Purdue Pharma learns fate over Oxycontin scandal

[ChiroDoc]

Purdue Pharma is finished:
Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma Sentenced for Fraud and Kickback Conspiracies

But the obvious question is this: if Purdue was doing it, is it likely that other Big Pharma companies are --and have been-- doing similar things, only with different drug types?

If you said yes, please move your chair to the head of the class...

 

[Coconut]

Thank you @ChiroDoc.
That does not suprise me. They get what they deserve.
Yes, I believe others are doing this as well or have in the past.

 

[VaughanJB]

So they have to pay $5bn.

Let's get that in perspective: "Purdue Pharma generated over $35 billion in revenue from OxyContin sales. The Sackler family, who owned Purdue, withdrew more than $10 billion in profits from the company between 2008 and 2018, according to reports."

So, in all, it was a worthwhile exercise for Purdue, profit wise. Better yet, around a third of that money, $10bn, passed into the private hands of the Sadler family who I'm sure spent it wisely. Of course, they won't have to pay any of that back, they get to keep it. The COMPANY has to pay that fine.

This is an example of what I mentioned in another thread on Amazon. This sounds like a hefty fine, but in reality, a lot of money was made by a lot of people, and they won't have to pay it back. An effective fine would have been to fine the Sadler family $20bn. Alas...........

 

[seadoug]

The Sackler family themselves should be put UNDER the jail for all the deaths they've caused. They have blood on their hands.

 

[Been There]

While I was in the military for 30 years, we had quite a few men and women that became addicted to opioids. We were ahead of the National average at one time. When doctors are handing out prescriptions with 100 pills at a time, it doesn’t take long to become addicted to these poisonous pills. Withdrawing off of them is another issue that should be addressed.

After I left the military, I broke my thumb on my left hand after dumping my bike (motorcycle) and the doctor gave me a prescription for 28 pills. I was to take one pill every 6 hours for 7 days. I wasn’t in a lot of pain, but I took 1 oxycodone and went to bed. I slept for almost 11 hours, which for me was a long time. After that, I switched to Advil.

 

[RambleTamble]

Nobody goes to prison in this case and the Sacklers will still be worth 4-5 billion dollars after they pay everything they owe.

This was good news: the POTUS lacks the constitutional authority to use a pardon to wipe away the multi-billion dollar civil settlement the Sacklers owe to states, tribes, and victims.

I'm thinking about becoming a Toronto Blue Jays fan.

 

[Della]

When I broke my leg the hospital and then the nursing home I was in for three weeks wanted me to take 2 Pecocets every four hours. I had to really fight with the nurses over and over to get it down to one pill at bedtime. They and my surgeon kept repeating what the pharmaceutical rep had told them, "You'll heal better if you take them."

They sent me home with prescrittion for 30 which I immediately tore up, but every day the re-hab person came to the house she would say brightly, "You're going to need those pills tonight!" and offer to write me a prescription. Only my stubbornness saved me from certain addiction.

This is Southern Ohio the hottest spot in the country for Opioid addiction, drive a few miles south into Kentucky and there are bill boards saying 'Watch out for Opioid addicted drivers."

The Sackler family themselves should be put UNDER the jail for all the deaths they've caused. They have blood on their hands.

Absolutely. I don't understand why no prison time for people like that. They won't feel the slightest change in lifestyle when they should be living on the streets with the addicts they created.

A really fascinating book about this is "Dream Land," about how the town of Portsmouth Ohio went from a pretty middle class town to a huge strip of pain clinics doing nothing but selling these drugs.

 

[VaughanJB]

Going back in time, I had a terrible back condition. I was crippled, could not walk, and was in extreme pain. My recollection is that I found a way to cope through copious wine. My wife says I was on an opiod at the time, and she's usually right. However, I was so disengaged I didn't get addicted.

Damn, that was a tough time.

 

[Blessed]

I appreciate all of your views. I will say that there also a large amount of people who are out there suffering pain that you can't imagine.

Yes, there are some that are addicted to pain killers but there are so many more that need these medications to live somewhat a normal life. Many people that suffer are being denied relief from a ongoing struggle. Unless you have experienced a injury or illness that affects you every day there is not a reason to be judgmental

We have many on this site who face this horror. I have medications that I take daily to help manage the pain. They are a help but there are some days I need an actual pain killer but I am not allowed to have them lest I become addicted.

Doctors and dentists are being regulated so heavily that they are afraid to prescribe pain killers that they are absolutely needed. Cancer patients are being denied painkillers. Have multiple teeth removed, pain killers denied.

