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OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma to Plead Guilty to Three Criminal Charges
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to plead guilty to 3 criminal charges as part of an $8 billion-plus settlement
WASHINGTON (AP) — Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an epidemic, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion, Justice Department officials told The Associated Press.
The company will plead guilty to a criminal information being filed Wednesday in federal court in New Jersey to three counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and violating federal anti-kickback laws, the officials said.
The deal does not release any of the company's executives or owners — members of the wealthy Sackler family — from criminal liability. A criminal investigation is ongoing.
The officials were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Also at: Business Insider, CBS News, and ABC News.
Guilty pleas? You seldom see that - these corporates always seem to get away with weasel word statements to the effect, "We acknowledge no wrongdoing blah blah blah . . . "
Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty to Opioid Crisis Charges, Will Become a Public Benefit Corporation
Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, has agreed to plead guilty to three federal criminal charges for its role in creating the nation's opioid crisis and will pay more than $8 billion and close down the company.
The money will go to opioid treatment and abatement programs. The privately held company has agreed to pay a $3.5 billion fine as well as forfeit an additional $2 billion in past profits, in addition to the $2.8 billion it agreed to pay in civil liability.
"Purdue Pharma actively thwarted the United States' efforts to ensure compliance and prevent diversion," said Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Administrator Tim McDermott. "The devastating ripple effect of Purdue's actions left lives lost and others addicted."The company doesn't have $8 billion in cash available to pay the fines. So Purdue will be dissolved as part of the settlement, and its assets will be used to create a new "public benefit company" controlled by a trust or similar entity designed for the benefit of the American public. The Justice Department said it will function entirely in the public interest rather than to maximize profits. Its future earnings will go to paying the fines and penalties, which in turn will be used to combat the opioid crisis.
That new company will continue to produce painkillers such as OxyContin, as well as drugs to deal with opioid overdose. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who announced the settlement, defended the plans for the new company to continue to sell that drug, saying there are legitimate uses for painkillers such as OxyContin.
Also at The New York Times, Bloomberg, NBC, and CBS.
Previously:
City of Everett, Washington Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma
South Carolina Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue
Purdue Pharma to Cut Sales Force, Stop Marketing Opioids to Doctors
Colorado Attorney General Sues Purdue Pharma
OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma May File for Bankruptcy to Disrupt Lawsuits
After Pushing Addictive OxyContin, Purdue Now Pursuing Overdose Antidote
Purdue Pharma to Pay $270 Million Settlement to Oklahoma
Report Finds that Purdue Pharma Infiltrated WHO, Manipulated Opioid Policies to Boost Sales
Opioid Talks Fail, Purdue Bankruptcy Filing Expected
Makers of OxiCotin, Purdue Pharma, Files Reorganization Chapter 11 "Bankrupty"
Sacklers Threaten to Scrap Opioid Deal If They Aren't Shielded From Lawsuits
Report: Sacklers Using Fake Doctors, False Marketing to Sell OxyContin in China
OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma LP Said to be Brokering Plea Deal in Criminal Probe
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:36AM (33 children)
Curious, is it not, that both Runaway, and takyon, submit a story about narcotic abuse among the lower and uneducated classes? I mean, nobody seems to worry about the steroid abusers, especially in high places! Or the escatsy users? Or the Pot Heads in Colorado, just a short few hours drive from Arkansas. . . Just saying. And we all know that Runaway had an "incident" a few years back, that put him online almost full time, had him playing video games, and ultimately brought him to SN to spew Gartway Pundit Brietbarf stuff. Still on the pain meds, are we, Runaway? Do you need an intervention? Let us know, I am sure a Soylentil near you could come to your aid.
Takyon, on the otherhand, just a dope fiend. Doesn't matter what dope, any dope with do. Hear he has started on adrenochrome!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 22 2020, @08:00AM (29 children)
What large legal business has used its network of doctors to push steroids, ecstasy, or marijuana? There is no analogous situation with these other drugs.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @09:32AM (5 children)
Another right wing druggie! Khallow! I am surprised that you show up? With you it is Vienna circle meth, is it not? Remember what the old time hippies used to say! "Speed kills, man!"
