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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: 1) by Roger Murdock on Friday March 17 2017, @03:50AM (1 child)

    by Roger Murdock (4897) on Friday March 17 2017, @03:50AM (#480189)

    What keeps you coming back is that you've found a way to fill a hole in your life with a drug (or gambling, or shopping, or...). As long as that hole is there, you're going to keep trying to fill it"

    If only there were some Jesus-like figure whom I could let into my heart to fill that hole!

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday March 17 2017, @04:39AM

    by Immerman (3985) on Friday March 17 2017, @04:39AM (#480211)

    There was, once, at least according to legend. Though it's worth noting that there's no definitive references to him in historical documents until a century after his supposed death, so it's possible he was a literary fabrication - a possibility that gains credibility in light of the many parallels between his legend and that of several much more ancient religious figures in the region. Though of course that might also be due simply to embellishing of his legend after the man himself had died.

    Sadly, even if he did truly exist, he died almost 2000 years ago, and all that's left of him on this plane of reality is his legend, most of which has been horribly warped by changing cultural contexts and corrupt religious officials seeking to use his good name to further their own agendas, as evidenced by the myriad contradictory interpretations of those legends that haven't been outright re-written or expunged.

    If Jesus still exists in some form capable of comprehension and feeling, I can only imagine that he weeps bitter tears about what his legend has become, and the countless atrocities committed in his name.

    But hey, if your connection to his legend fills a hole in your life, and saves you from more destructive addictions, then by all means continue. He would probably approve, provided you don't let that comfort dissuade you from actually fixing the hole. After all, one of the few things his many legends agree on is that he was big on healing and connecting with your fellow man.

    Just try not to be a sanctimonious, self-righteous prick about it. The man who offered his comfort and wisdom to lepers and whores would not approve.