NEW YORK: The U.S. government on Tuesday filed its first criminal charges against a major drug distributor and company executives over their alleged roles in fueling the nation's opioid epidemic by putting profits ahead of patients' safety.
Laurence Doud, who had been RDC's chief executive for more than 25 years, was charged in an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to distribute illegal narcotics and conspiring to defraud the United States. His lawyer said he plans to plead not guilty. The case marks a new U.S. effort to curtail the growing number of addictions to oxycodone and other prescription painkillers, often by people with no legitimate medical need for them.Opioids, including prescription painkillers and heroin, played a role in a record 47,600 U.S. deaths in 2017, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The deferred prosecution agreement allows RDC to keep operating, subject to three years of independent compliance monitoring, and avoid prosecution if it complies with the terms.
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