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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday September 11 2018, @01:50PM   Printer-friendly
from the create-a-need-and-fill-it dept.

Man who made billions from OxyContin is pushing drug to wean addicts off opioids

Following hundreds of lawsuits over the years against pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma, Colorado's attorney general is suing the OxyContin creator for its "significant role in causing the opioid epidemic." The lawsuit claims Purdue Pharma L.P. and Purdue Pharma Inc. deluded doctors and patients in Colorado about the potential for addiction with prescription opioids and continued to push the drugs. And it comes amid news that the company's former chairman and president, Richard Sackler, has patented a new drug to help wean addicts from opioids.

[...] In federal court in 2007, three top current and former employees for Purdue pleaded guilty to criminal charges, admitting that they had falsely led doctors and their patients to believe that OxyContin was less likely to be abused than other drugs in its class, according to The New York Times. Then earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Purdue planned to stop promoting the drug.

Now, it seems, a new business venture is only adding to the outcry. The Financial Times reported that Sackler, whose family owns Purdue Pharma, a multibillion-dollar company, patented a new drug earlier this year that is a form of buprenorphine, a mild opioid that is used to ease withdrawal symptoms. However, some are expressing outrage that the Sacklers, who have in essence profited from opioid addictions, may soon be profiting from the antidote. "It's reprehensible what Purdue Pharma has done to our public health," Luke Nasta, director of Camelot, a New York-based treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction, told the Financial Times. He told the newspaper that the Sackler family "shouldn't be allowed to peddle any more synthetic opiates - and that includes opioid substitutes."

Financial Times also reported that the Sackler family owns Rhodes Pharma, "a little-known Rhode Island-based drugmaker that is among the largest producers of off-patent generic opioids in the U.S."

Also at The Independent.

Previously: City of Everett, Washington Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma
OxyContin's 12-Hour Problem
South Carolina Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue
Purdue Pharma to Cut Sales Force, Stop Marketing Opioids to Doctors
Tens or Hundreds of Billions of Dollars Needed to Combat Opioid Crisis? (Massachusetts Attorney General sues Sackler family)


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  • (Score: 2) by OrugTor on Tuesday September 11 2018, @04:26PM (4 children)

    by OrugTor (5147) on Tuesday September 11 2018, @04:26PM (#733187)

    It looks like an opportunity to be a part of the solution. As part of a civil settlement, Purdue supplies buprenorphine for free. Plus a cash settlement to fund treatment plans (counseling, psychosocial support).

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  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday September 11 2018, @05:28PM (3 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday September 11 2018, @05:28PM (#733217)

    That will help, but won't make a lot of people whole. Some of those hooked on opiates due to Oxy are now 6 feet underground.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Tuesday September 11 2018, @07:06PM (1 child)

      by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday September 11 2018, @07:06PM (#733252)

      But since they are in CO, that's still a mile above the average American.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 11 2018, @10:07PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 11 2018, @10:07PM (#733360) Journal

        Just a reminder: From Denver Colorado, it's a long, long, uphill trip to Wyoming.

        --
        “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 11 2018, @08:42PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 11 2018, @08:42PM (#733297)

      Indeed. They're ODing fast enough to clean out the gene pool. Make ALL drugs legal!