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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday March 16 2017, @06:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the they-are-supposed-to-be-"controlled"-substances dept.

An American city is suing the maker of OxyContin for its alleged role in fueling the national opioid epidemic:

After spending millions to combat the opioid epidemic ravaging its citizens, the working-class city of Everett, Washington, is taking the maker of opioid painkiller OxyContin to federal court. The city claims that the drug maker, Purdue Pharma, knowingly sold to black markets out of pure greed, enabling the devastating epidemic hitting Everett and the rest of the country.

According to the lawsuit (PDF) filed in federal court in Seattle, Everett accuses Purdue Pharma of "knowingly, recklessly, and/or negligently supplying OxyContin to obviously suspicious physicians and pharmacies and enabling the illegal diversion of OxyContin into the black market, including to drug rings, pill mills, and other dealers for dispersal of the highly addictive pills in Everett." Purdue's goal, Everett alleges, was to "generate enormous profits" at the expense of the people of Everett. [...] "Our community has been significantly damaged, and we need to be made whole," Everett's mayor, Ray Stephanson, told ABC News.

[...] In a statement, Purdue disputed Everett's claims, saying that it did notify the DEA and acted responsibly. "We look forward to presenting the facts in court," the company said. Purdue also said that its opioids now account for less than two percent of US opioid prescriptions.


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  • (Score: 2) by digitalaudiorock on Thursday March 16 2017, @08:30PM

    by digitalaudiorock (688) on Thursday March 16 2017, @08:30PM (#480011) Journal

    It frustrates me how it seems that often the medications that actually work are the addictive ones. I know a number of people who live in excruciating pain daily, and oxycodone is the only thing that gives them real relief. They take it as directed. Sadly though, I also know of a number of people who are severely addicted to oxycodone.

    ...which is precisely why their use was at one time restricted to terminal patients. The evidence seems pretty significant that they simply don't work for long term pain management because they either become less effective over time or cause addition or both. Yet somehow it was decided these issues had magically gone away, and here we are with an epidemic.

    The truth is that those behind this cluster-fuck care about as much about those realities as the guy on the corner selling junk (where many patients eventually end up)...and I guess if you OD you can't sue right?...sounds like a win-win for pharma to me. I hope every state and municipality in the country sues them into the stone age frankly.

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