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OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma pleads guilty in criminal case:
Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty Tuesday to three criminal charges, formally taking responsibility for its part in an opioid epidemic that has contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths but also angering critics who want to see individuals held accountable, in addition to the company.
In a virtual hearing with a federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, the OxyContin maker admitted impeding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's efforts to combat the addiction crisis.
Purdue acknowledged that it had not maintained an effective program to prevent prescription drugs from being diverted to the black market, even though it had told the DEA it did have such a program, and that it provided misleading information to the agency as a way to boost company manufacturing quotas.
It also admitted paying doctors through a speakers program to induce them to write more prescriptions for its painkillers.
And it admitted paying an electronic medical records company to send doctors information on patients that encouraged them to prescribe opioids.
The guilty pleas were entered by Purdue board chairperson Steve Miller on behalf of the company. They were part of a criminal and civil settlement announced last month between the Stamford, Connecticut-based company and the Justice Department.
[...] The deal includes $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures, but the company is on the hook for a direct payment to the federal government of only a fraction of that, $225 million. It would pay the smaller amount as long as it executes a settlement moving through federal bankruptcy court with state and local governments and other entities suing it over the toll of the opioid epidemic.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday November 25 2020, @07:37AM (13 children)
Let me repeat that a couple times. Purdue is GUILTY in a CRIMINAL case. PURDUE IS GUILTY IN A CRIMINAL CASE!! Ohhhhhh - it sounds so sweet.
Evil Corp almost always gets to use weasel words, like, "we don't admit to wrongdoing, but". No weaseling here. PURDUE IS GUILTY IN THIS CRIMINAL CASE!!!!
Maybe justice isn't dead in America after all. Maybe. Let's see if Justice takes away the Sackler's possessions, and tosses their asses in prison for a few years.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday November 25 2020, @09:30AM (4 children)
Limited liability is the cornerstone of Western Capitalism. That's how British defeated Muslims all over the world.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2020, @01:26PM
And yet the Germans remain a powerhouse in Europe without that kind of thing being acceptable. Sure, it exists over there, but hardly anybody is willing to buy from them due to the lack of accountability that results from being shielded.
(Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Wednesday November 25 2020, @02:09PM (2 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2020, @06:21PM (1 child)
Which is why we punish the
bag holdersshare holders.(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday November 27 2020, @03:29PM
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2020, @01:37PM (3 children)
I don't see any mention of them being sentenced to death or even prison, so this is hardly a win in any meaningful sense of the word. What they did was clearly illegal and yet they're being let off the hook for it. If this wasn't sufficient to get anybody to go to prison, then you're going to start seeing the cartels incorporate so they too can be let off the hook with a slap on the wrist if they're caught.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2020, @03:44PM
https://i.redd.it/0e1np2wouw061.jpg [i.redd.it]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday November 26 2020, @03:45AM (1 child)
Exactly. If this were a person, they'd be going to prison. Why isn't anyone here going to prison?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2020, @06:22PM
Because it's time to heal.
Let's look forward.
Etc.
And this is why Democrats lose.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by SpockLogic on Wednesday November 25 2020, @01:37PM (2 children)
Big deal. I won't be celebrating till some of the Sacklers responsible are wearing orange jump suits. So for now, "Meh."
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2020, @03:08PM
Not only should they be in jumpsuits but the illegal chemical empire entirely dismantled.
It's insane that we should be satisfied with 225MM when the family garnered 13B (personally) from their trade in slavery and suffering.
That's 1.7% of their worth, that's like a $1000 dollar fine to a family that makes $100,000. It has virtually no sting.
This country sucks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 25 2020, @03:17PM
Whoa whoa whoa, cool it with the anti-semitism.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday November 25 2020, @03:57PM
The evil of this is in multiple dimensions.
The two most obvious are:
1. Patients whose lives are ruined (or lost) due to drug addiction for profit
2. Patents who legitimately need pain meds for long term use under doctor's care but now find them more difficult to obtain
That said, this January will be 12 years I've taken hydrocodone, while programming in Java. I hate Oxycodone. Never had any problem obtaining drugs. As far as I can tell, I've never been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.
Young people won't believe you if you say you used to get Netflix by US Postal Mail.