Local governments and the State of Iowa are expected to receive $37.8 million from a multi-billion dollar settlement with Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin, and its owners, the Sackler family, after the settlement was finalized Wednesday. 

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird signed onto the $7.4 billion settlement agreement along with 49 state attorneys general and seven U.S. territories. The funds are required to be used to help combat the opioid crisis over the next 15 years. 

The settlement also ends the pharmaceutical giant’s ability to make opioids and ends the Sackler family’s control of the company. Purdue Pharma made and aggressively marketed the highly addictive opioid painkiller OxyContin for decades. 

“OxyContin is an extremely harmful and addictive drug; lives have been lost and families forever changed because of its devastating effects,” Bird said in a statement Wednesday. “Although a bittersweet victory, the nearly $38 million in settlement funds will continue Iowa’s fight against opioid addiction as we work to end the cycle of addiction and aid in recovery.”  

The Iowa Opioid Settlement Fund will receive $18.9 million over the next 15 years and $18.9 million will be distributed among local governments.