A 5 milliliter dose of liquid oxycodone, a medicine at the epicenter of the US opioid crisis that has claimed tens of thousands of lives (AFP Photo/EVA HAMBACH) |
New York (AFP) - Two former executives of a major US pharmaceutical company were charged Tuesday with fulfilling orders they knew to be fraudulent during the opioid epidemic that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
It was the
first time that senior or former executives have faced criminal charges in
connection with distributing powerful prescription painkillers like oxycodone
and fentanyl that carry a high risk of addiction and overdose.
The company
where the executives worked, Rochester Drug Cooperative (RDC), is one of the
country's largest distributors of prescription opioids.
It has
entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the US Attorney's office in New
York and agreed to pay a $20 million fine.
As result,
the company will not be prosecuted and will be allowed to retain its license to
distribute drugs, while promising to reform its practices.
In a
statement, RDC admitted that between 2012 and 2017 it had failed to report
shipments of drugs it recognized as suspicious, as required by law.
"This
prosecution is the first of its kind," US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in
a statement.
"Executives
of a pharmaceutical distributor and the distributor itself have been charged
with drug trafficking, trafficking the same drugs that are fueling the opioid
epidemic that is ravaging this country."
RDC
distributes to some 1,300 pharmacies and with an annual turnover of more than
$1 billion, according to documents released by prosecutors.
Investigators
found that it had failed to report at least 2,000 suspicious orders of drugs
whose distribution is overseen by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The
defendants were named as former CEO Laurence Doud, 75, and William
Pietruszewski, 53, who had served as chief compliance officer.
"RDC's
employees, including in conversations with Doud and Pietruszewski, described
some of the company's customers as 'very suspicious,' and even characterized
particular pharmacies as a 'DEA investigation in the making' or 'like a stick
of dynamite waiting for (the) DEA to light the fuse,'" the New York
prosecutors said.
"Nonetheless,
throughout the period in question, RDC, at the direction of Doud, increased its
sales of oxycodone and fentanyl exponentially," the statement added.
Doud and
Pietruszewski were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances,
which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a minimum of 10 years.
Doud was
arrested Tuesday and appeared before a federal judge, who ordered his release
on a $500,000 bond.
Pietruszewski
pleaded guilty to the same two counts, as well as breaches of his duty to
report to the authorities.
Around
47,600 people died in 2017 from an opiate overdose in the United States,
according Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures.
"This
epidemic has been driven by greed," Berman told a news conference, adding
that Doud had seen his salary more than double between 2012 and 2016.
Two US pharmaceutical bosses are charged with drug trafficking and fulfilling orders they knew to be fraudulent -- fueling the opioid epidemic that has claimed tens of thousands of liveshttps://t.co/KxmBwM4f3O @AFPgraphics pic.twitter.com/33K4TPLBT3— AFP news agency (@AFP) 24 april 2019
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