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The jury awarded $1 million to Purdue in the opioid

April 13, 2017 by Carolyn Mueller

The jury awarded $1 million to Purdue in the opioid case, with the company filing a $3.5 million civil penalty. In an interview last month, Purdue said the company will continue to fight for its rights under the law.

On the morning of January 18, 2017, Purdue announced that it will not sell the brand for more than ten months. Purdue's legal team accused the Justice Department of criminal negligence and is now pursuing civil fraud charges against the company for allegedly stealing $300 million from an estimated $30 million in the US Treasury.

Purdue's lawsuit claims that OxyContin "has a unique, addictive effect that is associated with addiction and has a long, unpredictable life cycle" and that OxyContin is a "dangerous poison from an opioid perspective."

The company says the DEA's findings "suggest[ed] that the current opioid crisis can be remedied with the use of effective treatment tools and increased availability of prescription opioids."

However, the Justice Department says that "the [Purdue] brand does not meet any of the specific criteria outlined by the DEA and DEA Administrator" of the US Drug Enforcement Administration for prescription opioid use, and that "the product and products containing it are not available as a regulated substance."

Purdue contends it has been unfairly targeted by the DEA for selling OxyContin to its customers.