ZR
09-03-2017, 07:03 AM
Faced today with the staggering impact of the opioid addictions crisis, Ontario’s Liberal government is urging the federal government to take legal action against a company that allegedly played a role in triggering the epidemic.
But a decade ago, knowledge of lawsuits, criminal charges against executives and the increasing abuse of OxyContin wasn’t enough to dissuade the province from awarding that same company a $4.9-million taxpayer-funded grant.
According to documents obtained by the Toronto Sun in a lengthy battle at Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commission, the Liberal government doled out the money in 2007 to the manufacturer of OxyContin — Purdue Pharma. The documents reveal it did so even though it was well aware of legal issues piling up against the company because of the addictive pills which some experts say are at the root of the country’s wave of opioid addiction.
“Purdue Pharma Canada has been named in three class action lawsuits across Canada over the last year of so, in connection with the OxyContin line of painkillers,” says a briefing note written by government staffers dated November 2008.
It goes on to mention that in 2007, months before the province announced the grant deal, the company settled a $600 million lawsuit settlement in the United States connected to OxyContin. It also says three of the company’s top executives pleaded guilty to misdemeanour fraud charges as part of that settlement.
“The Canadian lawsuits are in very early stages, will take some years to play out, and the outcomes are entirely uncertain,” the note says.
In fact, those lawsuits settled in April 2017 but must still be approved by courts in Quebec and Saskatchewan before they can be finalized. A $20-million settlement would be split amongst as many as 2,000 Canadians who got hooked on OxyContin.
It would also pay $2 million to provincial governments, including Ontario.
The class action suits alleged Purdue knew anyone who took OxyContin risked becoming addicted to the painkiller. The suit further alleged that at no time did the company disclose that risk.
The settlement is not an admission of any liability by Purdue Pharma.
But in 2007, the government knew there was a risk to giving the company the grant under its $150 Biopharmaceutical Investment Program. So, it built provisions into the deal to “protect the taxpayer,” according to the briefing note.
A 50-page contract, also obtained by the Sun, shows the agreement built in “OxyContin Related Provisions” and expressly prohibited Purdue Pharma from using the millions in grant money “directly or indirectly (to) enable or subsidize the manufacture or marketing of OxyContin or...in connection with OxyContin including but not limited to litigation, payment of fines, damages, settlements or legal fees.”
The agreement gave Ontario the right to cancel the deal if anything arising from the OxyContin lawsuits, in the province’s opinion, could affect the company’s ability to fulfil the terms.
Asked about the deal this week, the Ontario government defended awarding the grant.
But a decade ago, knowledge of lawsuits, criminal charges against executives and the increasing abuse of OxyContin wasn’t enough to dissuade the province from awarding that same company a $4.9-million taxpayer-funded grant.
According to documents obtained by the Toronto Sun in a lengthy battle at Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commission, the Liberal government doled out the money in 2007 to the manufacturer of OxyContin — Purdue Pharma. The documents reveal it did so even though it was well aware of legal issues piling up against the company because of the addictive pills which some experts say are at the root of the country’s wave of opioid addiction.
“Purdue Pharma Canada has been named in three class action lawsuits across Canada over the last year of so, in connection with the OxyContin line of painkillers,” says a briefing note written by government staffers dated November 2008.
It goes on to mention that in 2007, months before the province announced the grant deal, the company settled a $600 million lawsuit settlement in the United States connected to OxyContin. It also says three of the company’s top executives pleaded guilty to misdemeanour fraud charges as part of that settlement.
“The Canadian lawsuits are in very early stages, will take some years to play out, and the outcomes are entirely uncertain,” the note says.
In fact, those lawsuits settled in April 2017 but must still be approved by courts in Quebec and Saskatchewan before they can be finalized. A $20-million settlement would be split amongst as many as 2,000 Canadians who got hooked on OxyContin.
It would also pay $2 million to provincial governments, including Ontario.
The class action suits alleged Purdue knew anyone who took OxyContin risked becoming addicted to the painkiller. The suit further alleged that at no time did the company disclose that risk.
The settlement is not an admission of any liability by Purdue Pharma.
But in 2007, the government knew there was a risk to giving the company the grant under its $150 Biopharmaceutical Investment Program. So, it built provisions into the deal to “protect the taxpayer,” according to the briefing note.
A 50-page contract, also obtained by the Sun, shows the agreement built in “OxyContin Related Provisions” and expressly prohibited Purdue Pharma from using the millions in grant money “directly or indirectly (to) enable or subsidize the manufacture or marketing of OxyContin or...in connection with OxyContin including but not limited to litigation, payment of fines, damages, settlements or legal fees.”
The agreement gave Ontario the right to cancel the deal if anything arising from the OxyContin lawsuits, in the province’s opinion, could affect the company’s ability to fulfil the terms.
Asked about the deal this week, the Ontario government defended awarding the grant.