What did Purdue admit in 2020 about OxyContin?
Three federal felonies: misleading regulators about anti-overprescribing efforts, paying kickbacks through an EHR company's opioid-alert software, and admitting in court to impeding the DEA's fight against the addiction crisis — against an $8.3 billion headline penalty mostly uncollectable in bankruptcy.
In October 2020 Purdue agreed to plead guilty to three federal felonies relating to OxyContin: defrauding the United States by misleading regulators about its efforts to restrict overprescribing, and violating anti-kickback laws by paying doctors to write more prescriptions. Prosecutors described how in 2015 Purdue negotiated with electronic health record company Practice Fusion to create software alerts designed to influence doctors to prescribe OxyContin when it was not medically necessary. Purdue also admitted impeding the DEA's efforts to combat the addiction crisis. The penalties totalled about $8.3 billion on paper, but because of the bankruptcy most was never expected to be collected. The Sackler family paid $225 million separately to resolve civil claims, without admitting wrongdoing.