Not you or anyone else has the right to diminish the amount of pain you are in as we all have a different threshold for pain. I think overall I am very good at dealing with pain. When my son was born I did not go to the hospital until I dilated to 7 1/2, My son was born an hour and 15 minutes later due to emergency CSection.

My husband went through 5 years of cancer treatment. It was not the cancer causing the pain but the treatments involved. Thank God, this was before the so called "Crisis" and he was given pain killers to manage his pain.

Why do we all think these things were invented if not the need to control pain when needed. Now, all the sudden nothing needs pain control. Yes, there will be people that fall victim to addiction. Yes, there will be people that abuse the system. Yes, there are people that actually need these drugs after procedures and sometimes for long term care of pain that will be ongoing for the rest of their lives.

That does not mean they are addicted. That means they need this medication to be able to function. To be able to do the tasks of everyday life.

 

[VaughanJB]

I appreciate all of your views. I will say that there also a large amount of people who are out there suffering pain that you can't imagine.

Blessed - the issue is profiteering and marketing. What you say is correct, valid, and honestly undeniable. I don't think there would have been an issue if not for the profit motive. Purdue found a way to monetize pain. They didn't simply market their pain reliever to people in need, they thrust it into the everyday. The lied about it's addictive properties, because they knew they could make money from it.

The end result is a poultry fine and people like yourself, or people that truly need this help and can't get it. That is part of the social cost. It's not right, the pendulum has swung too far the other way. It's sad.

 

[Nathan]

But the obvious question is this: if Purdue was doing it, is it likely that other Big Pharma companies are --and have been-- doing similar things, only with different drug types?

Big Pharma drug dealers: profit off of human misery.
Illicit street drug dealers: profit off of human misery.
The FDA and DEA: controls the profits.

 

[Della]

I appreciate all of your views. I will say that there also a large amount of people who are out there suffering pain that you can't imagine.

Yes, there are some that are addicted to pain killers but there are so many more that need these medications to live somewhat a normal life. Many people that suffer are being denied relief from a ongoing struggle. Unless you have experienced a injury or illness that affects you every day there is not a reason to be judgmental

We have many on this site who face this horror. I have medications that I take daily to help manage the pain. They are a help but there are some days I need an actual pain killer but I am not allowed to have them lest I become addicted.

Doctors and dentists are being regulated so heavily that they are afraid to prescribe pain killers that they are absolutely needed. Cancer patients are being denied painkillers. Have multiple teeth removed, pain killers denied.

Not you or anyone else has the right to diminish the amount of pain you are in as we all have a different threshold for pain. I think overall I am very good at dealing with pain. When my son was born I did not go to the hospital until I dilated to 7 1/2, My son was born an hour and 15 minutes later due to emergency CSection.

My husband went through 5 years of cancer treatment. It was not the cancer causing the pain but the treatments involved. Thank God, this was before the so called "Crisis" and he was given pain killers to manage his pain.

Why do we all think these things were invented if not the need to control pain when needed. Now, all the sudden nothing needs pain control. Yes, there will be people that fall victim to addiction. Yes, there will be people that abuse the system. Yes, there are people that actually need these drugs after procedures and sometimes for long term care of pain that will be ongoing for the rest of their lives.

That does not mean they are addicted. That means they need this medication to be able to function. To be able to do the tasks of everyday life.

What are you talking about? No one has been judgmental toward the people who needed the drugs or toward the people who, under their doctor's orders, became addicted, only toward the companies that pushed the drug without honest information about how addictive it could be and doctors running "pain clinics" where these drugs were sold to almost anyone who asked for them.

I believe it's you who seems to be judgmental toward the people who became addicted, trying to separate "them" from people who need the drugs for chronic pain. There is no sharp line between the two. Most of the addicts you see on the street were first given the drugs by their doctors for real, terrible pain and it was not their fault that by a very short time they became addicted. No one wants to take pain relief from someone who has cancer or terrible back pain, but that doesn't mean we should praise doctors for casually prescribing a drug that can cause addiction in as few as three days to someone with a sprained ankle.

 

[Blessed]

What are you talking about? No one has been judgmental toward the people who needed the drugs or toward the people who, under their doctor's orders, became addicted, only toward the companies that pushed the drug without honest information about how addictive it could be.

I did not say anyone here has been judgmental. I am saying that there has been such a backlash that people are being denied relief that they clearly need all over America. I have read many, many instances where doctors have been treating patients for years having to deny medicine, i.e. painkillers due to this opoid crisis.

