This is no different than the fiascos that occurred after the financial meltdown in 2008. Until individuals are made to account for their misdoings, nothing will change. Fining companies, or even individuals, what appears to be huge sums, is just considered a price of doing business and is a small percentage of profits, otherwise companies would not so readily agree to them. As the current line goes "LOCK THEM UP!"
26
These company's can only be greedy and evil......seriously evil as in "let's be sure we can sell our product by actively causing them to become addicted".......same as tobacco company's. The people who make Juul that is currently addicting millions of unsuspecting teen's are in the same category. True Evil. I want to know why they think they can destroy lives knowingly, pay a fine, and everything's hunky......except of course for the addict and people who actually need them. I am calling my rep. If they "settle " they will lose my vote and i will publicize it. This is baloney and is killing your neighbor and you might be next! These guy's deserve to be put out of business, or severely hobbled for their heinous act of Knowing cruelty before the fact. What kind of people do this to other's?
3
The TBTF banks, opioid's pharma drug barons, mega-rich tax evaders - why do our governments, federal & state, refuse to prosecute or settle without admission and full disclosure? These are not misguided children crossing the borders of our laws without understanding what they do. These are highly organized criminals whose deeds enrich themselves regardless of the damage and pain it causes the public and the republic.
White collar crime is criminal. 20 years for armed robbery but a fine of some part of the loot and NDA settlements for those who rob or kill with a fountain pen. We will never reduce such conduct if it as a safe, winning bet.
6
Not to worry.
Don the Con said he'll fix it.
1
Did the doctors who graduated with years of medicinal chemistry in their back grounds not know they were prescribing opioids? Did they actually believe that OxyContin was non addictive? It beggars my mind that trained physicians were duped by sales reps. The prescribes were just as much at fault as the manufacturers.
13
I would not defend Purdue Pharma whose behavior is clearly unethical. But I would point out that not a single script of OcyContin could have ever been sold without the written approval of an MD, whose job (for which they are very well paid) is to protect the health interests of their clients. Further, a large number of the opiod overdose deaths have nothing to do with legal drug prescriptions.
3
Lawsuits are fine, but the new House of Representatives can take up the issue of Purdue Pharmaceuticals and the Sackler family by conducting hearings on the family and the company
at a far lesser cost of time and money.
6
I see that some commenters want to blame the opiate epidemic on the bad economy, unemployment and misery. But Canada did not have the big recession and related issues—and the opiate problem is just as serious there. British Columbia long ago declared opiate overdoses to be a province-wide medical emergency, for example.
Not a week goes by without a story in the papers about the extraordinary numbers of fentanyl deaths in particular. The nation is grappling with serious effects from this.
And it started and progressed the same way as in the US: overprescribing due to a massive push by Big Pharma to normalize opiates for long-term use of all kinds of pain.
It's simple. If you give more people the most addictive substance known to man, you get more addicts.
5
Why don't we look to the experience of other countries? Now that Portugal has taken a public health approach to all drugs what is their death rate from opioids? Their death rate is 3.86/100000 v. US where its as high as 52/100000.
27
In Naked Lunch, published almost 60 years ago, William Burroughs talked about how even one's sweet grandmother if taking opiates daily until the absence of the drug causes withdrawal symptoms, will cross moral lines of a lifetime to stave off the unique misery that is junk withdrawal.
Street dealers and drug company executives are well aware of this. Once strung out, no advertising is needed, that drug family sells itself.
This is ancient knowledge. Opium, laudanum, heroin, morphine, codeine etc used to be legal, until the rate of addiction among housewives of all ages in particular caused government intervention and access was restricted about 100 years ago, and addicts and doctors who gave addicts their "fix" were now criminals, never before. Codeine cough syrup was still legal to buy without a prescription in the late 1960's in some states like MD. You signed a sheet, the name before yours was often Donald Duck or Napoleon, greedy pharmacists.
One Google search can tell anyone the history. It is absurd for big shots to deny knowledge of what their advertising campaign could do, that was the whole point. Deny the risk, like big tobacco did. 60 Minutes exposed the corruption at the Justice Dept and DEA, interviewing the man who put together the case. He had the goods, he was vetoed from above.
Whether a company should pay for abuse by a citizen is another issue.Not all who take these drugs ruin their lives.
10
The extensive criminal behavior of individuals at Purdue and other private companies goes unprosecuted despite tens of thousands of deaths from OxyContin alone. Civil fines are meaningless to the Sacklers whose vast wealth has bought immunity from prosecution and sealed records. Sunlight is the best antiseptic, criminal prosecution the cure. The tort awards have been trivial, the lack of criminal prosecution the paradigm of corruption.
12
So Bush declined to prosecute corporate drug pushers and then Obama declined to prosecute torturers and banksters.
Meanwhile, people get life in prison under three strikes laws.
Whatever system that is, it sure isn't justice.
Shouldn't people with more money and more power get longer sentences for their crimes than the poor and desperate?
12
This practice (of letting BigPharma executives off the hook for their decisions) has been going on for seemingly forever. Eli Lilly was fined a record-setting (at the time) $1.4 billion for off-label and other civil/criminal misdeeds around its then-blockbuster atypical antipsychotic drug Zyprexa , yet not one executive was individually prosecuted. The contents of the company's internal documents, showing how the executives schemed to deny and downplay the drug's harmful and lethal side effects, were on the front pages of the New York Times. Many, many people died from these side effects - in numerous instances awful deaths. And the families of the innocent dead are still waiting for justice.
5
The Department of Justice is a shameful enterprise, especially when it comes to rich white men and their corporations, that spend lavishly on politicians. Now Perdue is reaching out to victims overseas.
4
Ho hum--just another consequence of Dick Cheney's K Street Project, to collect money from lobbyists in exchange for government policy. Alberto Gonzales, a proud Republican, did the honors this time around.
And yet, Anthony Kennedy could still assert (Citizens United) that "[t]he appearance of influence or access, furthermore, will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy." I don't know about those populations most affected by the opioid epidemic, but it's certainly caused me to lose faith.
As time passes, the damage "Justice" Kennedy has done to our republic becomes increasingly apparent.
7
@Justin: US courts are an insult to intelligence second only to the ludicrous claim that it is "under God".
2
Opioid deaths are not the fault of the drug manufacturers. Many people need opiates to control severe pain that can not be helped by anything else. I have bad back and knee problems and have been prescribed oxycodone many times. Not a low dose either. I always followed my prescription orders, never got addicted and never came close to overdosing. Deaths are caused by people becoming addicts, a choice that they make themselves. If it isn't opiates they will choose another drug to get high on. The manufacturers are not to blame, the abusers are.
