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OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to plead to 3 criminal charges

Oct 21, 2020
The drugmaker will also pay a settlement of more than $8 billion, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
OxyContin is displayed at a drugstore in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Darren McCollester/Getty Images

Would a $10 billion Purdue settlement reach towns affected by the opioid crisis?

Aug 28, 2019
A proposed settlement would reportedly see the OxyContin maker declaring bankruptcy and paying big. Is that enough for people on the ground?
A homemade sign says "Think drugs gets you high give God a try," on a front lawn in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. The town in Wise County has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.
Julia Rendleman/Marketplace

How one sentence helped set off the opioid crisis

Dec 13, 2017
Recently unsealed documents shed light on how the maker of OxyContin seems to have relied more on focus groups than on scientific studies to create an aggressive and misleading marketing campaign that helped fuel the national opioid epidemic.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

OxyContin's waiting game: Generic drug makers salivate while the FDA wants safer pills

Apr 16, 2013
OxyContin is supposed to come off patent and generic drug makers are excited. But, the FDA may put a stop to it all to wait for safer pills.