You are lucky to fall into a group that does not have need. I know these companies that manufactured the drugs should have been upfront about the possibility this could happen but there is no denying these drugs have been a benefit to those suffering.

I think it is up to individuals to be responsible for following the instructions given and for doctors to monitor use. That together should have limited addictions. Instead, we have this crisis that has affected medical care to the point of suffering. It seems that we don't want to look at the other side of the spectrum. The only thing I can say is let's see what others say, like @Murrmurr or @hawkdon who have chronic pain. I am sure there are others.

 

[Blessed]

Blessed - the issue is profiteering and marketing. What you say is correct, valid, and honestly undeniable. I don't think there would have been an issue if not for the profit motive. Purdue found a way to monetize pain. They didn't simply market their pain reliever to people in need, they thrust it into the everyday. The lied about it's addictive properties, because they knew they could make money from it.

The end result is a poultry fine and people like yourself, or people that truly need this help and can't get it. That is part of the social cost. It's not right, the pendulum has swung too far the other way. It's sad.

I thank you for understanding! Yes, Perdue was wrong for what they did but also true is that we need a way to control pain.

Mind you, I have not been a position to worry about such things until 20 years ago but since then I have become acutely aware. First during a surgery for my son during a ACL injury and surgery. Second during my husband's cancer treatment. Third during my own hip replacement.

Only I was given oxycontin during a 24 hour hospital stay. I came home with hydrocodone during recovery. I got through it fine with ice bags and PT.

Son, also hydrocodone and a special therapy machine that moved his knee and kept ice water running to the knee. This, the machine, insurance denied at first and I had to fight it through the Office of Personnel Management. My husband was insured through the USPS. Shock but I won that round.

Husband, hydrocodone did not do a great job with pain control but others, oxycontin, morphine, fentanyl had worse side effects than he could tolerate. Hydrocodone was the only thing that helped that had tolerable side effects.
Keep in mind that was a strong stubborn man that was not about to stop working those 5 years. Yes, he would be very ill a couple of days after chemo that kept him in bed. Then he would be up and working if at all possible.

I am fully aware of drug addiction but I am also aware of disabling pain. I am sorry but I am still grateful for medications that will allow people to live the most fulfilling lives they can with dealing with acute/chronic pain.

 

[RambleTamble]

I had to be admitted to the hospital about 10 years ago for facial cellulitis. Although my face was pretty swollen, I wasn't really in any pain to speak of, so I was surprised when a nurse asked me if I wanted some Vicodin for the pain. Years ago I would have responded with an enthusiastic "YES!" just for the high, but I turned it down. Now that I think about it, I should have taken it.

Oh, I forgot to make my point. I was in a pretty well respected hospital, yet they offered me Vicodin like it was aspirin. I probably could have gotten a month supply of Vicodin if I pretended to be in pain. They were/are part of the problem with opioid addiction.

 

[Blessed]

I had to be admitted to the hospital about 10 years ago for facial cellulitis. Although my face was pretty swollen, I wasn't really in any pain to speak of, so I was surprised when a nurse asked me if I wanted some Vicodin for the pain. Years ago I would have responded with an enthusiastic "YES!" just for the high, but I turned it down. Now that I think about it, I should have taken it.

Oh, I forgot to make my point. I was in a pretty well respected hospital, yet they offered me Vicodin like it was aspirin. I probably could have gotten a month supply of Vicodin if I pretended to be in pain. They were/are part of the problem with opioid addiction.

I don't get that, I have never gotten a so called high taking pain killers. I do get pain relieve and am able to sleep but that is it. I guess it is the difference in all peoples reactions to the medication. My thing is if you don't need it don't take it. That applies to all medications.

 

[Della]

I am fully aware of drug addiction but I am also aware of disabling pain. I am sorry but I am still grateful for medications.

Do you think other people aren't aware of chronic pain? Doctors are still prescribing it for those who need it, I know people with cancer who take it regularly, but they are now aware of the risk of addiction and are no longer pushing it on people like your son. Would you have wanted him to have taken it until he was addicted? When I broke my leg I had a torn ACL and MCL ,a knee cap that was out of place a broken femur and broken tibia. I needed Percocet for one day after which I knew I could go without it but I was forced by my doctor and nurses to keep taking it.

You seem to want to blame the people who became addicted and also blame them for making it harder to get these days. They were just following their doctors orders. They were told that they would heal better if they took it.

I am fully aware of drug addiction but I am also aware of disabling pain. I am sorry but I am still grateful for medications that will allow people to live the most fulfilling lives they can with dealing with acute/chronic pain.

