Current Opioid Crisis - OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma pleads guilty

[Kurve]

This is a big problem, particularly in the US but I have to wonder if it's not also going on here in Australia on a smaller scale. If anybody has been prescribed these pills you might know how easy it would be to overdose on them. Or develop an addiction.

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has pleaded guilty to three criminal charges, formally taking responsibility for its part in an opioid epidemic in the US that has contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Key points:

• The company has admitted to blocking government efforts to combat the addiction crisis
• It also admitted to paying doctors to induce them to write more painkiller prescriptions
• The pleas are part of a settlement deal made with the Justice Department

The guilty plea has angered critics who want to see individuals — not just the company — held accountable.

It also admitted it provided misleading information to the agency as a way to boost company manufacturing quotas.

It also acknowledged it paid doctors through a speakers program to persuade them to write more prescriptions for its painkillers.

The company also acknowledged it had not maintained an effective program to prevent prescription drugs from being diverted to the black market.

And it admitted paying an electronic medical records company to send doctors information on patients that encouraged them to prescribe opioids.

The guilty pleas were entered by Purdue board chairman Steve Miller on behalf of the company.

They were part of a criminal and civil settlement announced last month between the pharmaceutical company and the Justice Department.

The deal includes $USD8.3 billion ($11.3 billion) in penalties and forfeitures.

OxyContin makers plead guilty over US opioid crisis

Purdue Pharma admits in court to financially encouraging doctors to prescribe its drugs, duping the US drug enforcement agency, and blocking efforts to combat an addiction crisis that has contributed to thousands of deaths in the US.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Kurve]

Mundipharma is the Australian arm of Purdue Pharma, the United States company behind Oxycontin and they've been in trouble here.

'They were like jelly beans': How US big pharma is pushing opioids to regional Australians

A pharmaceutical giant owned by the Sackler family in the United States is using flaws in regulation to push its latest product deep into regional Australia.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Kurve]

Any experience with prescribed opioids here? Good or bad?

 

[MSB ROYS]

Interesting that they used McKinsey to help come up with this strategy. See this NY Times article if interested: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/...in-opioids.html#click=https://t.co/l17OPO9qIB

 

[Fabab]

I have had them and they are not good,can lead to depression too.

 

[Kurve]

I have had them and they are not good,can lead to depression too.

It's awful stuff, I ended up with better pain management doing it myself with a mix and threw them out. Even then, the opioid hangover was with me for a while.

 

[Kurve]

I have had them and they are not good,can lead to depression too.

Did you find your doctor was a bit pushy with prescribing them? In reflection I think mine was. Then I was told I HAD TO HAVE anti depressants. Getting off those things was a nightmare.

 

[utility]

Any experience with prescribed opioids here? Good or bad?

I've only had them during surgery. They are not something you want to be taking on a routine basis.

 

[Kurve]

I've only had them during surgery. They are not something you want to be taking on a routine basis.

I think you're right. It was a terrible experience.

 

[Fabab]

Did you find your doctor was a bit pushy with prescribing them? In reflection I think mine was. Then I was told I HAD TO HAVE anti depressants. Getting off those things was a nightmare.

I was the same mate,kicking the anti depressants was hard.
The oxys are the quickest tabs to work for me approx 15 mins i was out of it for a few hours at least.

I noticed earlier that i still have some in a drawer.

 

[metic]

Sydney comedian 'overwhelmed' by public response after sharing 'humiliating' experience buying drugs in pharmacy

An actor and comedian shares her experience on social media of feeling shamed in a pharmacy when trying to collect her prescribed pain medication.

www.abc.net.au

"Ms Dooley also alleged in the clip that the pharmacist made jokes about her condition and suggested that she should watch the Netflix drama series Painkiller.


The series recounts the origins of the opioid crisis in the United States, suggesting that she should be careful about getting addicted to pain medication."

 

[Ballarat Bob]

If you ever get prescribed OxyContin they tell you about the risks etc by the pharmacist. I had it after a tooth surgery gone wrong and only ever had about three of them , they are extremely strong and I was off my chops when I had one at work it was borderline terrifying (I was in a call centre which didn't help) I ended up using Panadol.
The problem with the US experience where opioids like this were was massively over prescribed is that it takes away from the fact that it does have a legitimate use in medicine as one of the options for pain management if used correctly.
The above experience if legit should be reported and the pharmacist should get some further training , surely the fact that they carry OxyContin shows that it is legitimate treatment ?

 

[Golden_6]

I took them for 3 days after wisdom teeth surgery last year.

I could already feel as though I was getting addicted to them after 6 pills. Awful stuff.