OxyContin Manufacturer Purdue Pharma Plead Guilty To Federal Charges
Purdue Pharma has reached a deal with the Justice Department in the case revolving around their role in the opioid epidemic. Purdue, the manufacturers of Oxycontin, a prescription painkiller, has pleaded guilty to three federal criminal charges in a settlement of over $8B.
The Justice Department announced Purdue would plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and two counts of breaching federal anti-kickback law. The criminal resolution also includes a $3.5B criminal fine, criminal forfeiture of $2B, and a $2.8B civil settlement.
Direct payment to the government of $225M will be made as part of Purdue’s $2B forfeiture. The $3.5B criminal fine likely won’t be fully collect due to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings taking place.
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The company’s executives and owners aren’t off the hook yet. Members of the incredibly wealthy Sackler family are still under a criminal investigation and aren’t yet absolved of criminal liability.
The company will admit in the plea deal that they broke federal laws by “knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with others to aid and abet” to push the pharmaceuticals from medical officials “without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice.”
“The agreed resolution, if approved by the courts, will require that the company be dissolved and no longer exist in its present form,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said of the agreement.
A spokesperson for the Sackler family said, “Members of the Sackler family who served on Purdue’s board of directors acted ethically and lawfully, and the upcoming release of company documents will prove that fact in detail… This history of Purdue will also demonstrate that all financial distributions were proper.”
The spokesperson confirmed to FOX business that “no member of the Sackler family was involved in that conduct or served in a management role at Purdue” as part of the deal.
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