Senator Hassan, Colleagues Urge Judge to Reject $3.5 Million Bonus for CEO of Bankrupt Purdue Pharma

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan joined Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and colleagues in urging Judge Robert D. Drain to reject Purdue Pharma’s proposal to pay President and CEO Craig Landau a bonus of up to $3.5 million. Purdue’s opioid marketing campaign accelerated an opioid epidemic that has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives.

Purdue Pharma is currently in bankruptcy court, and Judge Drain is overseeing the company’s disbursements, including adjudicating the claims of the more than 122,000 people who have filed personal injury claims against Purdue over its opioid products.

“We write to express our opposition to the executive bonuses proposed by Purdue Pharma during their ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy litigation,” the Senators wrote. “Specifically, we are extremely concerned about a proposal to compensate President and Chief Executive Officer Craig Landau with an ‘incentive payment’ of up to $3.5 million, despite new evidence indicating that Mr. Landau may have presided over significant criminal activity during his time at Purdue.”

Purdue Pharma’s opioid marketing campaign generated $35 billion in revenue for Purdue and likely significant incentive bonus compensation for Mr. Landau for achieving ambitious opioid sales targets. In their letter, the Senators raise new concerns regarding company practices that took place during Mr. Landau’s tenure, and highlight how the company has continued to promote their opioid products, despite multiple lawsuits and thousands of personal injury claims.

The letter is part of Senator Hassan’s ongoing efforts to hold opioid manufacturers and distributors accountable for their wrongdoing. Senator Hassan is continuing to push for answers from the Department of Justice about a 2006 Department memo laying out federal prosecutors’ strong criminal case against Purdue Pharma and the Department’s decision to settle instead of prosecuting Purdue Pharma.

The full letter to Judge Drain is available here. 

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