Massachusetts sued a unit of French advertising company Publicis Groupe SA on May 6, accusing it of fueling the U.S. opioid crisis by using unfair and deceptive marketing to help drugmaker Purdue Pharma sell more OxyContin.
Purdue Pharma LP filed a bankruptcy plan on March 15 that would resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits by restructuring the OxyContin maker into an entity that would steer profits to plaintiffs and require the company’s Sackler family owners to contribute nearly $4.3 billion to the settlement.
Purdue Pharma LP pleaded guilty to criminal charges over the handling of the company’s addictive prescription painkiller OxyContin, capping a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve an investigation into the drugmaker’s role in the U.S. opioid crisis.
A settlement valued at $8.34 billion was reached between Purdue Pharmaand the Justice Department, which required the drug company to plead guilty to three felonies related to its marketing and distribution of OxyContin, according to the Wall Street Journal.
McKesson Corp. said the company and two other major U.S. drug distributors could be expected to pay up to $21 billion under a new proposal by state attorneys general to resolve lawsuits alleging they helped fuel the U.S. opioid crisis.
Purdue Pharma LP agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges over the handling of the company’s addictive prescription opioid OxyContin, in a deal with U.S. prosecutors that effectively sidestepped paying billions of dollars in penalties and stopped short of criminally charging its executives or wealthy Sackler family owners.
U.S. states claimed they are owed $2.2 trillion to address harm from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP’s alleged role in America’s opioid epidemic, accusing the drugmaker in new filings of pushing prescription painkillers on doctors and patients while playing down the risks of abuse and overdose.
U.S. prosecutors are pursuing possible penalties of nearly $13 billion to resolve investigations of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma after uncovering evidence of criminal and civil misconduct stemming from the company’s alleged role in fueling the nation’s opioid crisis, people familiar with the matter said.
Insights into former president Richard Sackler’s control of Purdue Pharma and his aggressive stance on marketing OxyContin were revealed when internal company documents were unsealed following a four-year court battle in Kentucky.
A recent report from the Associated Press alleges the Sackler family is using similar marketing tactics to push sales of OxyContin in China through another company they own, Mundipharma.
