MARK BRODIE: The deal reached this week between the U.S. Justice Department and the maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, does not end the legal issues for the pharmaceutical company. Other states, counties and cities have legal claims against the firm and its owners, the Sackler family. Pinal County is one of them. It sued individual members of the Sackler family over damage the opioid epidemic did in that county. Several other Arizona counties, as well as a few cities and the state itself, have also filed lawsuits. With me to talk about what the deal announced this week means for his county’s case is Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer. And Kent, first off, what do you make of the settlement announced this week?

KENT VOLKMER: On one hand, I’m glad that the government has been able to hold the Purdue family and the Sackler family accountable for their actions. I’m glad that there is a criminal penalty and there are significant fines. But probably most beneficial is the idea that the company is going to become a public benefit company, meaning that moving forward, our community as a whole will hopefully benefit from their patents and from their work.

BRODIE: So Pinal County filed a lawsuit naming the Sackler family as defendants, among others, with relation to Purdue Pharma. How does this settlement affect that lawsuit? And I’m curious how it affects some of the concerns that you had outlined in the lawsuit relative to Pinal County.

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