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 22 2020, @11:08AM (4 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @11:18AM
He is acting more like a wounded beast than usual. Good.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @01:16PM (2 children)
"Aristarchus acknowledges no wrongdoing blah blah blah . . . "
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:00PM (1 child)
I don't see any aristarchus posts. What are you guys talking about? Is this more "antifa"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:06PM
Hell no, antifa is just an idea.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by SpockLogic on Thursday October 22 2020, @11:58AM (20 children)
I don't see one person plead guilty so I don't see anyone going to jail.
Until the Sacklers go to jail and their ill gotten drug pushing gains are confiscated there will be no justice. A fine is just the cost of doing business.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 22 2020, @12:01PM (4 children)
Trying the people responsible would be a separate court case. The business pleading guilty will have a negative consequence for trials involving corporate officers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by SpockLogic on Thursday October 22 2020, @12:10PM (3 children)
Let me know if and/or when anyone is indicted.
I won't hold my breath.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday October 22 2020, @01:13PM (1 child)
Agreed. When do you ever see executives held responsible for the crimes they oversaw? Only when the crime is committed against the company itself, and not even reliably then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @02:42PM
This is white collar crime involving billionaires, they won't be tried. That being said, the activities the were engaged in should be far more than what's necessary to pierce the veil separating them from the corporation and go after them directly. Just because you're organized as some sort of liability shielded corporate entity doesn't mean you get unlimited protection. They did go after a number of people involved with Enron and MCI-Worldcom back when they still prosecuted white collar crime occasionally. Otherwise every criminal syndicate would be an LLC and they wouldn't bother hiding their activities. They'd just start a new one every time the old one got busted.
The main reason why you probably won't see that happen now is that the politicians are that much more corrupt than they were back then. They pretend like ordinary people don't care or don't understand enough of what's going on to want blood, they are wrong. The people have a surprisingly good understanding of a lot of these crimes even if they don't understand all the specifics of how it works.
These are individuals who need to be publicly executed in front of the NYSE in order to serve as a warning for the rest of the traitorous rats that their time can come too.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:23PM
I'm not holding my breath either. But....both articles do say the criminal investigation is still in progress.
This is from the Business Insider one:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @01:19PM (5 children)
Cost of doing business? Did you miss the bit where the company is being dissolved?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @02:23PM (4 children)
They are indeed in bankruptcy proceedings which makes this even less of a slap on the wrist than it already was. The bankruptcy court will likely reduce this substantially.
Really, we need the death penalty here, execute a few of the Sacklers for the thousands upon thousands of deaths that their corrupt activities caused and perhaps the next pharmaceutical company will think twice before doing it. If we're going to have that bullshit felony murder charge where people are charged with murder even if they didn't pull the trigger, intend for the trigger to be pulled or were even in the room at the time, we should be able to find a way of applying it to these sons of bitches that have caused so many deaths.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Gaaark on Thursday October 22 2020, @03:01PM (2 children)
Yup! Hold the people MAKING THE DECISIONS accountable.
They killed people KNOWING they'd die: so, charge them with murder. A drug pusher killing people on the street woud get murder or manslaughter...why is this different from what the Sacklers did?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:42PM (1 child)
I knew a girl who was convicted of manslaughter when her friend ODed while they were smoking crack together... These lying pill pushers are far worse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 23 2020, @02:11AM
That's why there needs to be safe harbor laws to protect people like that if they choose to report the OD to the authorities while there's still some hope of saving them.