7
@Rescue2 Addiction is a very complicated problem. Few if any addicts start off with the goal of becoming dependent on a drug or alcohol. It's just a glass of wine with dinner or a MD-prescribed pain pill for that aching knee. For most, it stops with that; for others, it escalates. No one knows why, other than there seems to be a genetic component. Consider yourself lucky. I've known plenty of people in your position who weren't so lucky.
Second, pharma is not uniquely to blame for this epidemic. We learned in medical school to treat pain aggressively; that so long as we're treating real, physical pain there was no danger of addiction. How wrong that lesson was!
But, pharma companies are obligated to report evidence of risks or side effects of any drug they manufacture and sell. Purdue not only failed in this respect, they suppressed the evidence. At a minimum, they are to blame for that.
9
@hammond Since 2008 I have had to take opioids for pain. A back injury and then a failed spinal fusion left me in agony. After two attempted repairs to correct the fusion failed, my pain increased and my opioid needs increased. Finally, I recently completed 18 hours of back surgery over a two day period. When I recovered from the anesthesia, I was not only in PAIN, but I couldn't get any pain relief other than what I was currently taking. Why, because doctors now can't provide their patients the pain relief they need because of new laws that regulate the amount of pain relief for fear of addiction. I made it but suffered needless pain. Now that after ten years, I can walk and I have already started reducing the amount of opioids. My goal is to be stop all of my pain medication in six months. I am not clawing at the walls or roaming the streets looking for a fix. I feel better and have no addiction but I do resent those who passed laws making it more difficult for my doctor to do his best in trying to make my life bearable. Opioids are not the enemy and are being made the scapegoat for other social issues that our society doesn't want to address.
4
@R. B. I am sorry for your suffering. Pain, unfortunately, is not treated well. The pendulum is not swinging in a favorable direction for those who suffer. It's always a risk/benefit calculus, applied to a large population. We often don't get it right at the individual level. Again, I apologize for this.
And though I agree that addiction is often just a symptom of larger social issues, there are also many cases of people taken down that path for no obvious reason other than they were prescribed opioids.
I have no magic bullet or pearls of wisdom. I just hope you are able to get the relief you deserve.
5
The most mitigating proof that for some bizarre reason, Businesses that commit evil crimes and cause such great harm and destruction are still not taken down , stopped or have their profits taken and profiteers jailed.
ONLY in America does this happen almost EVERY time...and justice is never served , just hidden, sealed and allowed to cause further continued havoc , hurt and harm.
So that even further profits can be made at the expense of those that always pay so dearly for these acts , actions and greedy criminals.
SHAME.
5
Mr. Sackler should be put in shackles for as many consecutive life sentences without parole as victims that lost their lives to satisfy his despicable greed. This may help deter similar crimes from happening in the future.
28
@Eli, Will never happen, ever. Too rich to jail.
7
@JM Wrong thinking in the land where slaves were freed. They said that will never happen ever. Too big an “investment “ to be lost....but it did happen.
These serial killers will have a sordid end.
3
there is a narrative that goes like this: patients were prescribed painkillers for pain, sometimes chronic, sometimes acute, sometimes perhaps psychosomatic or just fake. some of the patients did not follow instructions, others did, and a certain percentage became addicted to prescribed opiods. doctors and pharmaceutical makers made matters worse in various ways and for various motives, usually money. little to nothing was done to ameliorate the problem as it got worse and the issue ballooned. eventually, renewing prescriptions was too difficult, or too expensive, or too prohibited, and addicted patients turned to street drugs as a cheaper alternative which tragically predictable outcomes. in this story, there are too many villains, including the definition of the victims also as villains. the whole thing seems to me like a search for moral culpability as an explanation when a more reasonable, and simpler, cause is at hand: rather than seeing the problem as opiod addiction, we should be considering if, in fact, we are in the midst of an epidemic of actual misery - more often pychological and emotional than physical - with pain drugs as an unfortunate, sometimes fatal symptom. there is pain, and those suffering are criminalized for feeling it and stumbling into a hopeless attempt to deal with it. the last time such a lame story was widely believed was when comic books were seen to be the cause of juvenile delinquincy, teen pregnancy, and the Korean War.
8
I suppose business comes first and our pharmaceutical industry has paid plenty in contributions to politicians to be sure that their business has deep bipartisan protection. Expecting politicians to bite the hand that has been feeding them so long and so well is expecting quite a lot. It is easier to blame the users (plenty of other people do) and keep on taking the industry money and keep on protecting the industry. And be sure not to talk about the role of physicians in mis-prescibing and over-prescribing because physicians have paid plenty in contributions to politicians to be sure that their business has deep bipartisan protection.
2
Capitalism, growth for profit is what made lifestyles so rich and famous, at least in our own little castles. Who am I to complain? Our family has a full and prosperous life here in Vancouver, although our friendly uncle to the south has been acting like a twitter crackhead lately, like the unpleasant family drunk at Christmas.
Capitalism is so successful it will never stop until we are all dead. Who among us is willing to give up what we have earned, which is basically the only way we can save the planet now.
America will have to move (quickly mind you) to a system of substantial co-operation for the common good, profit spread if you will, in order to stop the opioid tsunami of death in every corner of the union. Socialism? Gasp! Mutual benefit? GASP!
By profit spread, I mean a percent of profit based on the percent of addicted in any state, directly from the drug companies to pay for rehab and treatment centers, first responders and early intervention specialists, youth support programs, needle exchanges, high school teachers (yes, special classes on opioid and other addictive substances and behaviours), and alternate treatment programs like suboxone and subutex. Those manufacturers have to pay as well; they are profiting from those support programs.
It will never happen. We are too invested in our comforts to spread enough money around in order to collectively save the whole.
If we can't do it for opioids, do you think we can do it to stop global warming?
17
What’s the name of the company that initially trademarked the name ‘Heroin’? I get the feeling that some kind of language game is being played here.
We need another Miles Lord -- a Justice willing to stand up to corporations and deal them their due!
(yeah, he had his shortfalls -- but courage where it counted)
1
And just because a state gets a settlement it doesn't mean it will spend it to help victims or prevent further outrages. Consider the results of the Tobacco Settlement Fund. Billions were won for the states, but my state rich CT is spending 0%, nothing, on smoking prevention or other direct anti-tobacco work. See the site of Tobacco Free Kids https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/assets/factsheets/0209.pdf
2
Sackler family is worse than the Juarez Cartel or El Chappo - what a disgusting disgrace that we fight a drug war for billions when the biggest drug problem is right here
7
The Sacklers are criminals, and anyone who takes money from them, politicians, parties or charity foundation should give it back.
3
America has been inundated with stories and studies about Opiate addiction for the past 10 or so years, yet patients continue to demand and take opiates. The reason for that is that today the average American patient is a weak minded coward. Wuss is perhaps the right word for most of us. YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE OPIATES, YOU CAN TAKE ADVIL, MOTRIN, ALEVE, OR OTHER IBUPROFINS INSTEAD. Our doctors have become pill pushers instead of diagnosticians. Where is Dr. Zorba when we need him most? We need to try harder to address the causes rather than the symptoms of disease and pain.
