Last week, we wrote that Howard Udell, the chief legal officer at Purdue Pharma, was fighting to keep his law license after authorities in Connecticut, where the drugmaker is based, received grievance complaints. Udell is being singled out for his role as one of three current or former Purdue execs who pled guilty to federal criminal charges of misleading regulators, doctors and consumers about the addictive risks of OxyContin. All totaled, Purdue, its parent and three execs paid $634 million in fines, including Udell’s $8 million.

But as part of the deal, Udell and the others aren’t serving jail time. And that upsets Marianne Skolek, who spends her time hunting Purdue execs, because she believes they are responsible for her daughter’s death and should face stiffer punishment. In 2002, her 29-year-old daughter was prescribed the painkiller for a herniated disk and wound up dying of heart failure, leaving behind a 6-year-old son. She recently filed one of grievances against Udell in hopes that his license to practice law will be revoked.

In his defense, Udell argued that “the guilty plea arose from my employment…But neither the nature of this plea nor the facts underlying it support disciplinary action, because my guilty plea involved no wrongful acts on my part, but was based solely on my position at Purdue at a time when certain Purdue sales and marketing personnel engaged in misconduct of which I was unaware.” To back up his claim, he notes US District Court Judge James Jones wrote in his order last July that there was an “absence of government proof of knowledge by the individual defendants of the wrongdoing.”

That’s not good enough for Skolek. “Then he shouldn’t have pled guilty. All he’s doing is twisting words. If he didn’t do anything wrong, he wouldn’t be doing 400 hours of community service at a drug rehab or be on probation. He’s a criminal, and he shouldn’t be able to practice law. His actions killed and caused addiction among innocent people all across the nation.” We asked what you thought. And most believe Udell should lose his license.

Yes - 85 votes, or 69 percent;
No - 38 votes, or 31 percent.

Total Voters: 123