Purdue Pharma has been sentenced to pay more than $5 billion in criminal penalties for its role in fueling the opioid epidemic, the Justice Department said in an April 29 news release.
The sentencing, handed down in federal court in Newark, N.J., follows Purdue’s November 2020 guilty plea to three felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and two counts of conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Between 2007 and 2017, Purdue illegally marketed its opioid products to hundreds of prescribers it had reason to believe were prescribing the drugs without legitimate medical purpose, paid kickbacks to physicians through a speaker program and defrauded the DEA by misrepresenting the effectiveness of its diversion prevention programs.
The court ordered Purdue to pay a criminal fine of $3.5 billion and an additional $2 billion in criminal forfeiture, up to $1.8 billion of which may be credited based on the value conferred to state, local and tribal governments if Purdue emerges from bankruptcy as a public benefit company with proceeds directed toward opioid abatement programs.
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