But yeah, if you kill or allow a couple people to die they go super hard and try to have capital punishment, but if you kill dozens you get life and if you cause tens of thousands to die, they let you off with a slap on the wrist and an admonishment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @10:47PM
That depends. Criminal conviction fines like this are one of the highest priority debts and probably not be dischargeable.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @01:21PM (6 children)
I'm with you. When the individual members of the family start losing assets, then I'll be satisfied. Sell off their homes, their cars, take all of their investments, all of their collectible doo-diddies, the summer home in the mountains, the other summer home in the Bahamas, all of it. They can learn New American, "Would you like fries with that?"
(Score: 3, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Thursday October 22 2020, @04:10PM (4 children)
But that would be SOCIALISM! Isn't the FREE MARKET supposed to sort out all that addiction nonsense? Only the NANNY STATE would punish these brave Capitalists for simply making money!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:08PM (3 children)
Apparently, you've confused me with - - - - someone.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:15PM (2 children)
Yep, I confused you with someone who has convictions.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:21PM (1 child)
Nope. I've never been to prison.
(Score: 4, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:45PM
And therefore, prison reform would be evil socialism.
'Cause it's always the same pattern. All government is evil nanny state socialism right up until it's something that affects you personally like an opioid epidemic. At which point you take all those big government handouts and as much assistance as you can get.
When this happens to normal people they think "hmm...maybe some of these programs are warranted."
When it happens to you it simply gets added to the nanny-state-exception-list and you go right back accusing everybody else who needs help of being thieves and cons.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday October 23 2020, @01:31PM
They've already lost Purdue Pharma. Their rainmaker is gone. Given the number of states and private parties looking for blood, I don't think they're going to get out of this unscathed.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:01PM (1 child)
Drug pushing? There's no such thing. Noone has to "push" drugs. They sell themselves. Grown people are responsible for their own drug habits. Now, if Purdue was truly involved in fraud (towards the customers not the parasites in government) then that is actually a crime.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:11PM
You haven't been paying attention then. Professionals who people trust with their lives were actively pushing these drugs. Actively pushing. Not just standing on a street corner, "Hey buddy, what ya need? I got it all, name your poison!"
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday October 22 2020, @02:01PM (1 child)
Tobacco. Eventually there was a push-back that caused doctors and imitation doctors to stop pushing it on TV, but for a long time they did.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @02:29PM
That's a bit different, tobacco typically takes years of use before cancer and emphysema happen. There's also numerous warning signs that even the most moronic should notice that it's doing bad things. By comparison, getting hooked on opioids is a lot faster and the possibly fatal results also come a lot faster. It's pretty much impossible to smoke so many cigarettes in a given day that this is alone fatal. It takes smoking over a relatively long period of time before you get a statistically significant increase in cancer or heart disease from it.
Not to mention, that despite all the whining from smokers that "can't quit" the reality is that quitting is pretty straightforward, lock yourself in a room away from cigarettes and you'll magically stop smoking them. Unlike many other substances, like alcohol, where withdrawal can be fatal, nicotine withdrawal is just miserably, but not actually going to kill you. I remember when I was drying out from alcohol nearly 20 years ago that even though I was a relative lightweight in terms of my drinking when compared to other alcoholics, I still got sick as all hell during the process. I hadn't even been drinking that hard or that long either, somebody who was doing more of both probably would have ended up in the hospital trying to quit cold turkey like that.
I can't speak to quitting opioids specifically, but realistically, the consequences of misusing them are significantly worse than most of the other drugs people do in all regards.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday October 22 2020, @10:25AM
Yep, them Jewish drug dealers that run big pharma. Right when they are made to stop peddling narcotics, they create a "pandemic" to force vaccines on the goyim cattle and get taxpayer subsidies for peddling their crap. Being a big pharma Jew must be the most awesome thing in the world, with the exception of being inbred and stinky.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:39PM
My favorite 'dope' is diesel, gasoline, Marvel Mystery Oil, and ATF.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 23 2020, @06:05AM
WTF is this I don't even
I have the distinct feeling that I just read someone's magnum opus.
