SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
OxyContin maker said to be brokering plea deal in criminal probe:
Purdue Pharma LP, the OxyContin maker controlled by members of the wealthy Sackler family, is nearing an agreement to plead guilty to criminal charges as part of a broader deal to resolve United States Justice Department probes into its alleged role in fuelling the nation's opioid crisis, six people familiar with the matter said.
Purdue lawyers and federal prosecutors are brokering a plea deal that could be unveiled as quickly as within the next two weeks and include billions of dollars of financial penalties, four of the people said. They stressed that talks are fluid and that some of the terms could change as discussions continue.
In addition to the criminal case, US prosecutors are negotiating a settlement of civil claims also carrying a financial penalty that allege unlawful conduct in Purdue's handling of prescription painkillers, they said.
The Stamford, Connecticut-based company is expected to face penalties exceeding $8bn. They consist of a roughly $3.54bn criminal fine, $2bn criminal forfeiture and $2.8bn civil penalty, some of the people familiar with the negotiations said.
They are unlikely to be paid in the near term as the criminal fine and civil penalty are expected to be considered alongside other claims in Purdue's bankruptcy proceedings and the company lacks the necessary funds to fully repay all creditors.
The tentative agreement would draw a line under Purdue's criminal exposure for what prosecutors and state attorneys general have described as aggressive marketing of a highly-addictive painkiller that minimised the drug's potential for abuse and overdosing.
[...] The outcome of settlement talks among Purdue, its owners and litigants will help determine how much money US communities receive to address the toll from opioids.
In earlier filings made as part of Purdue's bankruptcy case, federal prosecutors alleged the company at times paid doctors and pharmacies illegal kickbacks between 2010 and 2018 to encourage medically unnecessary opioid prescriptions, resulting in fraudulent claims to government healthcare programmes such as Medicare.
Purdue has offered to settle widespread litigation in a deal it values at more than $10bn, much of it linked to drugs under development to treat addiction and combat overdoses. One contentious aspect of the proposal is that some of the funds would come from continued OxyContin sales.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Barenflimski on Thursday October 08 2020, @02:32PM
The entirety of this is so disgusting and hypocritical in so many ways.
The fines. This money will go to lawyers. It will go to cities and county coffers. Where are the loads of treatment centers? The streets should be lined with them in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and elsewhere.
The marketing. Because the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow is so large the outrage over false marketing is huge. We are lied to daily. We are bombarded with advertisements in every corner of our waking lives. This is the only marketing the "professional class" is worried about?
Bankrupting these companies. Because we need less competition in the marketplace? I'm no fan of the pharmaceutical industry but what else are they supposed to do? How does this help the average Joe who is looking for cheaper drug prices?
Here in the United States, we created a system where aggressive marketing is the gold standard. We created a system where profits rule. We created a system where each person is supposed to look out for themselves. We are constantly told that you're an idiot if you fall for others scams and that it's your responsibility as a person to see through all of the bullshit. Yet when these companies do exactly what that system was designed to do we take them to task? Seems to me the system is what needs to be fixed. The incentives are completely backwards. The remedies are almost useless. How do any of these lawsuits help fix any of that?
Until I actually see people trying to use this money to help the actual people harmed (not their municipalities) I will not believe that this is anything but another power play by politicians and lawyers who don't work for the pharmaceutical companies. Until I see the system in this country changed so that no company is allowed to prey on people through marketing, it will all seem like different levels of scumminess to me. Until I see investment in the communities that turned to drugs because they had no investment or opportunities, I will only see this as morally sanctimonious people wagging their fingers at others.
This is nothing but a money grab by powerful people on the backs of the average Joe. To me it just sounds like another day in the life of an American.