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Rochester Drug Cooperative: Top US Drug Company Officially Charged with Illegal Opioid Distribution

The US Department of Justice has charged one of the top 10 companies in the pharmaceutical industry and two of its directors. For the charges they face, they risk life imprisonment.

Rochester Drug Co-Operative, one of the largest drug distributors in the United States, has been officially charged with conspiracy to violate narcotics legal regulations, Futurism notes. Former CEO of the company, Laurence F. Doud III and another director, William Pietruszewski, have also been accused of illegally distributing drugs such as Oxycodone and Fentanyl, as well as falsifying statements to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) who oversee federally drug delivery and quality.

The two directors are at risk for charges that have been handed down to 10 years and life imprisonment. “The charges filed today are a shockwave for the pharmaceutical industry,” said Ray Donovan, the DEA agent leading the investigation. He also added that pharmaceutical companies should be reminded of their obligation to the public regarding the distribution of opioids.

Profit before public safety

Currently, the opioid crisis that has plagued the United States leads to 130 deaths daily as a result of prescription drug abuse. In these circumstances, the details made public by the investigators become extremely worrying. Thus, in the period 2012-2016, Rochester Drug Co-Operative managed to increase the sales of Oxycodone by 800% and those of Fentanyl by 2,000%. During the same period, the company registered in the internal records 8,300 orders of medicines, reporting to DEA only 4.

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