Its easy to criticize the Sackler settlement, but I have yet to hear anyone criticize the US Government that received nearly $4bln in taxes (profit) from the $10Bln their enterprise earned.
How come the US Govt's $4bln "take" is not considered ill-gotten gain, particularly given it was the US FDA (Woodcock, in her prior role at agency) that essentially sanctioned rampant opioid prescriptions?
I don't know about what shady dealings the FDA was involved in with this case, but governments generally tax all economic activity within their jurisdiction. There are even guidelines for reporting income on stolen goods on the IRS website.
Lying to people about addictive potential, causing many of them to die, for a profit is far and away from a government collecting collecting taxes on economic activity.
How come the US Govt's $4bln "take" is not considered ill-gotten gain, particularly given it was the US FDA (Woodcock, in her prior role at agency) that essentially sanctioned rampant opioid prescriptions?