NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge has delayed the criminal sentencing of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma by one week to allow victims of the opioid crisis to attend in person.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo had been expected to accept Purdue’s 2020 guilty plea during a videoconference hearing on Tuesday. However, according to the Associated Press, she changed course after seeing victims protesting outside the courthouse in Newark and said they should have the opportunity to be present in the courtroom. The hearing has been rescheduled for next Tuesday.
“Sacklers lie. People die,” protesters chanted.
“That’s exactly what happened. They lied, and people died, and you can’t just pay a damn fine when people die,” protester Ed Bisch yelled, who lost his high school son to an OxyContin overdose early in the opioid epidemic.
At the hearing, Arleo was expected to order Purdue to forfeit $225 million to the U.S. Department of Justice, a step that would help clear the way for the company to finalize a settlement resolving thousands of lawsuits tied to its role in the opioid crisis.
Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family have been at the center of thousands of lawsuits, accusing the company of fueling the opioid epidemic through deceptive marketing of OxyContin.
The financial penalty stems from a 2020 agreement to resolve federal civil and criminal investigations. Under the deal, members of the Sackler family who own the company would pay up to $7 billion to state, local and Native American tribal governments, as well as some individual victims and others. If approved, additional penalties would not be pursued as part of Purdue’s broader settlement of remaining lawsuits. According to the Associated Press, more than 54,000 people with personal injury claims against Purdue voted to accept the settlement, while 218 voted against it.
“As Purdue Pharma faces sentencing, we refuse to accept a system where corporations can buy their way out of harm. A fine is not justice,” Truth Pharm posted on Facebook.
The advocacy group, which works to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic and push for policy changes, helped organize the protest.
“While they decide on the three felonies Purdue Pharma has already confessed to, let’s show them the lives they impact behind the ruling,” Truth Pharm wrote.
Purdue pleaded guilty to three federal criminal charges in November 2020. The Stamford, Connecticut-based company admitted it lacked an effective system to prevent its prescription opioids from being diverted to the black market, despite telling the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration otherwise.
The company also admitted to paying doctors through a speakers program to prescribe its drugs and to compensating an electronic medical records company to send physicians information that encouraged increased opioid prescribing.