2
I hope you don't ever have to experience actual pain, Joel. clearly you've been lucky so far.
7
@Joel Friedlander You have obviously never had serious debilitating pain. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and naproxen work...up to a point.
7
@Joel Friedlander, I don't know if you've had the opportunity to try to control the pain of Kidney stones or periodontal root planing with Advil, if you have done that successfully than you have a stronger will (or a less sensitive nervous system) than I.
We need to be able to identify the point where the opioids begin to mimic the symptoms of pain. That's the threshold of addiction. The University of Washington has done landmark work in pain control, using biofeedback, VR, and even hypnotism to reduce and even eliminate pain. But they don't write off opioids as useful in certain instances. You are right about the causes – but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
1
A prime example of the rampant corruption in our society. The Florida legislature wouldn't even take the two million dollar settlement and rather chose to throw those addicted by these very dangerous drugs in the ditch. Wonder what level of campaign contributions from Big Pharma they received.
I'm certainly not going to claim that no Democrats participated in this abomination but I do believe that the Republican ideology of "Government Sucks!" is a major impediment to having our elected representatives do the right thing.
1
I'll help other taxpayers pay for the addiction treatment.
As far as the rest, I vote for a good ol' Grand Jury, and a criminal indictment for racketerring and distributing controlled substances with the knowledge of their diversion. Manufacturers' distribution of 61 doses in a single year, for each person in the State of Ohio, is pretty good circumstantial evidence.
None of that money ends up treating anyone, anyway. Witness the State of Washington borrowing on the tobacco settlement and blowing it on bling. I'll be happy to pay taxes for public health, and I'll enjoy seeing Purdue executives rot in prison.
3
and I really love the Sackler gallery in DC..but it is off the list for me, ever since I learned of their connection to opiods..
20
@Grace Thorsen. I too enjoy the Sackler Gallery. The scions of the family were generous with their philanthropy. It is their children who have run their businesses for the last two decades. I don’t think that you should blame the elder Sacklers for these issues.
6
@Grace Thorsen
Then you'll need to skip the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Louvre in Paris, the ....
8
There is a whole other side to the opioid crisis that nobody wants to talk about. There are millions of people who have chronic pain and are NOT addicted to opioids. Then there are the people in their last months of terminal illnesses that are being denied the opioids that make their pain bearable because doctors are worried they will become addicted. What a violation of their Hippocratic Oath.
I can hold a job and function because I am able to control my pain from 3 different auto-immune diseases. I have been told that I will not be able to get another Rx for the low dose opioid I have been using for the last 13 years. I was unable to work during the 2 years when I did not have insurance and could not afford to go to the doctor every month to renew my pain Rx. Their alternative pain meds did not work and two even made my condition worse. Thankfully, I did not turn to illegal opioids. Many like me do and too many have paid with their lives. I blame the knee-jerk lawmakers who are just trying to look like they care for their deaths.
There has to be some middle ground so that the people who need physical pain relief and the people who need mental health treatment can get what they need.
136
@skramsv Thank you! I am in the same position as you I had to stop getting the opioid that I used for break through pain for my arthritis. I am 64 and still work full time for a fortune 500 firm because my pain is managed. The arthritis pain became unbearable after I had 3 children the arthritis is in my synovial joints not an area or joint that can be replaced. Exercise and stretching help but the pain can be quite debilitating. I am angry at these parents that go on TV blaming the drug companies for their children's deaths instead of admitting that their children became addicted through no fault of the drug company! I have to suffer because of this and it is not fair to those of us who are now made to bear this pain when a simple pill would make our pain more bearable. There has to be a happy medium, cancer patients and chronic pain patients should not be made to suffer!
37
@skramsv The pendulum has swung too far in the other direction for people with chronic pain who are able to function precisely because they have access to opioids. Now they are being told they have to taper down, arbitrarily reduce their total MMEs (morphine milliequivalents) to less than 90, or get off the drugs completely because prescribers are afraid to prescribe them any more. A recent statement by many pain experts calling for urgent action on forced opioid tapering shows that at least some in the medical community understand what is at stake. But will they be listened to? https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pm/pny228/5218985
27
@skramsv
Black and brown opioid drug makers,dealers and users go to prison.
Why not you or these opioid makers?
Unless and until opioids are legalized and treated as a potential health abuse problem akin to alcohol and tobacco that should be what happens to all. Regardless of your gender, color aka race, ethnicity, national origin, faith, socioeconomics, education and politics.
7
As a pharmacist, I really can't blame the manufacturer for the opioid crisis. Opioids are not new and any professonal who was fooled by marketing is incompetent. The Joint Commission named pain scores the 5th vital sign and forced hospitals to use more pain medication than ever before - that contributed to the problem. And let's not forget heroin dealers.
A salient side point is that tbis is a very good reason to federally license providers. Bad behavior isn't hidden by moving to another state.
Licensure by state is burdensome to legitimate providers and prevents them from moving between jobs. I am licensed in Utah. Before I could apply for a job in Washington, I had to pay hefty fees and sit for an exam. After that, I didn't get the job in WA anyway. I don't feel such restrictions on moving between states are "American" or fair. This prevents good providers from going to more rural areas. Licensure-by-state is less likely to protect the public, supports an unneeded state bureacracy and is unfairly burdonsome to 99% of medical professionals.
38
@Mel,
As a physician, I can blame the manufacturer. The company knew about this epidemic before just about everyone else. Also, enormous sales volumes in rural West Virginia and Kentucky - almost immediately noted by corporate execs - had almost no chance of being primarily therapeutic in nature.
The Sacklers are bad guys. Awful people who knowlingly profited off of others' pain and suffering and deaths. And the DOJ and Florida AG staff who let them off the hook so easily are bad guys, too.
Kudos to Mr. Meier for writing on this.
55
@Mel: "State's rights" are unequally protective laws.
6
@Michael Thanks for speaking up!! I still have a hard time understanding your fellow physicians being paid by drug manufacturing companies to over proscribe painkillers. What happened to " Do no harm" ?
5
Big Pharma the legal worst drug dealers of our times. Totally appalling. Money sure does corrupt, doesn't it?
23
Whatever happened to personal responsibility? The party on the right constantly whines about(minorities in particular) taking responsibility for their actions. As soon as it becomes a soccer mom’s problem, time to line up the lawyers and investigate at all costs ( to the taxpayer).
6
The Sackler Family should all go to prison..OH, but they are big donors to greedy politicians, so there will be no prison for them: just death from their products foe us. Is there ever going to be a time in America when the elected and appointed officials REALLY stand up for “we the people”?
5
@Cecily Ryan. This family and these types of people will never see the inside of a prison cell in their lives, ever.
