It may surprise you that one of the largest drug dealers is right here in Connecticut. Depending on where you go in the country, the drug it distributes is outselling heroin on the streets. The name of this drug is OxyContin and the name of the drug dealer is Purdue Pharma.
They had $940 million in sales since 2005. In 2007 Purdue was hit with an earth-shattering lawsuit that finally succeeded after years worth of lawsuits from smaller parties were thrown out. They paid $19.5 million to 26 states for damages and for false advertising, suggesting that doctors have patients take it every eight hours instead of every 12 hours, which is the official FDA dose.
That's important because it leaves more pills prescribed than are necessary and increases the chances of addiction.
A marketing representative with Purdue, William Gergely, was instructed to say it was "virtually non-addicting" even though the company knew this was a lie beore Gergely was fired in 2000.
The abuse can begin because a relative or family friend has it in their medicine cabinet. For many people, this is how it happened. Some even became addicts while the drug was legally prescribed to them by their physicians.
The problem is that there are many people who legitimately need the drug and benefit from its prescription. But that number is far fewer than the number that the drug is marketed to. Purdue Pharma's action has been about fighting lawsuits.
Even with the payments of restitution, the establishment of a few OxyContin sales monitoring databases and the crackdown on dealing, the situation is still getting worse.
The problem is so pervasive that there is even a special category for it on coroner's reports. The DEA now has coroners write "OxyContin verified." It's one of the very few cases of name-brand causes of death.
In a small sampling of the problem across the country, it's easy to see that it has the potential to become an epidemic, if it is not already at that stage.
In San Diego, there were 40 arrests for possession and dealing in the past year and there were 57 deaths. Massachusetts has officially called it an epidemic. Between 2002 and 2007, 3,265 residents died of overdose as a result of abuse. Five percent of their state budget is going into the criminal prosecution of people taking, stealing or dealing OxyContin.
Pharmacies are being held up like liquor stores by men and women wearing ski masks and toting guns, asking for OxyContin.
Florida has become a distribution Mecca with pain clinics run like legal drug depositories. Providing the right documents and paying in cash can guarantee a steady supply. They call it "doctor shopping" and the death tolls in the state are still being calculated. So far though, the general figure the state is providing is that on average, 11 people are dying from drug overdoses every day.
OxyContin should only be given to cancer patients and those in chronic pain. But it has not been. It should be taken off the market. It should be banned. But we all know it won't be.
The best any of us could hope for is to force Purdue Pharma to reeningeer the drug completely or to create an entirely new subsitute. The company has been promising to deliver this "non habit forming" variation of OxyContin since the days of Sept. 11, 2001, when it was officially announced.
It hasn't happened yet; however, there is a new version that came out last month. Yet, the FDA says the effects are "limited" and "may provide an advantage over the currently available OxyContin."
Empty promises are being made and companies need to deliver on them. Otherwise, it seems like OxyContin could be shaping up to be the new crystal meth.
Be the first to comment on this article!