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Members of the billionaire Sackler family have softened their cash offers to settle thousands of opioid-related lawsuits against them and their company Purdue Pharma, offering up to $6 billion, more than $1 billion over an earlier offer, according to a mediator. The report submitted to the bankruptcy court on Friday afternoon.

But the deal was not made. The Sacklers did not compromise on the line they had drawn in the sand at the beginning of the trial. For billions of dollars, they continue to demand that all civil litigation against Purdue and opioids be settled and that such claims be barred in the future.

Legal experts and the public have criticized the Sackler family’s efforts to seek personal protection from liability. Like Purdue, it’s a shield typically granted to companies seeking bankruptcy restructuring, but it’s rarely extended to owners who don’t file for personal bankruptcy. Eight states and the District of Columbia refused to sign an earlier proposal because of Sackler liability shields.

The mediator, Judge Shelley Chapman, a federal bankruptcy judge, said in his report that the “superior majority” of those states accepted the new proposal. However, the holdups continue and the deal has yet to be made.

earlier offer Including a $4.55 billion pledge, including the $225 million federal settlement that Sacklers will pay out in roughly nine years. Under the new proposal, Sacklers will pay a total of $5.5 billion, with an additional contribution of up to $500 million based on the sale of international pharmaceutical companies. Sacklers will have 18 years to make the $1 billion additional payment.

The bankruptcy plan requires Sackler money, plus more billions from Purdue, to be given to funds for states, municipalities and tribes to treat and prevent opioid addiction and compensate victims.

Including Connecticut, Washington, California and Maryland, known as the “Nine,” have been at the mediation table with Purdue and Sacklers since January.

As negotiations continue, the adjournment against all lawsuits against both Purdue and Sacklers, in effect since September 2019, has been extended this week and will now expire on March 3.

Descendants of Mortimer Sackler, a representative of one branch of the family, declined to comment; Representatives of another branch descended from Raymond Sackler did not respond to a request for comment.

Judge Chapman has requested that the deadline for mediation talks be extended to February 28. Noting that the “unanimous acceptance” that Sacklers wanted has not yet been achieved, he suggested that further negotiations could achieve this goal or create a different set of plans. does not require unanimity.

Meanwhile, Purdue, whose plan was rejected by US District Judge Colleen McMahon in December, is appealing in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral defenses are expected in April.

Purdue released a statement: “We remain focused on achieving our goal of providing the American people with the urgently needed funds to reduce the opioid crisis. We believe a global resolution is the quickest and most cost-effective way out of Chapter 11, and we will continue to work with the United States Court of Appeals to build consensus as we move forward through the appeals process.”