OxyContin maker Purdue Pharmas criminal sentence could be the last step before company dissolves

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma could be dissolved by the end of the week and replaced by a company focused on the public interest, as a major legal settlement that resolves thousands of lawsuits goes into effect.

A federal judge on Tuesday is expected to impose criminal judgments on the company to resolve the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation; This is the final step needed to pave the way for a deal.

Some victims opioid crisisThe organization, which has been linked to more than 900,000 deaths in the United States since 1999, was scheduled to make impact statements. Many of those affected by the crisis were expected to try to persuade the judge to reject the agreed sentence, arguing that it did not provide them with true justice.

Here’s a look at the situation.

Purdue reached a settlement with the Department of Justice in 2020. resolve criminal and civil investigations the company was facing.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based company admitted that it did not have an effective program to prevent powerful prescription painkillers from being diverted to the black market, even though it told the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that it did.

He also admitted paying doctors through a speaker program to prescribe the drugs and paying an electronic medical records company to send doctors information about patients encouraging more opioid prescriptions.

Only the company was blamed, not individuals.

The criminal complaint and civil settlement with the federal government included $8.3 billion in forfeitures, fines and penalties. But the federal government agreed to collect only $225 million in a negotiated settlement in exchange for a separate settlement of thousands of lawsuits Purdue faced by state, local and Native American tribal governments as well as other groups. Purdue’s criminal complaint did not include compensation for victims.

Afterwards Years of legal changes and turns The broader penalty – including $1 billion and the parties’ legal and professional fees – was: approved by a bankruptcy judge in November.

It cannot come into force until a penalty decision is made.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo heard in person and by teleconference Tuesday from people affected by opioids in a variety of ways: mothers who lost sons to an overdose, a teenager born into withdrawal whose mother later died, and people who were prescribed OxyContin after accidents and have dealt with years of addiction treatment and financial and emotional turmoil.

Many people asked Arleo, who appeared on the verge of tears at times, to refuse the agreed-upon punishment.

Alexis Pluis, an upstate New York resident who lost her son to opioids in 2014, said she didn’t expect to get anything from the settlement because she couldn’t find 23 years of medical records showing her son had been prescribed OxyContin.

“We still deserve justice,” he said. “And that’s not it.”

More than 54,000 people making personal injury claims voted to accept the settlement; Around 200 people said no.

Michele Wagner, whose son died of an overdose, said outside the courthouse last week that she wants members of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue, to be criminally punished. “Justice seems to me to be more than just money,” he said.

Kara Trainor, who is trying to get rid of her addiction that started with an OxyContin prescription in 2002 and serves on a committee involved in settlement talks, wants the sentence to be approved because she believes this could lead to closure.

“I needed to start healing and move on from the anger I was feeling so that I could become the best version of myself in my own healing process,” she said. “Anger was toxic to me. It was destroying my mental health.”

Purdue said the agreement could go into effect Friday if the judge imposes the criminal penalty on Tuesday.

Compromise requires Members of the Sackler family Owners of the company will contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years. Most of the money will go to government agencies to combat the opioid crisis.

Earlier in Tuesday’s hearing, Arleo asked lawyers why Sackler family members were allowed to make payments for 15 years. This was said to be because they had to sell other businesses to secure the money.

The judge gave a different reason. “They prefer to pay with future money instead of paying now,” he said.

A Purdue lawyer said most of the opioid-related lawsuits filed against the company do not involve specific financial claims. However, the total loss of those who were harmed exceeded 40 trillion dollars.

The deal is the largest in a series of settlements by drugmakers, wholesalers and pharmacies in recent years and the only major settlement that includes payments to some victims or survivors.

Payments to individual victims are expected to range from approximately $8,000 to $16,000.

In total, the settlements are worth more than $50 billion, and most of the money addressing the overdose epidemic.

Under the Purdue settlement, members of the Sackler family will be protected from opioid-related lawsuits by those who accept payment. He received payments totaling $10.7 billion from the company from 2008 to 2018, but nearly half of that amount was used to pay taxes on the business’s behalf, family members said.

As part of the deal, Purdue will cease to exist and be replaced by Knoa Pharma, a new company with a state-appointed board and a goal to combat the opioid crisis. Millions of internal Purdue documents will be made public.

Members of the Sackler family also agreed not to object if their names were released. removed from museums and other institutions they support.

Associated Press video reporter Emily Wang contributed to this article.