In a period of three months, two chief compliance officers have been charged for their individual roles in the opioid epidemic—a clear indication the Department of Justice continues to expand the scope of prosecutions against not just pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, but also against those who fail in their compliance responsibilities.
In February 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of the Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force, with the intended focus to “aggressively deploy and coordinate all available criminal and civil law enforcement tools to fight the opioid crisis,” particularly against opioid manufacturers and distributors. The recent prosecutions of individuals appear to represent the next phase of those enforcement priorities.
