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OxyContin Lawsuit
Drug Company Pleads Guilty to Misbranding Painkiller OxyContin
The Purdue Frederick drug company, a worldwide affiliate of Purdue Pharma, L.P., pleaded guilty to a federal felony of intentionally, knowingly, and fraudulently misbranding its defective drug OxyContin in order to induce health care providers to specifically prescribe its painkiller to their patients. The guilty plea followed a four year investigation leading ultimately to what Virginia Lawyer General Bob McDonnell called a "complex criminal scheme" that finally brought the wrongdoers to justice." The felony plea was based upon a broad federal statute making it a crime to misbrand a drug or mislead the public. For more information on the OxyContin lawsuit, contact our lawyers .
Have you or a loved one been the victim of OxyContin drug addiction in New York? If so, you are not the only one. Many people have already filled an OxyContin lawsuit against the Purdue Frederick drug company. Contact an OxyContin Lawsuit Lawyer at Finz & Finz, P.C. today!
Top executives of the Purdue Frederick drug company also pleaded guilty to having participated in a scheme to mislead the public by knowingly sanctioning the misbranding of its drug OxyContin.
Purdue Pharma Agrees to Pay $600 Million Fine in Lawsuit
In what has been reported as one of the highest fines ever levied against a drug manufacturer in this type of case, Purdue Pharma, the parent affiliate, agreed to pay $600 million. Its decision to pay for the crimes committed by its affiliate, Purdue Frederick was based in part upon its marketing program that falsely represented that OxyContin was less addictive, less abusive with fewer withdrawal symptoms as a narcotic painkiller than other competitive drugs on the market. In addition, to the close-to-record fine, the company executives who played a key role in the fraudulent marketing scheme pleaded guilty to federal misdemeanors and were fined a staggering sum of $34.5 million.
Drug Company Falsely Claimed that OxyContin was Less Addictive
OxyContin falls within the category of a powerful narcotic painkiller. The drug maker misled health care providers and patients alike in advertising and marketing its drug claiming that it had a time-release formula that made its product less addictive thereby making it less of a candidate for abuse by patients. Comparing its narcotic addictive risks to such drugs as Vicodin and Percocet, it induced health care providers to single out OxyContin for use by their patients, for post-surgery pain, trauma or other medical conditions. The representation that OxyContin was less addictive and could be used with little risk of abuse was knowingly false and to the detriment of patients who took OxyContin over long periods of time. Such use led ultimately to the addiction of thousands of innocent victims to a drug that was clinically untested for addiction and whose claims were never put before the FDA for approval. Throughout its marketing program, the Purdue Frederick drug company claimed that the thresholds of addiction, abuse, and withdrawal had been significantly reduced by the drug maker's special time-release formula - none of which was ever scientifically established by any standardized clinical trials.
Sales of OxyContin Resulted in Billions of Dollars of Profits
OxyContin was first introduced in 1995. From that time up to mid-2001, its annual sales rose steadily reaching close to $1.5 billion in 2001 (from 1999 to 2000, its sales jumped from $500 million to $1 billion). These sales were all part of the fraudulent marketing scheme created by the Purdue Frederick Company and its top executives for which they pleaded guilty to the federal crime of misbranding and deceit.
Drug Company Deceived The Public In Marketing OxyContin
Soon after the Food and Drug Administration approved of the marketing of OxyContin, a number of health care providers registered deep concerns that such a narcotic painkiller used by a patient over a long period of time could lead to serious addiction, abuse, and withdrawal problems.
In order to allay the fears and concerns of doctors and patients, Purdue Frederick embarked upon a fraudulent marketing campaign specifically intended to neutralize its skeptics, by stressing the safer formula of its drug which the manufacturer knew was knowingly false, misleading and deceitful, and could lead to serious addiction, abuse, and withdrawal issues. The Washington based health research group Public Citizen, through its director, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, went so far as to state that, "the damage to the public from these white-collared drug pushers surely exceeds the collective damage done by traditional street drug pushers."
Drug Company Addicts Victims by Putting Profits Over Safety
Taken long enough, an opioid drug such as OxyContin will addict most patients. When that occurs, the patient is like any other narcotic addict (heroin, cocaine, crack, codeine, etc.) who must go through agonizing periods of withdrawal, illness, and deep depression - all leading to serious medical consequences. It is unconscionable that greed and billions of dollars in profits were the catalyst that were used to disregard the safety of patients. In describing some of his findings, John Brownlee, the United States Attorney in charge of the four year investigation of Purdue's illegal misconduct, said, "In the process, scores died as a result of OxyContin abuse and an even greater number of people became addicted to OxyContin; a drug that Purdue led many to believe was safer, less abusable, and less addictive than other pain medication on the market.
Today's convictions are a testament to the outstanding work of the prosecutors and agents who spent years investigating this important case." The admission of wrongdoing and pleas of guilty by the drug company and some of its top executives is clear evidence of their collective misconduct for which they should not only be held criminally accountable to the federal government - as they were - but to the many thousands of innocent patients they victimized and seriously injured.
Legal Help for OxyContin Users in New York and Nationwide
If you, a family member or friend have become addicted to the drug OxyContin, please contact a OxyContin Lawsuit Lawyer of Finz & Finz, P.C. today at (888) FINZ-FIRM to speak with an experienced lawyer in New York to discuss about an OxyContin lawsuit or fill out the Free Case Evaluation form.
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