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posted by janrinok on Monday February 12 2018, @05:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the prevent-pill-popping dept.

Pain Pill Giant Purdue to Stop Promotion of Opioids to Doctors

Pain-pill giant Purdue Pharma LP will stop promoting its opioid drugs to doctors, a retreat after years of criticism that the company's aggressive sales efforts helped lay the foundation of the U.S. addiction crisis.

The company told employees this week that it would cut its sales force by more than half, to 200 workers. It plans to send a letter Monday to doctors saying that its salespeople will no longer come to their clinics to talk about the company's pain products.

"We have restructured and significantly reduced our commercial operation and will no longer be promoting opioids to prescribers," the company said in a statement. Instead, any questions doctors have will be directed to the Stamford, Connecticut-based company's medical affairs department.

OxyContin, approved in 1995, is the closely held company's biggest-selling drug, though sales of the pain pill have declined in recent years amid competition from generics. It generated $1.8 billion in 2017, down from $2.8 billion five years earlier, according to data compiled by Symphony Health Solutions. It also sells the painkiller Hysingla.

Oxycodone.

Also at Reuters, USA Today, The Verge, and CNN.

Previously: City of Everett, Washington Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma
OxyContin's 12-Hour Problem
South Carolina Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue

Related: Opioid Crisis Partly Blamed on a 1980 Letter to the New England Journal of Medicine
President Trump Declares the Opioid Crisis a National Emergency
Study Finds Stark Increase in Opioid-Related Admissions, Deaths in Nation's ICUs
CVS Limits Opioid Prescriptions
Congress Reacts to Reports that a 2016 Law Hindered DEA's Ability to go after Opioid Distributors
Opioid Crisis Official; Insys Therapeutics Billionaire Founder Charged; Walgreens Stocks Narcan


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 12 2018, @09:43PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 12 2018, @09:43PM (#636842)

    IIRC what allowed drug companies to market to doctors and patients/prospective patients was the freedom of speech. I can't remember if the case reached SCOTUS or not, but a restriction of that magnitude may need an amendment.

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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 13 2018, @02:17PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 13 2018, @02:17PM (#637110) Journal

    OK. How about a framework like this for Big Pharma:
    * CAN market to doctors
    * can NOT give kickbacks, inducements, paid vacations, etc to doctors, but CAN give free samples of drug
    * can NOT market to consumers
    * CAN put all your drug information and promotional material on your web site where anyone (doctors, patients, etc) can google it
    * MUST prominently include all side effects, information on efficacy, etc.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.