Purdue Pharma — manufacturer of OxyContin and other opioids — agreed to plead guilty to three felonies on Wednesday and to pay multi-billion dollar fines.
The Department of Justice announced a resolution to its investigation into opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, which agreed to plead guilty to “defrauding the United States.” The company is currently in bankruptcy court and will pay a reported $8.3 billion in fines and damages to the U.S. But the court must approve the resolution.
During a press conference, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said the Sackler family, who owns the company, will also pay $225 million dollars in a civil settlement.
“The agreed resolution, if approved by the court, will require that the company be dissolved and no longer exist in its present form," Rosen said. "It would require that the Sackler’s must relinquish all ownership and control of the company or of any of its successors."
Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia were the epicenter of the opioid crisis, with some of the country’s highest rates of overdose deaths. The most recent health data shows that eastern Kentucky counties still report some of highest rates of opioid prescriptions in the U.S.
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