Big Pharma Exec Perp Walked In Handcuffs After Surrendering On Opioid Trafficking Charges

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-24/big-pharma-exec-perp-walked-handcuffs-after-surrendering-opioid-trafficking-charges

75-year-old Laurence Doud III became the first pharma CEO in the United States to face prosecution linked to the opioid crisis, after he was accused along with another company executive of ignoring red flags while pushing massive hauls of powerful painkillers to pharmacies across the United States, reports ABC News. Doud faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted.

CEO CHARGED: Federal prosecutors charged Rochester Drug Cooperative, one of the nation's largest opioid distributors, and two of its former executives Tuesday, with the company's former chief executive Laurence Doud III being taken into DEA custody. https://t.co/YiCUoIQCit pic.twitter.com/i12pP0NQwj
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) April 23, 2019

"This prosecution is the first of its kind: executives of a pharmaceutical distributor and the distributor itself have been charged with drug trafficking, trafficking the same drugs that are fueling the opioid epidemic that is ravaging this country. Our Office will do everything in its power to combat this epidemic, from street-level dealers to the executives who illegally distribute drugs from their boardrooms," said US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman in a statement.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York charged Rochester Drug Cooperative (RDC), one of the country's largest distributors of opioids, with "knowingly and intentionally" violating federal narcotics laws "by distributing dangerous, highly addictive opioids to pharmacy customers that it knew were being sold and used illicitly," according to a press release.

RDC was also charged with failing to properly report thousands of suspicious orders of oxycodone, fentanyl and other controlled substances to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), officials said -ABC News

Doud reportedly encouraged his sales team to sign new pharmacies up as customers with virtually no oversight or background investigations - picking up competitors' rejects as he pitched RDC as "the knight in shining armor" for independent pharmacies, according to the indictment.