Ex-Pharma CEO Aided Opioid Sales to Addicts, U.S. Says
- Government claims Doud ignored red flags of illegal diversions
- Defense lawyer says company compliance system was ‘no sham’
Former Rochester Drug Co-operative CEO Laurence Doud III outside US. District Court in New York on April 23, 2019.
Photographer: Kathy Willens/AP PhotoThe former head of a major generic drug distributor directed U.S. sales of opioids to pharmacies despite “serious red flags” that the powerful medications were being illegally diverted to street dealers and addicts, a prosecutor told jurors at the start of a criminal trial in Manhattan.
Laurence F. Doud III, who spent 25 years as chief executive officer of Rochester Drug Co-operative, is accused of scheming with others at the company to distribute high volumes of addictive oxycodone and fentanyl to pharmacies that had been flagged for questionable practices and preventing reporting them to the government. Doud, 78, faces from 10 years to life in prison if convicted.