Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong

by Paul A. Offit

ON MAY 10, 2007, Purdue Pharma, along with three company executives, pleaded guilty to one count of “misbranding” OxyContin. The court ruled that Purdue had minimized risks, made unsubstantiated claims, and failed to include clear warnings about how, under certain conditions, the drug could be fatal. Just as Bayer had continued to market heroin when it was evident that the drug was causing harm, Purdue had been slow to inform the public about the potential dangers of OxyContin. The three executives were fined $34.5 million (which Purdue paid), barred from working for any company that sold medical products for the next 12 years, and required to perform 400 hours of community service in drug-treatment centers. Purdue also paid an additional $634 million penalty. Many of the parents whose children had died from OxyContin were present during the sentencing. “Our children were not drug addicts; they were typical teenagers,” said one woman, whose 19-year-old son had died. “We’ve been given a life sentence.” Judge James P. Jones, who presided over the trial, said he would have liked to have sent company executives to prison, but was bound by the plea bargain.