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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.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 17 2017, @03:51AM
I was on various pain medications for nearly a decade for a back injury. Went through vicodin, tramadol, morphine, oxycodone, dilaudid, fentanyl, and methadone and ended up severely addicted by the end of it all. I've been off the painkillers for a few months now and have been supplementing with marijuana. While its not as effective as the opioids were for breakthrough pain, for around-the-clock management they do pretty much as good as the opioids. Its only when the pain gets severe enough, like a 7 or 8 out of 10 that marijuana becomes ineffective at providing adequate relief. Opioids definitely have a place in the medicinal arsenal that doctors have but certainly they are currently being overprescribed and abused.