OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma set to dissolve after judge approves its criminal sentence

A federal judge delivered a criminal sentence against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma on Tuesday, resolving the U.S. Department of Justice investigation and clearing the final hurdle for the company’s dissolution.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo called the scheme “a purposeful, intentional and sophisticated crime scheme” after hearing hours of victim impact statements from people who lost loved ones or battled addiction in the epidemic linked to more than 900,000 U.S. deaths since 1999.

Purdue admitted it lacked an effective program to stop its powerful prescription painkillers from reaching the black market, despite telling the DEA otherwise. It also admitted paying doctors through a speakers program to prescribe the drugs and paying an electronic medical records company to push patient data that encouraged more opioid prescriptions.

The sentence triggers the end of Purdue Pharma. By the week’s end the company will cease to exist and be replaced by Knoa Pharma, a new entity with a board appointed by the states and a stated mission to combat the opioid crisis.

Millions of internal Purdue documents will be made public as part of the deal.

Purdue reached a 2020 agreement with the DOJ that included $8.3 billion in forfeitures, fines and penalties, though the federal government will collect only $225 million in exchange for broader settlements with states, tribes and other plaintiffs.

Sackler family members, who owned the company, will contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years, most of it directed to government efforts against the opioid crisis.