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This is because of two main things, AFAIK.
The number of heroin and other opiate addicts that got that way because of prescription opioids. This is a period of time where a significant majority of opiate/opioid addicts started on legally prescribed pills, were kept on them too long and weren't properly tapered off. Many then sought street versions of the drugs to avoid withdrawals and fell further into addiction.
Adulteration of other drugs. It has long been common to adulterate drugs by adding cheaper but stronger drugs and filler to the mix so that most users know something is happening but remain unaware they paid more for a mix of dubious efficacy. Incomplete mixing, higher tolerance to the advertised drug than the additive one, or are in some way compounding in the mixed drugs cause many more overdose deaths than those of known and consistent effects.
And when both aspects combine, it can prove to be a particularly deadly combo.
Okay so you're really telling me that the inner city addict who steals his brother's watch and pawns it for drug money, back in 1992, that was all because he used to be functioning member of society but then got a prescription? Come on man. Heroin has been around a lot longer than any sort of Perdue malfeasance, as have the criminals supplying it to junkies.
I will perhaps give you that it's possible a large number of new heroin users started with prescription pills, for some period during the height of the crisis. But it is beyond ridiculous to ascribe every opioid death to Purdue.
And as for combining drugs, yes that is the risk you take when you buy illicit substances off the street. That is a thing that has been going on long before Purdue, continues today, and will continue into the future even after they rebrand or reorganize or whatever they call it. None of that has anything to do with Purdue.
My point is, the US of course has a drug problem and lots of people die from it. But if you are going to talk about the harm a company creates, you should focus on the deaths actually related to that harm, not out of a broad general category.
For example, if you say 'People need to slow down in work zones! 500 highway workers died on the job last year!' But if the reality is only 100 of those died from being hit by vehicles, the other 400 died from equipment malfunction, chemical exposure, and bad workplace safety practices, your statistic is irrelevant and disingenuous, just like this article.
And how do you propose the people crunching the numbers separate these cases? Most addicts will lie about how they became addicted, choosing whatever story they feel paints them in a positive light. Most families of deceased addicts will stick to the same story, either because they believe it or because they too want to paint their dearly departed as a victim rather than irresponsible. Practically speaking, there is no way to get an accurate split between who was addicted to prescription drugs first and who wasn't.