OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma set to dissolve after judge approves its criminal sentence

‘It is not lost on me that those who started the epidemic will not serve a sentence,’ the judge said Kathleen Scarpone, left, and others protest in front of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., in 2019. Scarpone lost her son to OxyContin addiction.Josh Reynolds/AP By Associated PressApril 30, 2026 NEWARK, N.J. — OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is set to be dissolved and replaced by a company focused on the public good by the week’s end, as a massive legal settlement resolving thousands of lawsuits takes effect. A federal judge on Tuesday delivered a criminal sentence to the company to resolve a Department of Justice probe — a last necessary step to clear the way for the settlement. U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo made her decision after listening to hours of impact statements from people who lost loved ones or struggled with addiction themselves and requested she reject the negotiated sentence. While she didn’t go that far, she said she sympathized with people who bore the brunt of an epidemic linked to more than 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999. STAT+ Exclusive Story Already have an account? Log in This article is exclusive