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 Privately-owned Purdue, which was the subject of a prior U.S.
Justice Department probe related to OxyContin a decade ago, said in
a statement that it is cooperating with an investigation by the U.S.
Attorney's Office in its home state of Connecticut.
"Purdue is committed to being part of the solution to our nation's
opioid crisis and has been cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's
investigation," Purdue said. "We will continue to do so until this
matter is resolved."
Tom Carson, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly in
Connecticut, declined to comment. The investigation was first
reported by Bloomberg, which said that prosecutors were conducting a
criminal probe into Purdue's marketing of OxyContin.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
opioids were involved in more than 33,000 deaths in 2015, the latest
year for which data is available. The death rate has continued
rising, according to estimates.
Purdue has faced a wave of lawsuits by Louisiana, Washington, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire and
South Carolina, as well as several cities and counties. Many of
those cases target other drugmakers as well.
The lawsuits have generally accused Stamford, Connecticut Purdue of
deceptive marketing of OxyContin and convincing doctors and the
public that its drugs had a low-risk of addiction and were effective
for treating chronic pain.
The company has denied the allegations and stressed that OxyContin
represents less than 2 percent of all opioids nationally.
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Purdue and three executives pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal
charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin and agreed to pay a
total of $634.5 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department probe.
That year, the company also reached a $19.5 million settlement with
26 states and the District of Columbia. It agreed in 2015 to pay $24
million to resolve a lawsuit by Kentucky.
Other drugmakers have similarly been sued by state attorneys
general. Mylan NV, Depomed Inc and Mallinckrodt Plc earlier this
year meanwhile disclosed receiving subpoenas from the U.S. Justice
Department related to the marketing and sale of opioids.
(Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru and Nate Raymond in
Boston; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Diane Craft)
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