Purdue Pharma, which makes the OxyContin painkiller that helped trigger an opioid crisis that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, will plead guilty to three felony criminal charges as part of an $8.3 billion settlement that also resolves civil charges against the company.
As part of the deal, Purdue admitted to lying to the Drug Enforcement Administration about a program to monitor diversion by physicians and reporting misleading information to the agency in order to boost manufacturing quotas, according to the plea deal. Purdue also admitted to violating anti-kickback laws in two ways: by paying doctors — through speaker programs — to write more prescriptions and also paying an electronic health records company to influence prescribing and ordering (that company reached a $145 million settlement earlier this year).
The settlement with the Department of Justice includes a $2 billion criminal forfeiture as well as $3.54 billion in criminal penalties, according to the settlement agreement, although not all of the money may be collected because the drug maker filed for bankruptcy protection and other creditors are in line for payouts. Purdue, meanwhile, also agreed to pay $2.8 billion in damages to settle civil claims, including $225 million from members of the Sackler family, which founded the company, according to a separate settlement agreement.
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