DoJ's bogus Purdue Pharma opioid settlement

© 2020 Peter Free

 

21 October 2020

 

 

If you've got the money . . .

 

. . . you can do whatever you want in the United States, including pillaging and killing people for profit:

 

 

Today, the Department of Justice announced a global resolution of its criminal and civil investigations into the opioid [OxyContin] manufacturer Purdue Pharma LP (Purdue), and a civil resolution of its civil investigation into individual shareholders from the Sackler family. 

 

The resolutions with Purdue are subject to the approval of the bankruptcy court.

 

Purdue Pharma has agreed to plead guilty in federal court in New Jersey to a three-count felony information charging it with one count of . . . conspiracy to defraud the United States and to violate the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and two counts of conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

 

The criminal resolution includes the largest penalties ever levied against a pharmaceutical manufacturer, including a criminal fine of $3.544 billion and an additional $2 billion in criminal forfeiture.

 

Purdue has also agreed to a civil settlement in the amount of $2.8 billion to resolve its civil liability under the False Claims Act.

 

Separately, the [controlling] Sackler family has agreed to pay $225 million in damages to resolve its civil False Claims Act liability.

 

© 2020 US Department of Justice, Justice Department Announces Global Resolution of Criminal and Civil Investigations with Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma and Civil Settlement with Members of the Sackler Family, justice.gov (21 October 2020)

 

 

"American Convenient"

 

First, a corporate entity knowingly loots and/or kills off a bunch of people for profit.

 

Then, it belatedly gets caught and conveniently declares bankruptcy. Bankruptcy allows it to escape some creditors, defraud others, and fully or partially end-run incoming civil claims.

 

Government steps in for Appearance's sake:

 

 

Can't have the Rabble recognizing what a typically American racket all of this always is.

 

Our eager public-trough leaders decide that actually doing anything "just" — like putting white collar criminals in cell blocks and chains — would be too much trouble, given how badly American law works.

 

So, they haggle a bit with the culprits' highly paid lawyers.

 

 

A seemingly large settlement number is reached, as assessed by the contents of our own personal wallets.

 

This mildly high number makes these Government leaders look noble and purpose-filled.

 

Yet, by societal design, absolutely no one on the Bad Guys' side has to do anything in recompense, except hand over what turns out to be comparatively trivial amounts of corporate and pocket money.

 

No jail or punitive time for any of them. Ever.

 

American jail (as we all know) is for poor "blacks" and people similarly "situated".

 

 

Hypocrisy's craw

 

Consider the fatuous part of the DoJ press release:

 

 

“Today’s resolution is the result of years of hard work by the FBI and its partners to combat the opioid crisis in the U.S.,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office.

 

“Purdue, through greed and violation of the law, prioritized money over the health and well-being of patients.

 

"The FBI remains committed to holding companies accountable for their illegal and inexcusable activity and to seeking justice, on behalf of the victims, for those who contributed to the opioid crisis.”

 

© 2020 US Department of Justice, Justice Department Announces Global Resolution of Criminal and Civil Investigations with Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma and Civil Settlement with Members of the Sackler Family, justice.gov (21 October 2020)

 

 

In truth

 

Prioritizing "money over the health and well-being" of American patients and citizens is exactly what the United States is consistently about.

 

 

If the DoJ's societally asinine settlement does not make you mad . . .

 

. . . you can read more about it, here:

 

 

German Lopez, The case for prosecuting the Sacklers and other opioid executives, Vox (10 October 2020)

 

 

An in-depth source — regarding how the immensely talented (but often ethically repulsive) Sackler head-of-family made them rich — is contained in this book:

 

 

Gerald Posner, Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America (Avid Reader Press, 2020)

 

 

The moral? — The Great American Kakistocracy rolls on

 

Making Elites richly content is US Government's only purpose.

 

Vote happy, my friends.