WASHINGTON — Opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma LP (Purdue) was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, and ordered to pay criminal penalties of over $5 billion for its role in fueling the opioid epidemic in a case that was uncovered partially by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont more than six years ago.

“Purdue Pharma put profits over patient health and safety,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.

“The company willfully rejected the law and ignored the diversion of their highly addictive prescription drugs. Their actions contributed to the opioid crisis that claimed countless lives and destroyed entire families and communities. Today’s sentence is a prime example of the Department’s effort to redress past wrongs by rooting out and punishing unlawful conduct by companies that have contributed to the national crisis,” Blanche said in a news release.

“The opioid epidemic in the United States is a plague that has ruined lives and destroyed families,” FBI Director Kash Patel added.

“Purdue Pharma complicitly contributed to this national epidemic in the name of their own greed by blatantly ignoring the health and safety of patients putting countless lives at risk. The FBI and our DOJ partners will always work tirelessly to ensure that companies, like Pharma, pay for the harm they have inflicted and warn others that they will not get away with violating the law for personal gain,” Patel said.

Part of the multi-billion-dollar fraud was uncovered in Vermont by former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Owen Foster and Michael Drescher and healthcare fraud investigator George Thabault of Burlington while working for U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan. The Vermont portion of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia A. P. Cowles since Drescher’s appointment to the Vermont Supreme Court.

“By prioritizing profits over people, Purdue prolonged the suffering of patients, leaving them trapped in opioid addiction long after their initial pain subsided,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney for Vermont Jonathan A. Ophardt said on Tuesday.

“While no resolution adequately could reflect the struggles of people across New England who lost their lives and their loved ones to addiction, today’s sentence takes a substantial step toward recognizing and redressing the harm Purdue caused,” Ophardt said.

Purdue pleaded guilty to a three-count felony information on Nov. 24, 2020. The third count, which was based on the Vermont investigation, was a conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

The Vermont investigation revealed that, from April 2016 through December 2016, Purdue made nearly $1 million in payments to Practice Fusion, Inc., an electronic health records company, in exchange for Practice Fusion installing a prompt in its software intending to cause doctors to refer, recommend, and arrange for the ordering of Purdue’s extended release opioid products – OxyContin, Butrans, and Hysingla.

The Chairman of Purdue’s Board of Directors, Robert S. Miller, admitted in federal court that one purpose of the software prompt was to increase Purdue’s extended release opioid sales and that it knew it was unlawful to provide remuneration in exchange for arranging for, or recommending, such prescriptions, federal officials said in a joint press release.

Miller further admitted Purdue was in fact guilty of conspiring with Practice Fusion to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, the officials said.

Nolan in 2020 publicly commended Drescher, Foster and Thabault for their hard and groundbreaking work to secure the historic conviction and to hold accountable a big pharma company that contributed to the opioid addiction crisis in the United States through its unlawful marketing.

Purdue’s guilty plea marked the first time in history that a pharmaceutical company has been found guilty in connection with a relationship with an electronic health records company, Nolan said at the time.

The federal court in New Jersey ordered Purdue on Tuesday to pay a criminal fine of $3.544 billion, which will be assessed in connection with the bankruptcy proceedings, and an additional $2 billion in criminal forfeiture.

The Department will credit up to $1.775 billion against the $2 billion forfeiture amount based on the value conferred to state, local, and tribal governments through Purdue’s bankruptcy if Purdue ceases to operate in its current form and emerges from bankruptcy as a public benefit company (PBC) or entity with a similar mission designed for the benefit of the American public. The proceeds of the PBC will be directed toward state and local opioid abatement programs. In addition, Purdue is required to host a public document repository containing documents relating to the criminal charges.

Other officials across the country were pleased with the long-awaited outcome this week, according to the news release.

“This generational case against Purdue Pharmaceuticals is one of the most important corporate enforcement cases ever brought by the Department of Justice,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said.

“The opioid epidemic was and continues to be a national tragedy that has destroyed far too many lives, families, and communities. Purdue callously focused on profits when it knew that providers were prescribing these addictive opioids to patients without a legitimate medical purpose. While good progress has been made in combating the national opioid crisis, today’s sentencing is a reminder that there is much additional work to be done. Companies like Purdue that place illicit profits over the obligation to be a good and honest corporate citizen will be investigated and prosecuted. Today’s sentencing reflects Purdue’s role in fueling the opioid crisis and concludes the Department’s efforts to hold Purdue accountable for diversion of its products. The Criminal Division remains steadfast in our mission to seek justice on behalf of the American people,” Duva said.

Administrator Terrance Cole of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said Purdue Pharma undermined the government’s efforts to ensure compliance and prevent prescription drug diversion.”

“Their actions fueled a surge in addiction and cost many Americans lives. The prescription opioid epidemic directly paved the way for today’s fentanyl crisis. DEA remains committed to working with registrants, communities, faith-based organizations, and schools to address the damage and end the opioid epidemic that has gripped our nation for far too long,” Cole said.

“Purdue Pharma put profit ahead of American lives and, in doing so, helped engineer a public health catastrophe that has left a trail of suffering for families and communities across this nation,” said Inspector General T. March Bell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

“No penalty can undo the widespread devastation Purdue has inflicted, but today’s sentence serves long-overdue accountability for its reckless and unlawful conduct. HHS-OIG and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate large corporations and conglomerates when they violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and other federal laws designed to protect patients and the integrity of federally funded health care programs,” Bell said in the release.

“Purdue made billions by unlawfully marketing dangerous opioid products, and deceiving the DEA and the American people,” the new U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Robert Frazer said.

“Purdue profited by paying illegal kickbacks to induce providers, including those who diverted opioids to drug abusers, to prescribe even more opioids. Today’s multi-billion-dollar sentence holds Purdue accountable for its criminal conduct,” Frazer said.

A panel of federal district judges appointed Frazer as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in March to end a year-long leadership vacancy and legal dispute.