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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: 2) by DannyB on Monday February 12 2018, @07:40PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 12 2018, @07:40PM (#636794) Journal

    So legalized medical marijuana leads to lower sales of highly profitable Big Pharma drugs!1

    The next danger is that once states realize the increased tax revenue, and the fact that people don't seem to be harmed by medical marijuana2, this will lead to recreational marijuana.

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    1but increased sales of snack foods

    2obviously they did not see Reefer Madness, nor several episodes of Dragnet in the 1960s

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    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 12 2018, @08:26PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 12 2018, @08:26PM (#636814)

    I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I am for the legalization of weed for the same reason I don't intend to use it, I feel that I should be in control of what I do with my body.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday February 12 2018, @09:16PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 12 2018, @09:16PM (#636833) Journal

      Yep. Same here. I'm for legalization. I don't plan to use it any. Or possibly only in small amounts. I just think I should have the option.

      Amusing thing. I vacationed on Colorado last June. Visited a dispensary with friends. A box of 8 chocolates was like $30 or something. A bottle of 30 hydrocodone is like $5 and turns out to be much more effective at actual pain relief, based on my testing of the chocolates. So what's with this "all natural" stuff?

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