesday.
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter's office will hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon to talk about the settlement with Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma. The office hasn't released terms of the settlement.
The company's settlement will go toward establishing the National Center for Addiction Studies and Treatment at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa.
The deal comes two months before a trial against the pharmaceutical companies was set to begin.
Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin more than 20 years ago and marketed the strong prescription painkiller aggressively to doctors.
Oklahoma sued 13 opioid manufacturers in 2017, alleging they fraudulently engaged in marketing campaigns that led to thousands of overdose addictions and deaths.
State officials have said that since 2009, more Oklahoma residents have died from opioid-related deaths than in vehicle crashes.
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