Purdue Frederick pleaded guilty this week for “misbranding” Oxycontin. That’ll cost them about $634 million. That’s on top of an additional roughly $20 million it agreed to pay some states for not disclosing how addictive it is. That’s on top of an additional $200 million it agreed to pay it’s insurer for pretty much the same reasons.
In all, it’s pushing about $1 billion in settlements.
And, that’s not even touching how much damage Purdue Frederick has done to the US by way of destroyed families, destroyed lives, and costs to society. Some quickie facts:
- In 2000, 43 percent of those who ended up in hospital emergency rooms from drug overdoses-nearly a half million people-were there because of misusing prescription drugs.
- In seven cities in 2000 (Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Seattle, and Washington, DC) 626 people died from overdose of painkillers and tranquilizers. By 2001, such deaths had increased in Miami and Chicago by 20 percent.
- From 1998 to 2000, the number of people entering an emergency room because of misusing hydrocodone (Vicodin) rose 48 percent, oxycodone (OxyContin) 108 percent, and methadone 63 percent. The rates are intensifying: from mid-2000 to mid-2001, oxycodone went up in emergency room visits 44 percent
And during all that, Purdue kept understating the addictiveness of their product. Their sales went from approximately $40 million to $1.2 billion. Now, although it may be obviousy that Oxycontin has a medical need, to grow that wildly over a few years should have set off red flags at Purdue Frederick. Maybe it did. However, what they did was nothing initially. Sites started popping up all over the internet about the perils of oxycontin. Purdue did nothing. The DEA recommended new regulations for the marketing of Oxycontin, Purdue did nothing. Even entities such as NPR noted the fact that teens were abusing Oxycontin faster than any other age group, Purdue did nothing.
It’s powerful, it’s addictive, and it’s quite lethal. Purdue didn’t mind fessing up to how powerful it was, but kept claiming it wasn’t as addictive or lethal as people were claiming. The primary perps are Purdue’s CEO Michael Friedman, general counsel Howard Udell and former chief medical officer Paul Goldenheim. I personally feel these three should be held accountable for the approximately 4,400 deaths that have occured from overdoses from Oxycontin in the last ten years. My personal gut feeling is they just need killin in the worst possible way. Families will suffer for years until the scurge that is Oxycontin abuse fades. Given that they have pleaded guilty to felonies of intentionally deceiving the federal government, medical professionals, as well as the general public, I think they should be, and most likely will be, held accountable legally for each family that can prove misdiagnosed addictions. Not only do I think the nearly $1 billion they’re paying in fines is a good start, I think these three should pay the rest of their lives. They’ve seen what Oxycontin was doing to entire communities and just kept pushing it. I can not believe they’re not on their way to prison right now.
Obviously, I think they deserve to rot in hell on Earth for the rest of their lives. Bankrupting them isn’t nearly enough for what they’ve done.
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Oxycontin Side Effects on 11.24.2008
My name is Kim Adam and i would like to show you my personal experience with Oxycontin.
I have taken for 3 years. I am 23 years old. I think it is the best pain killer there is. Although it’s coming very abused, I think that it is a very powerful reliever and that more doctors should look into it for pain relief.
I have experienced some of these side effects-
mild dependency and constipation
I hope this information will be useful to others,
Kim Adam