Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty To Criminal Charges From Opioid Sales

Purdue Pharma will be dishing out $8.3 million in a settlement deal for its part in the manufacturing of OxyContin.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced that the company has agreed to plead guilty to the criminal charges brought on by thousands of lawsuits, this news could spearhead away for more settlements pertaining to its role in the opioids epidemic.

Purdue Pharma is owned by the affluent Sackler family, who has gotten very wealthy off making OxyContin. The family will also have to pay out $225 million in civil penalties.

According to the New York Times, federal prosecutors claim the settlement does not prevent additional criminal charges for executives and individual family members. Nor does the announcement finalize the wide-ranging legal proceedings against the company.

However, it is a tremendous step towards progression. The company faces legal actions from states, cities, and counties that hope to force the most prominent defendant to take responsibility for its role in what we now consider an opioid epidemic. One primary goal is to have companies like Purdue pay for the “public health crisis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say over 450,000 people have died since 1999.

Purdue Pharma filed bankruptcy which will make it hard for the government to collect their coins, for now, it will have to wait behind a long list of others trying to collect money from the company. It’s not unusual that creditors end up with little to nothing.

Purdue’s pledge of guilty to federal charges of defrauding federal health agencies and its violation of anti-kickback laws includes $3.54 billion in criminal fines, $2 billion in criminal forfeiture, and $2.8 billion in civil penalties. It is accused of not adequately monitoring sales of a classified scheduled drug, its part in reporting false information to Medicaid and Medicare, as well as engaging in a kickback scheme with a software company to push the promotion of its drug onto doctors.

Their admission of guilt is a first for the company, who hoped to resolve these matters before getting hit with such a hefty settlement deal. The Sackler family will contribute $3 billion to their settlement and has also agreed to give up their ownership.

The Sackler family has not filed for financial protection—bankruptcy.