studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: a federal appeals court has ruled that the billionaire owners of purdue pharmasackler family, will be protected from civil lawsuits linked to the opioid crisis in exchange for a $6 billion settlement. purdue, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019 amid thousands of lawsuits, made drugs like oxycontin and is blamed for fueling the opioid epidemic. william brangham has more. william: geoff, purdue's opioid sales earned the sackler family billions of dollars. and the $6 billion that they will pay in this settlement will be given to states, cities, and individuals harmed by opioid addiction and overdoses. it also requires that the sacklers give up control of purdue pharma. in total, drug manufacturers, pharmacies, and distributors have pledged around $54 billion to state, local, and tribal governments for their respective role in the opioid epidemic. so, to understand where that money might be spent, we are joined by aneri pattani. she is tracking all of this for kff health news. welcome to the program. just remind us of the contours of this deal, the sackler settlement