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Purdue Pharma, a maker of opioid pain relievers called OxyContin, has admitted that it has paid doctors and pharmacists to prescribe a product for patients that is highly addictive and eight times more deadly than heroin.
The company will have to pay a fine of $ 8 billion, But as a result, criminal and civil lawsuits against company executives and members of the Sackler family who own the company have not yet concluded.
We have previously written about an American company called Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, who own and play a huge role in running the company until the outbreak of the most serious scandals. The company and family have accustomed millions of Americans to their opioid-based pain reliever, knowing that it is highly addictive and can easily overdose. Since the 1990s, 450,000 Americans have lost their lives in a phenomenon also known as the opioid epidemic – that is, in the poorest parts of the United States, many are used to these pain relievers, especially Oxycontin.
The New York Times now writes that Purdue Pharma has reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice and pleaded guilty to paying doctors and pharmacists who therefore prescribed a potent and addictive drug to whom they wouldn’t necessarily have needed heroin. and a pain reliever with the same active ingredient as morphine. The company also acknowledged that it had very serious fraudulent sums from public health insurance institutions, Medicare and Medicaid.
Once the firm pleads guilty, it is expected to have to pay damages to thousands of civil lawsuits against families, cities, Native American tribes, and other entities that have sued the firm.Purdue has previously stated that it will only be willing to resolve these claims once the federal criminal lawsuit against the company is concluded. However, according to the New York Times, it is also not certain that the $ 8 billion fine in the current settlement will go to the state, as Purdue filed for bankruptcy last year, which means paying the company’s creditors first. and the state and lawsuits. Until the end of the line.
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