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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday October 22 2020, @06:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the corporations-are-people-too dept.

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

OxyContin maker to plead guilty to federal criminal charges, pay $8 billion, and will close the company

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.

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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday October 22 2020, @03:28PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 22 2020, @03:28PM (#1067539) Journal

    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.

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    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Booga1 on Saturday October 24 2020, @12:21AM (1 child)

    by Booga1 (6333) on Saturday October 24 2020, @12:21AM (#1068110)

    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

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 24 2020, @12:37PM (#1068219)

      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.