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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Pain Pill Giant Purdue to Stop Promotion of Opioids to Doctors [bloomberg.com]

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 [wikipedia.org].

Also at Reuters [reuters.com], USA Today [usatoday.com], The Verge [theverge.com], and CNN [cnn.com].

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

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

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