1
We physicians have known about the addiction potential of opiates for centuries. If one is mindful of the risk one can prescribe them for serious pain safely. If you choose to get your drug information from the drug companies you are an idiot and your patients are at risk.
13
Capitalism. I know, I know, but it's true! Efficient markets and the board's bottom line (which then pays executives disproportionately massive salaries - who needs THAT MUCH money?!) reinforce that humans simply cannot resist surplusing wealth for personal enrichment (interrelated global markets and the political machinations that fuel them included). Greed has poisoned all major institutions from government, religious, education, health care and food, etc. (please prove me wrong). Unfortunately, despite the efficient and quantifiably direct function of Capitalism, it does a very bad job at taking into consideration the real human need for sentiment, emotion, sustained personal health, education and spiritual well being, for example. The West is eating itself (and the planet) alive, and the rest of the world is following close behind. We got what we deserved in Trump, and his fellow hucksters like the Sackler family remain championed by many as success stories doing what sensible people do, hoard wealth at any cost. "Sad."
1
@John and your preferred alternative is...? Remember Churchill’s definition of democracy: the worst form of government except for all the rest. The same is true about capitalism. The notion that an economic system, which is what capitalism is, should take care of my “spiritual well being” is frightening, to say the least. Are you advocating for theocracy? And no, I don’t think that greed has poisoned all major American institutions, or that we are in the midst of some horrifying epidemic. This is a riduculous exaggeration which is only possible because Americans are ignorant of history. In Victorian England babies were given laudanum (opium) to calm them down. Addiction is as old as humanity, and while I think that data cherry-picking and over-prescription are serious problems, I am tired of the sky-is-falling rants that pass for serious debates on ever issue.
@Mor thanks for taking the time to respond! Late period Capitalism in this our political economy is eroding humanity an the planet, and will prove a global failure in the long-term (in my opinion). Yes, addiction is a part of the human condition, but the institutions (corporations) who exploit that for the enrichment of a very few should be undermined (also my opinion). Capitalists will point out (I have heard it with my own ears) that the 'sheep are to be shorn' and that 'there will always be inequities', but I would argue for a different system - not a Communist one, not a Satanic pinko-Socialist one, but something closer to what thoughtful politicians like Bernie Sanders elegantly espouse (or warn against). I don't have enough room here to provide you with the binary (simple) alt-Capitalist narrative because there isn't one. As I am sure you appreciate it is all more nuanced and complex than that (which the market-as-salvation seems to always fail to grasp, in my opinion). Also, Democracy shouldn't be confused with Capitalism, however, our system does incorporate both, and to our folly. I am sorry you are tired.
@Mor, The analogy is misleading. It would be better stated as "Capitalism is the worst kind of predatory beast to be left uncaged." While we cannot (nor should we) expect an economic system to take care of our spiritual well being, any system that hopes to thrive ignores spiritual well being at its peril. If that translates as theocracy to you, you should pay more attention to current views on spirituality vis a vis religion.
By the way, in Victorian England, children were also made to labor twelve hours a day for a penny or two. Abuse of labor (and children) is also as old as humanity. That does not mean we shouldn't address it. Me, I am tired of "there's no problem, the market will fix it" rants.
BTW @John – loved your posts.
It appears to me that many people are taking prescription pain pills and heroin for there desperation. Don’t high unemployment states have a high narcotics use of not only prescription but drugs like heroin? Are we treating the effects of poverty and lack of education and employment? States like KY, WV, Ohio are high utilizes of all types of narcotics. Pain can be from many sources and the pain of heartache can be severe. No job or hope for a job can be extremely emotionally painful and I am wondering if it also doesn’t make you sick in more ways than one.
Big pharmaceutical companies should be allowed to teach pain management, it should be taught in medical schools. Americans should not be in pain from anything but this president is doing his best to destroy our country and everybody in it. He is the shining example of desperation.
7
bingo!
1
There are some very simple truths to opioid addiction:
Society accepts addiction and death as just collateral
damage for the pain killing and euphoria from opioids.
If society cared, the drugs would be illegal and doctors
would not be prescribing them.
There is no hope for those addicted. The craving,
established in the brain is so intense that rehab
is a waste of time and money. Narcan only helps
an addict survive one overdose, he will continue
to overdose until he dies. Opioid supply is readily
available on the internet and on the street.
@Tom
The simple truths are not what you claim. Your comments are ill-informed & dangerous.
I am a Registered Nurse for nearly 50 years with a masters degree in pharmacology & a PhD in nursing. Much of my career I have cared for people who were critically burned.
You can't imagine the pain of a burn over a large part of the body. Severe pain increases stress hormones which slow down the healing process. Opioids are the only medications that can control this kind of pain.
I am VERY familiar with the medical literature regarding pain. If the pain is treated properly (tapering the dose of medication as the healing process reduces the pain) a person will not become addicted. They become addicted when the opioids are over used in the absence of severe pain. I dare anybody to find even 1 report in the literature of a patient who was not addicted before they were burned, treated PROPERLY for pain throughout burn care, and was addicted after the burn. If pain is managed properly, addiction doesn't occur.
Many people are successful in recovery after rehab. 12-step programs are successful when followed properly, and I know many people who are in recovery. Again, the process must be followed properly.
If morphine were discovered today, we would be a miracle. It relieves pain & anxiety, strengthens the heart beat & reduces the labor of breathing in dying patients.
Opioids have an important role in medicine. Like any tool they help if used well but can hurt if not used well.
7
as I always say listen to a nurse! btw, if you have a patient (or loved one, or yourself) in excruciating pain and a downward spiral to certain death, what's the difference if they become addicted if it makes their final days more comfortable? plenty of people exist only because they are on lifesaving drugs. are they "addicted" or is it some kind of Puritan morality that demands we suffer and endure suffering or are accused of being lowlifes?
4
How does the opioid crisis compare to the obesity crisis? I'll bet more than 220,000 people have died from Type 2 diabetes complications and other obesity-related conditions in the 21st century. And the two crises are related: Obese middle-aged people tend to have arthritis, and were prescribed the pills for arthritis-related pain. When will your newspaper publish an editorial asking for SNAP to stop paying for soda and junk food?
4
In our advanced society we live by the golden rule: them who have the gold rule. I think only another armed revolt will ever change that.
1
@GL, Nope, it'll only change ownership of the gold.
1
Not a day goes by wherein our government is proven again and again to be owned by corporations and our politicians are complicit.
5
You just described the corrupt practices not only of 'Purdue Pharma'...but of the entire official investigative apparatus that wouldn't allow a lawsuit to come to full fruition...and expose the guilty party and, in addition, to monetary rewards for the public, and prison for the folks culpable. Thousands perished, and continue to do so from drug addiction and overdose, all in the name of Greed. This is a miscarriage of justice and makes us morally corrupt, if not complicit, in this human crisis. As Ben Franklin said, "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are".
