Rochester Drug Cooperative fined $20 million in first US criminal case against a major drug distributor over opioids
https://www.businessinsider.com/rochester-drug-opioid-ceo-charged-and-fined-2019-4
- The US 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.
- Rochester Drug Co-operative, one of the 10 largest US drug distributors, agreed to pay a $20 million fine and enter a five-year deferred prosecution agreement to resolve the charges.
- Two former RDC executives were also charged, including Laurence Doud, who had been its CEO for more than 25 years.
- Doud was accused of conspiring to distribute illegal narcotics and conspiring to defraud the US.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The US 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.
Rochester Drug Co-operative, one of the 10 largest US drug distributors, agreed to pay a $20 million fine and enter a five-year deferred prosecution agreement to resolve charges it turned a blind eye to thousands of suspicious orders for opioids.
"We made mistakes," RDC spokesman Jeff Eller said in a statement. "We accept responsibility for those mistakes."
