In May 2013, Endo Health Solutions pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was ordered to pay nearly $1.1 billion in criminal penalties and an additional $450 million in criminal forfeiture for illegally marketing their Opana ER prescription opioid. The company was accused of falsely advertising their medicine, also known as oxymorphone, as abuse deterrent and resistant to tampering without having the necessary clinical trial data to back up those claims.
The lack of clinical trial data led the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to accuse the company of engaging in extensive false advertising efforts to conceal the negative effects of oxymorphone. Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge at the Miami Field Office of the FBI, stated that the company demonstrated a callous disregard for the safety and well-being of individuals who were prescribed this highly addictive drug.
The hefty fine and criminal penalties serve as a stark reminder of the consequences of misleading marketing tactics in the pharmaceutical industry. It is crucial that companies prioritize patient safety over profits when promoting their products, especially when it comes to highly addictive drugs like opioids.
