Purdue Pharma pleads guilty to criminal charges related to US opioid crisis
Purdue Pharma
pleaded guilty to criminal charges over the handling of its addictive prescription painkiller OxyContin, capping a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve an investigation into the drugmaker’s role in the US opioid crisis.
During a court hearing conducted remotely on Tuesday before US district judge Madeline Cox Arleo in New Jersey,
Purdue pleaded guilty to three felonies covering widespread misconduct.
The criminal violations
included conspiring to defraud US officials and pay illegal kickbacks to both doctors and an electronic healthcare records vendor called Practice Fusion, all to help keep opioid prescriptions flowing.
Members of the billionaire Sackler family who own Purdue and previously sat on the company’s board
were not part of Tuesday’s court proceedings and have not been criminally charged.
They agreed in October
to pay a separate $225m civil penalty for allegedly causing false claims for OxyContin to be made to government healthcare programs such as Medicare.
They have denied the allegations.
Opioids | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/24/purdue-pharma-oxycontin-pleads-guilty-opioid-crisis
Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Kickback Conspiracies | OPA | Department of Justice