Efforts to hold drug companies, pharmacies and distributors accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis have led to a whirlwind of legal activity across the United States that may be difficult to keep tabs on.

Three trials are currently underway in Florida, West Virginia and Washington state. New legal settlements are being reached almost every week to provide the government with funding to fight the crisis and, in some cases, drugs to reverse overdoses or help with treatment.

In total, more than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts over opioid charges by state and local governments, Native American tribes, labor unions, hospitals and other entities.Most claim that the industry has created a The nuisance in a crisis linked to the deaths of 500,000 Americans over the past two decades.

Collectively, businesses have faced settlements, judgments, and civil and criminal penalties totaling more than $47 billion. The primary entities targeted are companies that manufacture and sell pills; businesses that distribute them; and pharmacies that distribute them.

Below is an overview of lawsuits and settlements involving companies:

Purdue Pharma

Purdue is the maker of OxyContin, an extended-release version of oxycodone that packs higher doses of the drug into pills. Released in 1996, the drug became a blockbuster blockbuster — closely associated with the first wave of the epidemic.

Like other opioids, it has been promoted not only for post-surgery and cancer pain, but also for chronic pain — an area where doctors were previously reluctant to prescribe the powerful drug.

Facing thousands of lawsuits, the company entered bankruptcy protection in 2019 to help reach a settlement.

Agreed nowbut this is not final.

It asked the Sackler family members who owned the company to give up their stakes to make way for it to become a new entity, known as Knoa Pharma, with profits to fund the fight against the opioid crisis. In addition, family members will pay $5.5 billion to $6 billion over time, a portion of which will go to victims.

Earlier this year, three family members attended online hearing In which parents describe children lost to addiction starting with OxyContin, and those recovering from addiction describe their journeys.

As part of the exchange, Sackler family members will receive protection from opioid lawsuits.

In order to finally reach a settlement, a higher court must overturn the judge’s Ruling abandons earlier version of deal. A hearing is scheduled for April 29 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

At the same time, activists and some United States Senator Ask the Justice Department to consider charges against family members.

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