4
More importantly, for all the declarations of intent to hold the pharmaceutical industry, distribution chain, prescribers and pharmacies "accountable" for the "opioid crisis", not a single claim is being asserted on behalf of the families, orphans and dead that were victimized by this criminal and immoral conduct. The cost of settling these cases will be a drop out of the profit bucket that such criminality produced, with full knowledge by the perpetrators of the death and mayhem their greed was causing.
2
What a surprise: big pharma launches a successful, deceitful plan to raise profits and create a faithful consumer base (addiction is great for preserving repeat business), and again, having wreaked untold misery with full knowledge that their product was not the safe new panacea they claimed, the evildoers are allowed to merely pay a fine and keep the bulk of their dirty money.
The Sacklers should be in prison, but instead they are laundering their blood money and being lauded for their “philanthropy.” Sad.
Are lawmakers really constrained by fealty to constitutional imperatives, or have their palms been so thoroughly greased that they can’t hold a legislative pen?
4
Trump defrauded students in trump university and paid a fine. Wall Street nearly collapsed the worlds economy and paid a fine. An estimated 2 plus million people in the US are addicted to Opioids and big pharma pays a fine. The 1% and the big corporations buy their way out of every moral predicament and law that they break and NO one ever goes to prison. If lengthy prison terms were handed out this picture would change.
5
At some point, these sorry excuses for human being need to lose everything including their money, their families, and their freedom. Enough is enough.
2
What are the data that Big Pharma are supposed to have hidden? That opioids are addictive? Duh! People who don’t know it must have had their brains amputated. Junkies take these pills because they are addictive, not in spite of it. The reasons for addiction are social and psychological and blaming pharmaceutical companies for an existential crisis won’t solve it. Addiction is not a poisoning; it begins and ends with the addict and their responsibility for their own decisions, alongside cultural and social factors that contribute to their sense of meaninglessness and hopelessness. Just like the war on drugs is a dismal failure, the war on opioids will be a failure as well.
1
What this article shows with clear logic and clear examples is the corruption of BOTH parties who both have had time and power to do something about this but have not.
This yet another reason we need a Sanders not a Hillary, a Bush or Trump. The whole medical set up in the US is a basket case and it is clear now that while marginally better than nothing Obamacare was also corrupted by leniency to the powerful and greedy and NOT being single payer.
The ELITE need to be punished like everyone else for breaking the same law everyone else lives under but we ALL know they do not. It is things like this that create despair. I am very aware how pain killers CAN be necessary and many suffer from LACK of access to it when it great pain and when they need it.
Hysterical reaction is therefor NOT the solution but those who lied and profited from death and addiction should not get off when black and white non Elite youth (but mostly colored Americans) got decade long sentences for growing a little on the side, while this new market is now going to be taken over, via economies of scale and muscle by the same pushers of addiction sticks and cancer (cigarettes).
Nope, as with many problems in the world the liberals are all talk and no go. With their pathetic candidates (Hillary; is as GOP as John McCain and GH Bush) the DNC hopes to ride out the 'populist revolt' while becoming even more a corporate party, using McCarthyist smears to tar any who disagree with them excusing the greedy.
1
We need more activist artists who engage their works to challenge the Sacklers and their company Purdue.
Placing giant heroin spoons (Nan Goldin) in front of the art museums that they support, is highly controversial. I get annoyed watching a PBS show that is endowed by the Sacklers. It bothers my social conscience. Something I wish the Sacklers had.
3
Perhaps it's time for Harvard to consider renaming the Sackler Museum. A lot of the dubious personalities after whom its buildings are name are villains from history. While Arthur Sackler is dead, his family seems to have inherited its greed from him.
2
This article leaves out some important details:
- An estimated 202,600 Americans died from opioid overdoses between 2002 and 2015.
- Addiction to narcotic pain relievers places an enormous economic burden on society, costing the U.S. an estimated $504 billion each year (2.8 percent of gross domestic product).
- The massive increase in opioid sales and subsequent addiction rates resulted from an orchestrated marketing plan designed to misinform doctors about the drug’s addictive potential.
- Sackler family members, who own Purdue Pharma, were intimately involved in the false advertising of OxyContin.
- The Sacklers also own Rhodes Pharma, one of the largest producers of generic opioids.
- Dr. Richard Sackler — who was deeply involved in the marketing of OxyContin — was recently awarded a patent for a new, faster-dissolving form of buprenorphine, used in the treatment of opioid addiction.
What that last point means is that this murderous family makes money by creating addiction - and also by treating it.
Big Pharma is one of the most profitable and deadliest scams in world history, second only to the military-industrial complex.
11
But don't forget that the Sacklers gave the equivalent of 5% of their wealth to the Smithsonian here in Washington, for the advancement of culture. And there's no charge to enter the Sackler Gallery.
4
@george eliot: The scion of the Frist family, great profiteers of buying up non-profit hospitals, once held the same post as Mitch McConnell in the Senate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Frist
I really do not understand this article. A couple of weeks ago, 60 Minutes had an interview with the lawyer that beat Big Tobacco who has assembled a team of lawyers and is coordinating with state and local governments to sue opioid manufacturers and distributors. This is like 1/4 of the story.
4
How about we get some statistics about how much of the opioid epidemic has to do with prescription drug abuse and how much is related to drugs being mailed from China at US subsidized mailing rates or coming over the southern US boarder?
How many able bodied childless adults who got free Medicaid under the Obamacare expansion became addicted by free "healthcare?"
Medicare expansion states have higher opioid addiction rates than non expansion states.
Fining drug companies is going to result in higher drug prices for consumers.
Obamacare mandated that insurance cover in patient drug abuse treatment which is very expensive and notably ineffective. Big medicine providers are making big money on repeat stays.
There is no federal solution. Areas that are having success are using local solutions.
Build the wall. Scan all incoming goods from China and cut off the supply. Imprison people cooking and selling drugs.
2
@ebmem Of course there are federal solutions. One simple example is that we missed the opportunity to prevent the meth epidemic by continuing to import its ingredients. See the Frontline documentary. You need to understand quite a bit more than do people who think a wall is a solution to anything.
13
@ebmem: Guns and drugs don't respect the internal borders of the US. Can you explain why so many Trumpists add the "a" to make the word mean a tenant with a meal plan?
1
@ebmem
"Medicare expansion states have higher opioid addiction rates than non expansion states."
You are parroting the fake news argument of the corporate shills who oppose Medicare expansion -
"with more poor people receiving Medicaid, the number of opioid users will increase."
That did not happen. It is fake news.
1) Medicare expansion states do Not have higher opioid addiction rates - their addiction rates are lower.
2) They have much higher rates of opioid treatment.
Big difference.
4
This is just one of the numerous ways that 'for profit medicine' is undermining our countries health for the sake of a few extra dollars in the pockets of white, corporate America.
Similar arguments are going to made against insurance companies, hospital corporations, large clinics etc in the coming years while tug-of-wars wind their way through the court system. Meanwhile, the US health statistics continue to decline showing our health is inferior to other advanced nations.
And the band played on.
14
@kirk: What other country presumes that doctors wouldn't practice at all without open-ended pay scales?
7
@kirk
It's much worse than that. They are killing us. The health industry is responsible for over 100,000 deaths per year (AMA statistics) due to correctly prescribed drugs in a hospital setting.
Those 100,000 deaths are considered low due to how hospitals report deaths. The real number is probably 10 times higher.
Our so-called health system is ranked about 40 in the world, below Costa Rica, yet costs twice as much as top-ranked France. That doesn't happen by accident.
5
@kirk
What does "white" have to do with it?
1
This is a singular aspect of our legal system which makes the Libertarian/GOP philosophy of small government a childish joke. The argument that the government does not need to regulate businesses because the courts provide an opportunity for justice is laughable given the growth in mandatory arbitration and the ability of deep pockets to avoid criminal charges and fines massive enough to matter. We need a competent government to regulate the unfettered greed of Capitalism.
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@james doohan Who then controls the unfettered greed and power of government? More often than not government regulation is used to create winners and losers in the market instead of protecting citizen interests.
2
@John We the People have much more control over government than over private corporations. If there are problems with how the government behaves, we can do something about.
20
@John
The voter does.
1
Many useful drugs as well as other items for sale in our society are potentially dangerous or fatal. There seems to be little logic in holding the manufacturer, of something with wide-spread beneficial uses, to the legal standard of a lawsuit when the manufactured item is misused. Extending this logic throughout society would paralyze our ability to function. Indeed, this may have started already if people in pain are unable to obtain palliative opioids, and must seek out street drugs or return to the days of palliative alcohol. There needs to be a balance between medical necessity and legal sanctions, one that does not ignore legitimate uses.
16
Perhaps you did not read the article. There was widespread corruption and abuse by the makers of Oxycontyn that was covered up for years, over and over, which exacerbated the opiod epidemic. Yes, there should be a balance but there should also be consequences in cases of heinous crime, as in this particular situation
13
@RC Additionally, drug manufacturers do not prescribe or directly distribute medications. It’s doctors and pharmacies that are largely responsible for this epidemic. Eliminating supply will only harm those that genuinely need such medications.
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@RC Maybe this comment is really well meant, but it looks like an apologia for the poor manufacturers. You must be aware that the manufacturer played a very large part in setting up the doctors to overprescribe these things. Not holding them responsible sounds like an effort to insure that nothing happens.
5
I have taught Pharmacology for 2nd year medical students for almost four decades. We have constantly made the point that opioids are a two-edged sword. For some, OxyContin greatly improved their lives and for others their lives were destroyed.
Compounding the issue are physicians running pill mills. Had one in a city near me who was clever and authorities could not shut him down. Finally, not one pharmacy in the area would fill his scripts. 250,000 plus pills of controlled substances in 16 months. He moved to another county. Small potholes compared to the millions of pills distributed in a small WV town.
Which throws the blame back to the manufacturers and distributors for ignoring data on sales. They chose to ignore what was happening and rake in the money.
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@ProfbamThis is a long standing problem. I am a retired pharmacist, retiring in the late 90s We recognized the problem at that time, refusing to fill suspect Rxs. Did all? No but most did as well as warning patients to the hazards they were facing. It was like the Dutch boy putting his finger in the dam breach. It will be an unsolvable problem as long as there are huge profits to be made in every part of the system.
3
@Profbam
Thanks for this comment. I have taught pharmacology to student nurses for almost 4 decades. I also emphasize that opioids are a 2-edged sword. Pain must be treated on a case-by-case basis, properly assessed, the cause properly diagnosed, and the treatment plan tailored to the situation.
As Roberta Taylor correctly says, it is a long standing problem, but drug salespeople making claims that are known to be false is a big problem as is clinicians who do not verify those claims by keeping up with current reputable research.
Much of the public is not educated about these issues. Those who knowingly act against the interests of the public or of their patients (manufacturers and clinicians) should pay a big price.
2
Even with the current devastating opioid epidemic, this problem is MUCH larger than just pain meds. The most powerful industry that lobbies our politicians is Big Pharma. Billions of dollars go to influence our elected officials.The result is the worlds highest drug prices and drugs that often do more harm than good. No protection for the consumer. Why does the US pay twice as much for healthcare? Why do we have the worst health care system in the developed world? Big money from Big Pharma and other healthcare special interests have purchased our politicians. NO protection for the consumer!!!!!
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@Big Mike That is really true.
@Big Mike
You're right - there is little-to-no protection for the consumer. In the case of prescription medicine and medical devices, the F.D.A. is great on approvals, practically useless on safety, thanks to the latter function being watered down due to BigPharma money to politicians.
No surprise, we've known about harmful effects of cigarettes for 50 years and same with oil and coal. No accountability, studies hidden. The rich get away with murdering millions while destroying the planet. This has been going on since forever.
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@Julie ...and NOW is the time to put an end to it.
4
The statement that the 220,000 deaths from opiate abuse are from prescriptions is inaccurate and only stokes the suffering of legitimate chronic pain patients who can no longer get prescription pain meds, and suffer excruciating pain without relief. The detailed report just released by CDC and HHS on the opiate drugs that caused overdose deaths show that over 80% of the deaths are from nonprescription opiates, #1 being Fentanyl, #2 heroin. Drastically limiting the ability of physicians to prescribe effective pain relief to patients with legitimate need will not effectively address the opiate epidemic. It forces pain patients to endure terrible suffering without relief.
Leslie Levine, PhD
Leader of large neuropathy patient support group
Director, Neuropathy Action Foundation
25
@Leslie Levine. Furthermore, many patients turn to black market opioids because the untenable circumstances of their lives without legitimate prescription painkillers. Oxycontin is a great medicine used as prescribed, as millions have used it, which made their lives bearable. Statistics don't show how many people died of liver disease from the Tylenol in Vicodin, instead blame Opioids. Surely, there are people who purposely commit suicide with Opioids because it is easier and more pleasant than hanging. Blame what has become the lives of many people in our country for a few to get richer. This whole artificially inflated hysteria about Opioids only creates more suffering and death.
4
@Leslie Levine
So well stated. Opioids have a role in medicine and are among the safest of medications when used PROPERLY. When used improperly the problems happen
2
@Leslie Levine I find your explanation somewhat naive. The manufacturers of Oxycontin licensed and marketed the product as non-addictive. The ‘wonder’ drug was then widely prescribed, reaching obscene levels. The makers eventually realized their product was addictive – if they did not know from day one – but did not curtail production or distribution or aggressively inform doctors of the side-effects. Drug suppliers and pharmacists grossly over distributed the product with clear knowledge the product was being abused – because it was addictive. Once access to the drug was restricted, street prices went up and addicts turned instead to heroin and fentanyl. Overdoses are a result of not being able to control the dose of these unregulated drugs.
You can argue the death rates are the result of non-prescription opiates but the root cause is big pharma and drug distribution companies aggressively marketing an addictive product. In small town America the doctors aggressively prescribed and failed to monitor their patient’s abuses. Regulators failed to act in a timely manner to inform the health industry about the addictive nature of these drugs and to stop the gross abuses in the supply chain. Profit is an important factor in this mess.
1
Opioids are like Trump. It is a disaster that was years in the making when many many really bad health effects promoted by government policies were allowed to occur with no intervention.
20 to 30 countries are healthier than we are and CDC doesn't care. We are fed the cheapest foods possible and suffer many heath effects because of it. Lately much has been published on the negative effects of artificial sweeteners on the microbiome and the government does nothing.
Simply put the most dangerous thing we can all do to our health is to believe the government and the profit philosophies put forth by our doctors.
We are on our own.
14
The biggest opioid drug makers and dealers in America are corrupt crony capitalist corporate plutocrat oligarch welfare interests aka Big Pharma. Big Medical Device, Big Health Insurance, Big Hospitals Big Medical Practice and Big Drug Stores. And it is all embarrassingly and shamefully legal.
When the drug makers and dealers were black and brown it was treated as a moral degenerate crime wave worthy of mass incarceration. Now that the makers, dealers and users are white it is a tragic sympathetic health medical crisis epidemic worthy of compassion and empathy and treatment instead of prosecution and imprisonment.
MAGA NOT!
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@Blackmamba YEP!
3
The pharmaceutical opioid industry is wildly corrupt, and our government has done absolutely nothing to stop it.
Who ever thought that prescription drugs would be the gateway drugs to heroin? Welcome to Opioids, USA.
And rather than give addicts something that might help them, like cannabis, we feed them methadone and other highly addictive drugs created by the same pharmaceuticals manufacturers who addicted our citizens in the first place.
And what happens when patients go to court? The pharma companies tell the DOJ, "Hey, we'll bury this in the courts until the patient is dead and gone, or we'll settle and admit no fault. The patient gets money, and we go home happy."
The DOJ takes the deal, every time. Patients may get a pay off, but the system never has to change.
The opioid manufacturers' actions have ruined and taken lives. They have blood on their hands, and they could care less!
20
@Sarah: A court can take a decade to conclude that it does not have jurisdiction of a case.
5
How does legalization of marijuana play into this?
Is the incidence of addiction to opioids diminished in CO, WA, CA?
Can an individual also sue the prescribing physician for addicting the patient? If so what is the incidence? Is this a defense to the manufacturer or are opioids dangerous per se?
3
@DFS: Observe what happens next in Massachusetts. I just bought some legal weed there. The industry should be in full operation by the middle of the new year.
5
Yes, addiction and opioid deaths are reduced in states with legal recreational marijuana.
1
@DFS, legalization plays a role in healthcareoverall. Big pharma, and politicians bankrolled by the industry, have fought against legalization forever. Now that studies have shown it is an effective and non-addictive medicine, they are reeling. Glaucoma, depression, chronic pain and nausea are a few of the conditions that have have been successfully treated by the natural and inexpensive plant. Receptors for canabinoids are located throughout the body. Big pharma tried to no avail get a patent on the chemicals in marijuana, indicating that it is a threat to them.
2
Between selling our to big pharma and immunizing the banksters on Wall Street from prosecution the fraud leading to the 2008 Great Recession, the Justice Department has become a shining example of our dual system of justice under both Republicans and Democrats.
11
70,000 drug overdose deaths in 17, and 400 deaths by rifles of all types of which so called assault weapons are a subset. At least we have our priorities, nothing shall infringe upon our Bill of Corporate Profit Rights.
14
Sadly, once again the double standard of enforcement rears it’s ugly head. Big Pharma is no better than crack and heroin dealers as they are also merchants of death. Sadly also, many plaintiffs in fact are being sold out by their legal counsel for a quick subpar settlement. A regular citizen can be stopped anywhere, anytime and have their personal possessions charged with being from drug profits, and taken away from them without due process. Yet a huge Pharmaceutical company can manufacture and distribute what amounts to death for many, and get off for pennies on the dollar. On the surface for many it might not seem like a big deal, but be warned the next victim could be a loved one. We need a value check here.
9
There has to be a balance found between providing pain relief for those that actually need it and mass distribution of drugs that are not needed, just for the profits.
As a country, we keep swinging back and forth between extremes, mostly because the drug companies cannot just be satisfied with doing their jobs, but are driven by shareholders that measure everything in mega-profits.
A long battle was waged to loosen restrictions on addictive pain killers because far too many people were going through life with unnecessary pain, but when the drug companies saw the opportunity to make money, they just sold as many as they could get away with. Now we are at the opposite extreme, where they routinely send people home with more pills than they could ever use, and don't keep track of where those pills end up. This makes them ripe for illegal redistribution, but the drug companies are too short sighted to see the damage they are doing to their own industries by ignoring the addictions they create.
It is situations like these that show why the founders gave congress the responsibility to regulate trade. The shareholders and executives are not mature enough to do the right thing for the right reasons and need to be monitored and held accountable for their actions.
We will continue to alternate between two horrible extremes, unless we enforce meaningful regulation that keeps the right amount of drugs flowing to the people that need it, without a bonanza of drug oversupply.
12
@McGloin
So well said. In a 50-year car4eer as a registered nurse I have seen people who had to tolerate intolerable pain because we were too restrictive in giving pain medications. That is why pain was named as the 5th vital sign. People in real pain should be entitled to relief. Clinicians who can't or don't properly assess pain and create a proper plan of care should be removed from practice. It is not the "pharmaceutical company" that lies to people about their drugs. It is individual men and women who do it for their own greed. They should all be stripped of any financial gain they have acquired by doing this and put in prison.
Another case of big pharma bribing its way out of trouble. Wasn't it a group of state attorneys general led by Mississippi's Michael Moore who forced big tobacco to pay out $200 billion over 25 years? And isn't Moore, now retired, leading a similar effort against opioid makers? So why are the latter still winning?
5
The best book on this subject is Beth Macy’s Dopesick.
She traces the history of this problem, law enforcement challenges, treatment, the obstacles doctors face, and she weaves real life stories of families struggling with this addiction.
8
We need to support the pharma companies. To Make America Great Again, the flow of opioids to the benighted regions has to continue. Remember Case and Deaton's findings regarding mortality?
2
Another aspect of this is what do you do with all of the leftover pills? Generally, pharmacies will not take them back. I was proscribed Percocet after heart surgery a few years ago. They gave me one hundred pills!, I never used any of them. So, what do you do with them? Keeping them could lead to problems for someone who finds them. Flushing them has to be bad for water. We kept them and a few years later there was a take back the pills program. Pharmacies should be required to take the things back and properly dispose of them.
17
@Robert
Our police station has a place to safely turn in unused prescriptions
Check with your local police force
8
Most local pharmacies (Walgreens, Walmart, Target etc) have a bin where you can return unused medicine safely. Also you can usually call whichever pharmacy you use and ask for instructions/locations on how to dispose of unused meds.
4
@Robert
What is rarely acknowledged is the reason WHY you, and millions of other patients were given so many pills.
Hospitals are graded, and paid (in part) on the basis of "patient satisfaction" scores, and physicians held accountable by hospital administrators for dissatisfied patients. Hospitals were also ordered years ago by CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services), ie, the federal government, to monitor pain as a "fifth vital sign." This meant asking about pain even in contexts where it wasn't relevant, ie, seeing a non-medically trained psychotherapist in a health care setting.
In 1990 you would NEVER have been given 100 percocet tabs upon discharge from the hospital under the circumstances you describe. Changes in federal regulations and mandates, however, led to your experience being commonplace by the early 2000s. In fact, for as much as people blame big pharma and the medical community, the federal government (and the corporate medical establishment, which increasingly employs most physicians) played a huge role in creating this mess.
10
Anyone who was involved in the marketing of those drugs knows that the pharma companies are to blame for the crisis.
23
I think focusing on the makers of opioids turns those addicted into victims. It fails to ask why people are in such pain that they need such strong pain relief. It ignores the possibility of despair as a form of pain. Better we should focus on harm reduction and treatment, and on the sources of despair in our society.
24
I had back surgery a couple of years ago. I left the hospital on the same day with a prescription from the surgeon for opioids--100 pills! But was this egregious over-prescription Purdue's fault--or the fault of a lazy surgeon who wanted to numb me to proactively stop me from calling him to ask questions about my post-surgical pain? In my case, it was obviously the latter, as was demonstrated by the fact that no one from his office ever called me back with to respond to the three phone messages I had left to ask questions about my pain after surgery. He took no heed of the addiction risks of me taking 100 of these pills. Luckily, I never took a single one and I am fine today.
I write this not to absolve Purdue, who knew exactly what it was doing in marketing these drugs (and their over-prescription) to doctors. But doctors have had a huge role in this crisis by using them to avoid actually dealing with and finding a root cause for their patients' pain. And the entire medical insurance system, which has been more than happy to pay for short-term options like these drugs rather than demand (and pay for) more permanent, non-addictive pain solutions from medical services providers, also shares some blame.
76
I totally disagree. I have never gone home from surgery with enough pills. I usually need a higher dose for a longer time. I was finally referred to a pain medicine doc. Now I always have enough pills. He will give me a script intended for about a month only I usually don’t need the pain med for that long.
I've felt this to be true for a long time and I see the reason for it. As always, it's money.
I really don't believe anyone cares about the people addicted to opioids. Not even the addicts themselves.
It's a complicated, long term and expensive problem. If the addict dies - problem solved.
That sounds harsh but if you think about it why else would the government basically look the other way when big pharma ships all those drugs to areas where addiction is rampant? Money. Probably changing hands like with Purdue.
Why doesn't anyone care? People nlame addicts for their addiction.
Sad but true.
24
@Butterfly
Yes, and in the land where "values" of rugged individualism, personal responsibility, and greed over people all provides cover for do-nothing authorities, this problem may never be justly solved.
1
@kitty A longstanding "conservative" quality. Private profits, public debt - until the crisis hits too close to home: the lesbian daughter comes out, or the mistress needs an abortion. There was an obvious racial bias to penalties applied to crack vs. power cocaine users. Suddenly addiction is a public health issue because it is affecting more and more middle-class white people.
2
No one should be surprised here. Our government decided years ago to serve the interests of corporations over the interests of its citizens.
White collar crime pays off big in this country especially when the government is on your side.
Fascinating we cry foul when other countries have corporations supported by their governments, but here we are supporting drug companies that have created another addiction epidemic in the country. We give them a slap on the wrist, take some spare change from their vaults and leave thousands of Americans dead or addicted.
What a great country.
62
@Michael Piscopiello
I believe that the problem you describe has already been identified, over and over, and again in this article. Have you anything to add? A possible solution, perhaps, or a new angle? Seems not.
1
@Michael Piscopiello
Time to say enough and take back our country.
Vote in 2020 and work to destroy gerrymandering and voter suppression and voter deception.
2
Capitalism at its finest! And it got the Sacklers really cool art museum on the National Mall.
The Pitchfork Nation needs to rise up and demand reasonable fetters for its favored economic philosophy.
44
@Pierre D. Robinson, B.F., W.S.
The global art and museum world is complicit in this. There needs to be a (Inter)National Boycott on Anything Sackler Day.
Sacklers should fund rehab and art centers in opioid-blighted areas. Better than the Evangels using their power to control these communities.
Hillary Lewis
Waverly, OH
2
Records dealing with health and safety issues should never be sealed! Corporate executives who commit crimes should not be allowed to negotiate a pass by using shareholder money to avoid jail time.
57
Again and again, we see law enforcement choosing settlements over actually punishing wrongdoing. New York City slumlords charged fines of a few days rent for repeatedly violating laws - fines rarely collected. Banks charged with blatant fraud being fined a small fraction of their ill-gotten gains. IRS budgets slashed so that tax avoidance by the very rich cannot be detected or punished. Now, opioid manufacturers allowed to evade responsibility for lying about their product’s hazards.
When one votes for “small government”, one votes for a society where the rich do as they will, and the rest of us suffer as we must. Perhaps we should rethink the idea that government “small enough to drown in the bath tub” will make lives better for anyone other than the very rich.
148
@John M Indeed. Wealthy politicians tricking regular people into believing they would someday be as rich themselves, and should vote as if they already are, is the second greatest con I've seen since organized religion. They've been doing it for decades...isn't that enough time to realize you've been fooled?
9
And yet, as a 70 year old who had major surgery in 2018, I had to worry about taking pain medication. What if I still had pain beyond my prescribed medication? Was I not supposed to have pain according to “new” guidelines and policies? Would my physician not believe me, even though we were very familiar with each other?
Really, should seniors be held hostage to what has happened here?
I was a healthcare provider for many years. I sit on community and healthcare councils, boards, and committees, so I listen to these concerns, but living the concern is another thing.
PS: no, I did need any further prescriptions after the first and only, but worrying about it was unnerving. Did it have an impact on “the healing process”?
24