Drug addiction and disabling pain can happen in the same person. I am grateful for good medications, too, and I'm not sorry about it. No one wants to take these drugs off the market and I don't think it is being done. Purdue Pharma isn't being fined for developing the drugs but for knowingly lying about the risk of addiction.

I'm glad that these drugs are helping your husband, that his doctor is prescribing them for him, and that he has the money to buy them. Some of the addicts who you seem to look down upon are in as much pain as your husband, but don't have the doctor or the money. They are in pain and after using up all their money and losing their house because they bought drugs with the mortgage they ended up homeless.

 

[Blessed]

Do you think other people aren't aware of chronic pain? Doctors are still prescribing it for those who need it, I know people with cancer who take it regularly, but they are now aware of the risk of addiction and are no longer pushing it on people like your son. Would you have wanted him to have taken it until he was addicted? When I broke my leg I had a torn ACL and MCL ,a knee cap that was out of place a broken femur and broken tibia. I needed Percocet for one day after which I knew I could go without it but I was forced by my doctor and nurses to keep taking it.

You seem to want to blame the people who became addicted and also blame them for making it harder to get these days. They were just following their doctors orders. They were told that they would heal better if they took it.


Drug addiction and disabling pain can happen in the same person. I am grateful for good medications, too, and I'm not sorry about it. No one wants to take these drugs off the market and I don't think it is being done. Purdue Pharma isn't being fined for developing the drugs but for knowingly lying about the risk of addiction.

I'm glad that these drugs are helping your husband, that his doctor is prescribing them for him, and that he has the money to buy them. Some of the addicts who you seem to look down upon are in as much pain as your husband, but don't have the doctor or the money. They are in pain and after using up all their money and losing their house because they bought drugs with the mortgage they ended up homeless.

my husband passed from his cancer now 15 years ago. i am not looking down on anyone that became addicted, This is the fault of the doctor and the patient.
The doctor who was not paying attention and the patient who lied.

yes, the drug company lied and should be held accountable, yes, some doctors are guilty of using this for their profit as well and should be held accountable. Yes, there are some patients that should take their addiction as they lied to the doctor when they knew they did not need the medication. All are at fault in this area.

Nothing is as simple as it seems. In the end the whole thing has caused patients who need pain control are being made to suffer. I guess we are at a roadblock here because I will never believe that pain medication is not required in some chronic and acute pain situations. Doctors are now terrified to subscribe even though they know they are needed. Just take those drugs off the market and use what was acceptable prior to this crisis IMO.

 

[Della]

Nothing is as simple as it seems. In the end the whole thing has caused patients who need pain control are being made to suffer. I guess we are at a roadblock here because I will never believe that pain medication is not required in some chronic and acute pain situations.

I will never believe that pain medication is not required in some chronic and acute pain situations, either. As I've said several times. I think we're in agreement that people in chronic pain should have medication that works for them.

Where we are in disagreement is that I also have sympathy for the people who were turned into drug addicts by these drugs when their doctors kept telling them to take them.

 

[Blessed]

I will never believe that pain medication is not required in some chronic and acute pain situations, either. As I've said several times. I think we're in agreement that people in chronic pain should have medication that works for them.

Where we are in disagreement is that I also have sympathy for the people who were turned into drug addicts by these drugs when their doctors kept telling them to take them.

I agree, I have sympathy for them. It is a horrible thing. I just can't understand why so many refuse help or rehab to help them recover. I know it is not an easy thing to accept, that they have to change to have a better life. I know addiction, I was a smoker and that is hard, very hard to quit but I did it. I still want to smoke. I did this all on my own but I was the one who became an addict when I knew it was bad for me. All addictions came be overcome but the individual has to be willing to take on the battle.

 

[Born_To_Lose]

The Sackler family had to contribute about 85% of the settlement. This will settle all of the lawsuits.
The company, Perdue Pharma, is in its final stages of dissolution and a new company (Knoa Pharma) will be formed that will produce opioid addiction treatment and reversal drugs. Call it irony, if you wish, but it will take the Sackler family fortune down by at least 50%.

 

[RambleTamble]

The Sackler family had to contribute about 85% of the settlement. This will settle all of the lawsuits.
The company, Perdue Pharma, is in its final stages of dissolution and a new company (Knoa Pharma) will be formed that will produce opioid addiction treatment and reversal drugs. Call it irony, if you wish, but it will take the Sackler family fortune down by at least 50%.

Yep, they're only going to be worth 4-5 billion dollars. Maybe someone will start a GoFundMe campaign so we can help them out.