MOAR
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:42AM (7 children)
US opioid epidemic: Worsening crisis overshadowed in presidential race [nzherald.co.nz]
https://q961.com/maines-opioid-crisis-continues-to-worsen-amid-pandemic/ [q961.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @01:22PM (6 children)
I guess that explains a lot of those 300,000 excess deaths that Trump is being blamed for.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday October 22 2020, @03:18PM
No. The deaths that Trump could have tried to prevent are unrelated to the oxycontin deaths.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by einar on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:39PM (4 children)
Actually, as the president you are responsible for all the excess deaths.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:47PM (3 children)
I didn't realize that. So, whoever happens to be president when all the baby boomers drop dead will be at fault?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday October 22 2020, @10:48PM (2 children)
Did it cross your mind that responsibility != fault? It is what someone does to honor the responsibility that may result in the one being at fault.
See also responsibility vs accountability [google.com].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @10:54PM (1 child)
Just for the record, when I drop dead, it won't be President West's responsibility, or his fault.
I may be his responsibility when you drop dead though. He may decide to nuke Australia to ensure that the drop bears and combat wombats never invade the US.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday October 22 2020, @11:04PM
It will be your fault if you don't keep him accountable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:52AM (5 children)
How much did they make peddling their addictive opioids? I'm guessing it was way north of $8 billion.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @07:59AM
Just as concerned how many of them are now invested in companies providing services for that $8bil?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by nitehawk214 on Thursday October 22 2020, @02:29PM
Yep, the only way to curtail this stuff is to make sure the executives go to pound-me-in-the-ass prison. No amount of fines will harm them. The shareholders pay that. And if the executives are also shareholders, well, they will arrange to sell off before the share prices bottoms out.
And executives always get a free pass to move on to another company once they ruin the one they are at. The old-boy network always makes sure to hire their friends. This is part of the reason these guys are all board members on each other's companies. It isn't enough to have a golden parachute, there must be a golden landing place for all "temporarily disgraced" billionaires.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2020, @02:35PM
Probably, but that's from the company, the family itself is only giving $250m or so to the fund from what I've read. They will still remain billionaires even if the deal goes through as is. Even if they paid all of the money from their personal finances, they still would be super-wealthy.
Ultimately, without jail, and preferably a death penalty conviction, there's little to discourage future pharmaceutical companies from doing the same thing. They're just giving back some of the ill-begotten gains and appear set to escape any real accountability. They'll still be ultra-wealthy and probably back to other psychopathic tricks very soon.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 22 2020, @03:57PM
At least part of the problem there is that businesses don't get to keep every dime they earn any more than you or I do. Not even of profit. Taxes and expenses take a bite out of everybody, high or low.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Thursday October 22 2020, @04:28PM
Do you really think that the 8 Giga$ will be paid? There is already a lot of card shuffling going on and "the company" is declaring bankruptcy. I think it extremely likely that the fine will end up being owed by a bankrupt shell, while the Sacklers walk away. Might cost them a few million in bribes, but politicians are remarkably cheap.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:58AM (15 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sackler_family [wikipedia.org]
They did it consciously and willingly. To my measures, they are not just some random criminals by technical neglect, those people are guilty of intentional genocide.
However, I am almost sure privileges of their caste will override any possible criminal liability, as usual with the Cult.
Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday October 22 2020, @08:37AM (1 child)
Are there any Sacklers left owning any parts of Purdue, now? Surely they have divested their shares to off shore shelf companies by now?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 22 2020, @12:21PM
Divested to who? Even if they moved it around or unloaded as much as they could (particularly on targets that might not be able to fight back, like their company pension programs), they took a wash on it. There's not enough suckers out there and with the bankruptcy, the stock is now worthless no matter what shell corporation holds it.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday October 22 2020, @12:13PM (8 children)
What is their "caste"? The family went from poor Jewish immigrants to billionaire drug lords in three generations. Caste implies a social stratification that is hereditary and almost permanent - one doesn't bounce around. Here, we see tremendous fluidity in their status contrary to that implication.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Thursday October 22 2020, @04:06PM (7 children)
When I see two full generations of people who never needed to work for a living "fluidity in their status" is not the descriptor I would use.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 22 2020, @04:56PM (6 children)
Two full generations is still just two generations. Not feeling your seeing here.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:18PM (5 children)
Exactly how many trust-fund-baby-generations are required before you would say it is no longer fluid?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:48PM
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Friday October 23 2020, @01:42AM (3 children)
It doesn't really matter how many generations, these people are the children and grandchildren of wealth and privilege.
