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Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday and ordered to pay $5.5 billion for its role in fueling the opioid epidemic.
The sentencing comes after Purdue pleaded guilty in 2020 on charges of deceiving federal regulators and paying doctors to boost opioid sales. According to court documents, Purdue illegally marketed its opioid products, defrauded the DEA by misrepresenting the effectiveness of its programs and paid kickbacks to doctors through its doctor speaker program.
“Purdue Pharma put profits over patient health and safety,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “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.”
“The opioid epidemic in the United States is a plague that has ruined lives and destroyed families,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “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.”
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The court ordered Purdue 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 DOJ says.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo ordered Purdue Chairman Steve Miller to apologize directly to victims of the opioid pandemic who were in the courthouse on Tuesday.
Arleo allowed nearly seven hours of testimony from victims who spoke about Purdue’s role in the opioid epidemic.
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“We are deeply apologetic for all of the things that happened that were described in colorful detail by all the victims here today,” Miller said, adding that the company, “deeply regrets and accepts responsibility.”
Arleo also said authorities repeatedly failed to rein in Purdue.
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“Your government failed you,” Arleo said. “The inadequacy of what the law can offer today must be plainly stated.”
Purdue Pharma, which was already preparing to pay $7.4 billion as part of a bankruptcy deal, addressed Tuesday’s sentence in a message on its website, noting that the company will cease to operate later this week.
“On April 28, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey sentenced Purdue Pharma L.P. in connection with its 2020 Plea Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Purdue is operating as usual and without interruption until May 1, 2026, when it will permanently cease operations,” the message said. “On that day, substantially all of Purdue’s assets will be transferred to a newly formed company, Knoa Pharma LLC. Medicines distributed though Purdue will then be distributed by Knoa Pharma.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
