SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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, 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.