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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 $2.8 billion five years earlier, according to data compiled by Symphony Health Solutions. It also sells the painkiller Hysingla.
Also at Reuters, USA Today, The Verge, and CNN.
Previously: City of Everett, Washington Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma
OxyContin's 12-Hour Problem
South Carolina Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 13 2018, @04:00AM
Ban teh human drivers! They kill!
Ban teh opioids! They Kill! Unless I have a lot of pain, then it better be *really* cheap or free to me!
I gots me free healthy care! My jerb pays it all, cuz I gots me a real job writing javascript apps. Iz a real software engineer! Except the fraction of the premium automatically deducted from my paycheck. And except the US$x000/year deductible and the US$40 copays and the $30 perscriptions.
Yeah, I got it all free, bitches!!!!!
And ban teh beaners. They can code better than me, but don't tell my boss.
And keep teh wimmenz naked and prego in teh kitchen, cuz they can code better than me too. That you can tell my boss, cuz he likes it like that!