Oregon took a $95 million hit Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected part of a multi-billion-dollar opioid settlement that would have shielded the wealthy Sackler family from future liability while funneling money to states to pay for the devastation wrecked by the highly addictive class of drugs.

The $95 million is Oregon’s estimate of what it would have received had the deal with the manufacturer of the painkiller OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, gone through. Members of the Sackler family had agreed to pay up to $6 billion as owners of the company, which has been blamed for sparking a decades-long drug crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of Americans dead.

Roy Kaufmann, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Justice, said the state hadn’t formulated plans yet on how it specifically would have spent the money. Kaufmann said the money also is not part of the approximately $600 million Oregon has already received or is slated to receive over an 18-year period from other opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers — and that will be spent on prevention, treatment and supporting people in recovery.

Legal experts say state and local governments, tribes and more than 100,000 people have filed suit against Purdue Pharma — and all must now head back to negotiations to try to work out a new settlement with new terms. All 50 states had approved the settlement, including Oregon, which was one of nine that held out until the settlement amount reached between $5.5 billion and $6 billion, Kaufmann said.

The U.S. Justice Department had challenged the settlement, arguing it was illegal and unfair to potential future litigants who were harmed but didn’t give up their rights to try to hold the Sacklers liable.

Oregon officials say they will “actively participate in future mediation” to see if a deal can be reached that satisfies all sides.

“This is a win on policy. However, the $95 million that Oregon negotiated in prior settlements with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers now hangs in the balance,” Kaufmann said.

Kaufmann added: “If a settlement acceptable to Oregon is not reached, we intend to aggressively pursue our litigation against the Sacklers.”

Read more about Thursday’s Supreme Court 5-4 ruling here.

— Aimee Green covers breaking news and the justice system. Reach her at 503-294-5119, agreen@oregonian.com or @o_aimee.

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