Overview

Paul Goldenheim, M.D., served as Executive Vice President of Scientific and Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at Purdue Pharma. In this role, he was responsible for the scientific and medical claims that underpinned OxyContin's marketing, including the pivotal assertion that the drug's extended-release formulation reduced its abuse potential, a claim unsupported by controlled addiction studies. As CMO, Goldenheim oversaw the medical affairs function that provided the scientific veneer for Purdue's marketing representations to physicians, including the fabricated "less than one percent" addiction claim. In October 2006, Kirk Ogrosky, Deputy Chief of the DOJ Fraud Division, wrote an internal memorandum recommending that Goldenheim, along with president Michael Friedman and general counsel Howard Udell, be charged with felonies including wire fraud and money laundering based on evidence that Purdue executives had committed federal crimes to boost OxyContin sales. Instead of pursuing felony charges, the DOJ negotiated a plea bargain. On May 10, 2007, Goldenheim 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 Udell. Goldenheim received no prison time. His role was particularly significant because, as the company's senior medical officer, he bore direct responsibility for the accuracy of Purdue's claims about OxyContin's pharmacological properties, addiction risk, and safety profile, claims that were central to Purdue's fraud.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (1)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

2 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports