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posted by martyb on Friday November 22 2019, @08:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the if-it's-non-addicting,-give-it-to-every-exec-for-a-month dept.

Report: Sacklers using fake doctors, false marketing to sell OxyContin in China

The mega-rich family behind the OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma is back to selling its highly addictive pain-killer with underhanded tactics and deceptive advertising—this time in China, via its international company, Mundipharma. That’s all according to a searing new investigation by the Associated Press.

The Sackler family, which owns both Purdue and Mundipharma, is embroiled in litigation in the United States over its alleged role in sparking the country’s epidemic of opioid abuse and overdoses. Thousands of plaintiffs—many state and local governments—claim that Purdue and the Sacklers misled patients, doctors, and regulators on the addictiveness of their drugs, aggressively marketed them, and wooed doctors into over-prescribing them.

While Purdue has since declared bankruptcy and stopped promoting OxyContin in the US, the Sacklers seem to be employing the same practices in China.

Based on documents and interviews with multiple Mundipharma representatives in China, the AP investigation found that reps were at times posing as doctors, providing debunked information that its long-acting opioids are safe and less addictive, and even illegally copying private medical records of patients to inform sales tactics.

[...]Mundipharma, meanwhile, is still hiring in China.

The AP story linked above is in-depth and well worth reading. See also: HuffPost.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Mojibake Tengu on Friday November 22 2019, @11:56AM (5 children)

    by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Friday November 22 2019, @11:56AM (#923364) Journal
    --
    Rust programming language offends both my Intelligence and my Spirit.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @02:54PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @02:54PM (#923396)

    Greedy bloodsuckers--anything for a buck.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @03:59PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @03:59PM (#923416)

    they became evil, corrupted by the power of money. Sackler made great contribution to medecine, from a reference [forbes.com] in the linked wiki page:

    Not only isn’t Arthur Sackler a villain, but he actually made many positive, even heroic contributions to the medical world.
    A racial progressive, he successfully advocated for the racial integration of New York City’s blood banks.
    He advocated for gentler alternatives to electro-shock therapy.
    He was a pioneer in the use of ultrasound technology.

    advocating for gentler alternative to old school electro-shock therapy is not the apex of Evil in my book.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by sjames on Friday November 22 2019, @04:20PM

      by sjames (2882) on Friday November 22 2019, @04:20PM (#923430) Journal

      Arthur is deceased.. It appears that with his death, the family purged itself of its moral compass.

  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @04:30PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @04:30PM (#923437)

    They are simply following the tenants of Judaism.

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @05:31PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @05:31PM (#923456)

      All the way back to their apartments, where they try to tutor people like you?