On Thursday, May 10, 2007, U.S. Attorney John Brownlee announced that Purdue Pharma L.P. executives and former executives pleaded guilty to a “felony charge of illegally misbranding OxyContin in an effort to mislead and defraud physicians and consumers.”
Commonly referred to as “hillbilly heroin,” OxyContin contains a high dose of oxycodone – a synthetic opiate and powerful painkiller. It is prescribed in a time-release pill form to people with severe pain. Abusers of the drug circumvent the time-release mechanism by crushing the pill prior to snorting or injecting it.
According to Brownlee, the makers of OxyContin lied to the public, marketing the drug as being “less addictive, less subject to abuse and diversion, and less likely to cause withdrawal symptoms than other pain medications.” The plea agreement will require Purdue and its top executives to pay $634.5 million in fines, penalties, and forfeitures.
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