Blumenthal Statement Regarding Purdue Pharma Guilty Plea

(HARTFORD, CT) – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) issued the following statement regarding Purdue Pharma’s settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ):

“This settlement is scant solace for millions of American families destroyed by Purdue Pharma’s hideous criminal law breaking. There is little justice here. The Sacklers can buy another drug manufacturer or otherwise use the billions they have funneled from the company. The company’s toxic corporate culture seemingly continues unchanged. The public benefit company makes the government a partner in addictive drug manufacturing. Putting it bluntly, this action falls woefully short. Many will rightly wonder why small time drug dealers go to prison, while corporate drug dealers can write a check. Real justice would mean holding individual lawbreakers criminally accountable and making sure victims and survivors are compensated for the harm and hurt they have suffered. This company is a repeat offender, as I know from my own legal action against it, having already paid $600 million in fines to settle criminal charges in 2007. The company engaged in a decades long criminal enterprise -- persistent and pernicious -- despite promises to stop. This time, the punishment must fit the crime and halt it.”

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