WASHINGTON – Purdue Pharma, the company whose OxyContin painkiller contributed to a nationwide opioid epidemic, has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges as part of a settlement with the government that includes fines of more than $8 billion, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
The company, according to the agreement, will plead guilty to fraud and violations of the federal kickback laws. The criminal charges do not, however, absolve the company’s owners, the Sackler family, of future criminal liability, federal authorities said.
