Purdue Pharma tries to 'cry poverty' in lawsuit over opioid epidemic, Connecticut attorney general

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News

The embattled maker of OxyContin is attempting to "cry poverty" to avoid accountability for the company’s role in the nation’s opioid epidemic, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said Monday, as the state expanded its lawsuit against Purdue Pharma.

Tong filed an amended lawsuit that alleged hundreds of millions of dollars were fraudulently transferred from Purdue Pharma to the Sacklers, the family that controls the company, to evade liability.

The lawsuit seeks to claw back transferred funds and a court order to prevent any additional transfers of money.

"We will not allow Purdue Pharma to cry poverty after illegally transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to members of the Sackler family—unearned funds these individuals reaped as Connecticut families suffered,” Tong said in a statement.



Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/purdue-pharma-cry-poverty-lawsuit-opioid-epidemic-connecticut/story?id=62561825

[Faux pas]

1. Kickin' with disgust

[Fritz Walter]

4. Nice avatar

It is total madness that 40 states still treat recreational cannabis users as criminals, while the Sacklers not only roam freely, but also are chin-deep in blood money. Especially since the total number of verified deaths due to cannabis is what? Zero? I've lost count of the number of fatal opioid overdoses.
Madness!

[Faux pas]

6. I never

could understand why something that grows naturally is illegal, and crap some mad scientist cooks up is just fine. I know it's all about the Benjamins and that's what makes it even more hideous. Watch and see how many rethugs get into the pot game. Watch our heads spin.

Thanks, I like my avatar too. You can steal it if you want/can.

[Sherman A1]

2. I hope that they learn the meaning

Of abject poverty and are fined into the dirt.

[safeinOhio]

3. OxyContin and money.....

More is never enough.

[ancianita]

5. The Sacklers and their "pharma" can cry us a fucking river while they sell off their "pharma."

They can lose this case, be forced to dissolve Purdue, and STILL come out of it blood money rich.

[ck4829]

7. Disgusting.

[canetoad]

8. They had to pay

$270 mill. in Oklahoma this year. In 2007 it cost them $600 mill. Here's a fascinating article about this lawsuit:


In Guilty Plea, OxyContin Maker to Pay $600 Million

By BARRY MEIER MAY 10, 2007

ABINGDON, Va., May 10 — The company that makes the narcotic painkiller OxyContin and three current and former executives pleaded guilty today in federal court here to criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors and patients about the drug’s risk of addiction and its potential to be abused.

To resolve criminal and civil charges related to the drug’s “misbranding,” the parent of Purdue Pharma, the company that markets OxyContin, agreed to pay some $600 million in fines and other payments, one of the largest amounts ever paid by a drug company in such a case.

Also, in a rare move, three executives of Purdue Pharma, including its president and its top lawyer, pleaded guilty today as individuals to misbranding, a criminal violation. They agreed to pay a total of $34.5 million in fines.

OxyContin is a powerful, long-acting narcotic that provides relief of serious pain for up to 12 hours. Initially, Purdue Pharma contended that OxyContin, because of its time-release formulation, posed a lower threat of abuse and addiction to patients than do traditional, shorter-acting painkillers like Percocet or Vicodin.

That claim became the linchpin of the most aggressive marketing campaign ever undertaken by a pharmaceutical company for a narcotic painkiller. Just a few years after the drug’s introduction in 1996, annual sales reached $1 billion. Purdue Pharma heavily promoted OxyContin to doctors like general practitioners, who had often had little training in the treatment of serious pain or in recognizing signs of drug abuse in patients.

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/business/11drug-web.html

[ck4829]

9. Kick