Labaton Sucharow Partner and former federal prosecutor Michael Canty was quoted in NPR about ongoing opioid litigation and the possibility of criminal prosecutions for offenders. NPR notes that while drug companies have been forced to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars in civil lawsuits, legal action has largely remained in the civil sphere.
NPR spoke with experts, including Canty, about why federal prosecutors have been hesitant to file criminal charges against the pharma companies. Canty speculated that criminal cases are just harder to win. "One of the basic tenets of being a prosecutor is that you don't bring a case unless you believe that you can prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
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