When Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin in 1995, the Food and Drug Administration permitted the company to make a unique claim for it: that its long-acting formulation was “believed to reduce” its appeal to drug abusers compared with shorter-acting painkillers like Percocet and Vicodin.
The exact opposite occurred and OxyContin became the most expensive and the most sought after drug on the black market. The New York Times obtained a copy of a confidential report from the Justice Department that indicates that shortly after the new drug was launched, company officials were aware that the drug was being crushed, snorted, stolen from pharmacies and that doctors were being criminally charged for selling it to drug abusers.
Further, the Justice Department report shows that federal prosecutors investigating the company found that Purdue Pharma not only knew about “significant” abuse of OxyContin in the first years after the drug’s introduction in 1996, but they made efforts to concealed that information.
A four year investigation found that despite being fully aware that OxyContin was one of the most abused drugs, the drug company failed to warn about its dangers, lied and continued to promote it as a drug less prone to abuse than any other prescription opioids. In 2006, prosecutors recommended that 3 Purdue Pharma executives be indicted on felony charges. One of the charges was conspiracy to defraud the United States which meant jail time for the 3 executives. At the time, George Bush was the president and Justice Department officials declined the recommendation. Instead, the case was settled in 2007.
A spokesman for Purdue Pharma, Robert Josephson, declined to comment on the allegations in the report but said the company was involved in efforts to address opioid abuse.
“Suggesting that activities that last occurred more than 16 years ago are responsible for today’s complex and multifaceted opioid crisis is deeply flawed,” he said in a statement.
Over the past two decades, more than 200,000 people have died in the United States from overdoses involving prescription opioids. States and cities continue to file a wave of lawsuits against Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers and distributors.
Something must be done to end this tragic epidemic and hopefully this report is the beginning of the end.
NYT Article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/health/purdue-opioids-oxycontin.html?nl=top-stories&nlid=34601818ries&ref=cta