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Controversial pain reliever Oxycontin: Purdue Pharma pleads guilty
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George Frey / REUTERS
The insolvent pharmaceutical company Purdue pays a billions fine in the dispute over the massive sale of opiate painkillers.
The company, which has thousands of lawsuits pending over the addictive pain reliever, Oxycontin, has reached a settlement with the US government.
The compromise provides for the company to transfer more than 8.3 billion dollars to settle civil and criminal proceedings at the federal level, the Justice Department in Washington said.
In addition, members of the Sackler family, who owned the manufacturer since the early 1950s, are said to pay $ 225 million.
Purdue will also plead guilty for violating several US federal laws, including conspiracy to commit fraud.
The criminal investigation against those responsible continues, however, said the ministry.
However, it is unclear whether the settlement amount can be paid.
The decision as to the extent to which this is possible ultimately rests with the competent bankruptcy court, said Vice Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
450,000 deaths from overdoses
Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers are accused of using reckless and aggressive methods to market pain relievers while masking the dangers of addiction.
From the plaintiffs' point of view, this laid the foundation for the opioid epidemic in the USA, which, according to the CDC, has led to more than 450,000 deaths from overdosing since the turn of the millennium.
Purdue was held accountable for its role in the epidemic in 2007, but the US opioid crisis continued to worsen thereafter.
The comparison that has now been made with the Ministry of Justice is controversial.
Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019 after numerous lawsuits from American states, cities and counties.
Plaintiffs are demanding heavy fines and compensation for billions of dollars spent fighting the pain reliever crisis.
Critics such as the New York attorney general Letitia James see the bankruptcy as a maneuver by Purdue Pharma to get out of responsibility and to protect the Sacklers' assets.
Democrats suspect a lazy compromise
Like so much in the US, the crackdown on Purdue Pharma is also a political conflict between the Democratic and Republican parties.
While the administration of Donald Trump wants to take a supposedly big blow against illegal machinations in the pharmaceutical industry in the final phase of the election campaign, the opposition Democrats smell a lazy compromise.
Instead of punishing the Sacklers appropriately, the Justice Department deal allowed the family to keep their billions, New York District Attorney James was outraged.
She leads an alliance of various US states suing Purdue Pharma.
"Forbes" estimates the clan's fortune at $ 13 billion.
Because of the criticism of the Sacklers, several famous museums had ended years of collaboration with the family known for their patronage, such as the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Tate Modern in London and the Louvre in Paris.
Opioids are partly synthetically produced drugs - such as Oxycontin - with, among other things, pain-relieving properties.
However, they also harbor an enormous risk of dependency and a high potential for abuse.
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apr / dpa