Overview

Howard Udell served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Purdue Pharma, the company that manufactured OxyContin. As the company's chief legal officer, Udell was responsible for legal oversight of Purdue's marketing practices, regulatory compliance, and disclosure obligations during the period when OxyContin was marketed with false claims about its addiction risk. In October 2006, Kirk Ogrosky, Deputy Chief of the DOJ Fraud Division, wrote an internal memorandum recommending that Udell and fellow executives Michael Friedman and Paul Goldenheim be charged with felonies including wire fraud and money laundering based on evidence that Purdue executives committed federal crimes to boost OxyContin sales. Instead of pursuing felony charges, the DOJ negotiated a plea bargain. On May 10, 2007, Udell pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of misbranding OxyContin "with the intent to defraud or mislead." He was sentenced to 400 hours of community service in drug treatment programs and paid a personal fine as part of a combined $34.5 million penalty shared with Friedman and Goldenheim. Udell received no prison time. As general counsel, Udell was uniquely positioned to ensure the company's marketing complied with FDA regulations and the Controlled Substances Act, making his role in the fraud particularly significant. The plea deal was widely criticized as wholly inadequate given the scale of harm: by 2007, OxyContin had already contributed to thousands of overdose deaths and hundreds of thousands of addictions. Udell died on June 19, 2013.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (1)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

2 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports