Purdue pleads guilty to OxyContin charge

The US Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations says that drugmaker Purdue Frederick has agreed to pay more than $700.0 million to resolve criminal charges and civil liabilities in connection with several illegal schemes to promote, market and sell OxyContin (oxycondone HCl), a powerful prescription pain reliever that the company produces.

An investigation by the OCI uncovered an extensive, long-term conspiracy by Purdue to generate the maximum amount of revenues possible from the sale of OxyContin through various illegal schemes. To further this goal, says the FDA, Purdue trained its sales representatives to make false representations to health care providers about the difficulty of extracting oxycodone from the OxyContin tablet; trained its sales force to represent that it did not cause euphoria and was less addictive than immediate-release opiates; and allowed health care providers to entertain the erroneous belief that the drug was less addictive than morphine. In addition, Purdue falsely labeled OxyContin as providing "fewer peaks and valleys than with immediate-release oxycodone."

To resolve the criminal charges, Purdue has pleaded guilty to a felony count of misbranding a drug with intent to defraud and mislead, the FDA states. As part of the plea, the company will pay a $600.0 million settlement. That amount includes a criminal fine, restitution to government agencies and over $276.0 million in forfeiture. In a separate civil settlement, Purdue will make a payment of $100.6 million to the USA.