DOJ makes $8B settlement with Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, for role in opioid crisis

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News

The Justice Department announced an $8 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma, the OxyContin maker widely accused of fueling the nation's opioid crisis that has been blamed for more than 400,000 American deaths in the last 20 years. The settlement resolves criminal and civil investigations into how Purdue Pharma aggressively marketed its powerful painkillers but the staggering amount is largely symbolic. The company is tied up in bankruptcy proceedings and lacks the assets to pay the full amount.

The Sacklers, the wealthy family that controls the company, will separately pay $225 million to resolve civil claims. The settlement agreement does not prevent family members or company executives from being prosecuted in the future. "This resolution does not provide anybody with a pass on the criminal side," said Rachel Honig, an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

The company is pleading guilty on three counts: one charge of defrauding the United States and two anti-kickback- related charges. "The department will not relent to combat the opioid problem," Deputy Attorney General Jeffery Rosen said at a press conference on Wednesday. Rosen said that according to the plea agreement, and subject to bankruptcy court approval, Purdue Pharma will be "be dissolved and won't exist in its current form."

Two dozen states, however, have opposed Purdue's plans to turn itself into a public trust. "DOJ failed," said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. "Justice in this case requires exposing the truth and holding the perpetrators accountable, not rushing a settlement to beat an election. I am not done with Purdue and the Sacklers, and I will never sell out the families who have been calling for justice for so long."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/doj-settle-maker-oxycontin-role-opioid-crisis/story?id=73735542

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Was searching for something else and saw this on ABC News' site.

(not unexpected though)

Previous updated article and headline -

DOJ to settle with Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin for its role in opioid crisis

The Justice Department is expected to announce on Wednesday a settlement of civil and criminal charges against Purdue Pharma, the OxyContin maker widely blamed for fueling the nation's opioid epidemic.

Terms of the settlement were not immediately clear but likely involves billions of dollars in fines that Purdue will be unable to immediately pay while the company is in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings. The company is pleading guilty on three counts, one charge of defrauding the United States and two anti-kickback-related charges.

According to the DOJ the agreement does not limit the Sackler family -- which owns Purdue Pharma -- from criminal prosecution and says that investigations are ongoing. The company could face up to an almost $8 billion fine, according to court documents A spokeswoman for Purdue Pharma declined to comment but the company had signaled its intention to reach a settlement when it filed for bankruptcy protection a year ago. The announcement is expected during an 11 a.m. news conference on Wednesday.

Purdue has also been accused of paying kickbacks to prescribers and specialty pharmacies and paying visits to doctors known to write medically unnecessary prescriptions.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Original article (still being updated) -

The Justice Department is expected to announce on Wednesday a settlement of civil and criminal charges against Purdue Pharma, the OxyContin maker widely blamed for fueling the nation's opioid epidemic.

Terms of the settlement were not immediately clear but likely involves billions of dollars in fines that Purdue will be unable to immediately pay while the company is in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings.

A spokeswoman for Purdue Pharma declined to comment but the company had signaled its intention to reach a settlement when it filed for bankruptcy protection a year ago. The announcement is expected during an 11 a.m. news conference on Wednesday.

Purdue has also been accused of paying kickbacks to prescribers and specialty pharmacies and paying visits to doctors known to write medically unnecessary prescriptions.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

[Roy Rolling]

1. Right

If there’s anything that comforts a grieving survivor of an opiate death it’s a drug company giving Bill Barr’s DOJ some money. Color me skeptical.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I'm sure they would be at the top

of the bankruptcy "creditor's" list, no doubt.

[PSPS]

3. The old "sue and settle" charade -- a GOP favorite for a long time. "Do me a favor, though"

Maybe Purdue will provide something on Hunter!!1111!!!1

[yaesu]

4. tRump change. nt

[Bobstandard]

5. No jail time? It's a travesty

If corporations are people, then the CEO or Chairman of the Board should get jail time for something like this. Or, the company should be liquidated. With a fine, the live to screw people another day (look at Archer Daniel Midlands). And I wouldn’t be surprised if they get to write off the fine on their taxes, thus screwing their direct victims and all the rest of us yet again.

[bronxiteforever]

6. Remember this. Giuliani's Consulting Firm Helped Halt Purdue Opioid Investigation In Florida

By Fred Schulte SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Six months after hiring former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm, Purdue Pharma settled a Florida state investigation that had threatened to expose early illegal marketing of its blockbuster drug OxyContin, company and state records show.

The November 2002 deal was a coup for the drugmaker, which at the time faced growing criticism about overdose deaths and addiction linked to the painkiller. Purdue agreed to pay the state $2 million to help fund a computer database to track narcotics prescriptions and up to $150,000 to sponsor five one-day conferences to educate law enforcement about drug abuse.

In exchange, Florida’s then-attorney general, Robert Butterworth, dropped his marketing investigation, which had uncovered initial evidence that Purdue misled doctors and the public about OxyContin’s safety, state records show.

More here
https://khn.org/news/rudy-giulianis-consulting-firm-had-hand-in-halting-florida-ags-opioid-investigation/

[EndlessWire]

7. I have an unpopular opinion on this.

I don't know about illegal marketing. Maybe they should get their arses kicked for that.

But, not for inventing the pain killer. People need pain killers. They really do. The management and control of pain killers should be fixed. But, I think that a good, effective pain killer should not be kicked arbitrarily to the curb just because it works well.

We have a lot of stuff we live with that is harmful to us, but we tolerate it. Cigarettes, alcohol...now we have legalized pot almost everywhere...I'm not speaking in favor of addiction, just saying that we need to draw a line, and realize that some people deserve to have access to pain control.

Manufacturers will look at this and back away.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. The issue here I think

is not so much the drug ingredient itself but the company and how they marketed it and other finagling to basically corner the market. I.e., with respect to the patent -

The patent on original OxyContin would have expired in 2013, allowing lower-priced generics to gobble up Purdue’s market share. By reformulating the drug, Purdue was able to extend its patent until 2030.

Since 2010, OxyContin has generated more than $21 billion in U.S. sales, according to pharmaceutical tracking service IQVIA.

https://www.statnews.com/2019/07/22/revamped-oxycontin-was-supposed-to-reduce-abuse-but-has-it/

And in the above, the "reformulation" was supposed to make it less "addictive", however there have been suggestions that it did not.

Sadly what often ends up happening is that many of those who would truly need it are overly-restricted from and/or priced out of access to it while others who are "celebrities" can manage to get as much of it as they want. Their under-the-table business practices have helped to make a racket out of it to the detriment of those who are truly in need of some pain relief.

[RobinA]

10. The Reformulation

was defeated in part when recreational users crushed it.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. It was *supposed to be*

"difficult to crush" which was one of the problems with its supposed "reformulation". But the patent was extended anyway.

[RobinA]

9. Your Opinion

is popular with me. Opiates addictive? Who knew. There is a huge legitimate market for pain medication. Their misuse can be handled in ways that reduce harm. Additionally, it seems to me that a big part of this problem is Fentanyl mixed in with black market opiates. If addicts had a source of pharmaceutical grade med they wouldn't have to OD on Fentanyl-laced street crap.