Lawmakers: Why no charges against Purdue executives?

STAMFORD — In its approximately $8 billion settlement reached last week with the U.S. Department of Justice, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma agreed to plead guilty to three felony charges. They carry the largest penalties ever levied against a pharmaceutical manufacturer.

But the punishment for the Stamford-based company was still far too lenient, according to some of the company’s most vocal critics.

“Real justice would mean holding individual lawbreakers criminally accountable and forcing them to face the criminal consequences of their wrongdoing,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said in an interview.

The Justice Department spent years investigating accusations of deceptive marketing and financial fraud in the firm.

Blumenthal, who sued Purdue when he previously served as state attorney general, and William Tong, the current attorney general, said they were dismayed that the federal probes did not produce criminal charges against any executives or any of the Sackler family members who own the company. The settlement did not rule out prosecution of individuals.

“Owners and managers should be held criminally responsible,” Blumenthal said. “Many will rightly wonder why drug dealers on the streets go to prison, while billionaire corporate executives can write a check.”

Blumenthal said he wants to learn more about the settlement’s terms and said he would consult with other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about steps that the panel might take.

Holding a hearing could be an option. If the committee were to schedule one, Blumenthal said he would not rule out calling to testify some of the Sacklers or Purdue executives.

“We need a better explanation from the Department of Justice,” Blumenthal said. “I’m hopeful we’ll have bipartisan interest in pursuing the questions that this settlement raises because they are serious and urgent.”

Purdue declined to comment for this article. Messages left this week for a spokeswoman for the Sacklers were not returned.

Charges for the company, not individuals

As part of its agreement with the Justice Department, Purdue accepted responsibility for misconduct that occurred before June 2017 and also resolved allegations connected to actions taking place between 2007 and 2018.

The company admitted that it obstructed the Drug Enforcement Administration by falsely representing that it had maintained an effective program to avert drug “diversion” — the misuse of prescription drugs — and by reporting misleading information to the agency to boost its manufacturing quotas.

Purdue also acknowledged that it violated antikickback law by paying doctors, through a speaking program, to encourage them to write more prescriptions for its opioids and using health-records software to influence the prescribing of pain drugs.

It agreed to a $3.5 billion criminal fine and a $2 billion criminal forfeiture. In addition, it consented to a $2.8 billion civil settlement.

Separately, the Sacklers who own Purdue agreed to a $225 million civil settlement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations of marketing and financial misconduct on their part. Despite that deal, the Sacklers did not admit any wrongdoing.

But the lack of criminal charges against any individuals incensed Tong and a number of his counterparts.

“Members of the Sackler family and Purdue executives and managers and employees who are responsible should be personally held liable,” Tong said in an interview.

Responding to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut Media about why no Purdue-connected individuals had been criminally charged, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department referred to its Oct. 21 press conference announcing the settlement.

In the press conference, Justice Department officials confirmed that the settlement terms do not “release” or shield the Sacklers or anyone else connected to the company from possible criminal prosecution.

“The resolution we’ve reached ... is neither predictive of or preclusive of other or future or different resolutions that weren’t covered by today,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in response to a reporter’s question about why none of the Sacklers had been charged.