Your ruling class won't be wanting them to go to jail, setting a precedent like that would be bad.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday October 23 2020, @03:10PM (2 children)
Does it similarly not really matter to you whether they committed a crime or not?
Your ruling class would also not want someone who destabilizes the system.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday October 26 2020, @08:01PM (1 child)
Of course it matters, and the courts are where that is supposed to be resolved. The problem is that your court system (and mine) are set up so that if you're rich enough you can evade any punishment.
Of course the ruling class want to avoid destabilizing the system. That is slightly redundant.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Tuesday October 27 2020, @02:03AM
We'll see if that happens here. It's worth remembering that just like normal trials, the government still needs to provide evidence of wrong-doing. Just being rich or having the wrong surname, doesn't mean that one is guilty. Having said that, if this were gangbangers from Chicago, the feds would have seized the assets of the company by now and have the entire hierarchy in jail on RICO charges. They definitely are treading timidly on this group.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday October 22 2020, @03:39PM (2 children)
That's not genocide:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide [wikipedia.org]
The things they did and the problems they caused are horrendous, but genocide it is not.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 22 2020, @04:58PM (1 child)
(Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 22 2020, @05:16PM
The ethnic group that suffered the most is 'Muricans.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 23 2020, @06:31AM
Now this is a beautiful synergy of evidence based medicine and applied business intelligence [nytimes.com] if I ever saw one.
The cream of the crop of a new generation of managers harnessing the divine insights out of McKinsey's trailblazing manifesto of the information age, Knowledge Unplugged [amazon.com].
The man should be given a Nobel Prize in Business Administration.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday October 22 2020, @03:28PM (2 children)
The opioid crisis made it more difficult for people who legitimately use narcotic painkillers to obtain them.
The legislators were trying to "do something". And like anything that any politician touches, it has a reverse Midas touch and turns into doo doo. To get your narcotic medication, you had to physically go to the doctor, and get an actual piece of paper to take to your pharmacy. No electronic sending of opioid prescriptions to the pharmacy! Nope, nosiree! We need to make the people least mobile, and least able to make unnecessary trips, be the ones to have to experience maximal inconvenience to get their pain medications.
Fortunately sanity prevailed recently and it is possible to have narcotic pain killers sent electronically to the pharmacy once again.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Booga1 on Saturday October 24 2020, @12:21AM (1 child)
I have witnessed a friend of mine go through something similar. He was in a motorcycle accident and severely injured(fractured vertebrae, reattached arm, etc...) and given a prescription for an opioid based pain killer. The swing in the other direction seriously hindered his ability to manage his pain. One pharmacist asked him "are you sure you really need this filled?" They almost treated him like some junkie until he pulled down the collar of his shirt and showed the stitches in his shoulder.
Another pharmacy straight up refused to refill his painkiller prescription because they were afraid of being swept up in the lawsuits the state's district attorney had been filing against the drug companies and some doctors in our state. It sounds ridiculous until you find out that the same county apparently had more painkiller prescriptions given out and filled than there were actual residents in the county. How the heck that happens is beyond me, but I can imagine some politician thinking that paper based solution would be the "simple, easy" answer to the problem.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 24 2020, @12:37PM
That is probably out of town dealers sending mules to get scripts. It's not easy to find a doctor stupid and greedy enough to participate in these schemes.