U.S. - OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma exploring bankruptcy

[S.J.B.]

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma exploring bankruptcy
NBC News
Reuters and Laura Strickler
March 4th, 2019

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is exploring filing for bankruptcy as one of its options to address potentially significant liabilities from thousands of lawsuits alleging the drug maker contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the U.S., a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News Monday.

The possible bankruptcy filing was first reported by Reuters.

The deliberations show how Purdue and its wealthy owners, the Sackler family, are under pressure to respond to mounting litigation accusing the pharmaceutical company of misleading doctors and patients about risks associated with prolonged use of its prescription opioids.

As of 2019, no members of the Sackler family are on the Purdue board of directors, said a source familiar with the matter, although the family still owns the company.

Purdue denies the allegations, arguing that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved labels for its opioids carried warnings about the risk of abuse and misuse associated with the drugs.

Read the full story here.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

Here is the only thing anyone needs to consider about these fraudulent attacks on pharma:

then: doctors and politicians define oxycodone as a schedule II drug - high potential for abuse and addiction.

now: doctors and politicians blame oxycodone maker for fooling them into thinking that a schedule II drug does not have a high potential for abuse and addiction.

 

[cj]

Yeah Purdue is getting scapegoated to some extent. They did push the envelope on marketing but so did other pharma companies.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Leave the companies alone! Damn it! People have problems, you can't pin that on capitalism. Let the companies still make us some good pills. What is your end game, people? Import all the medication from Europe like a fucking Central American pharmacy? Jesus. This is why people like Trump get elected, because we need to do *SOMETHING* as a business in America. At the very least we'll keep the pill mills open, the gun factories and the war machine. I think that's a given for anyone, no matter how you feel on any of these issues pro, or con.

Yeah Purdue is getting scapegoated to some extent. They did push the envelope on marketing but so did other pharma companies.

This is why I will always respect your opinion; you have a very fair historical view of reality and YOU REMEMBER all the shit that went down in that time period. Thank goodness someone gets it.

 

[neversickanymore]

Well I wouldn't be so worried. They have that patent for the easiest form of bupre to fix up and mainline. Somehow I think this is going to be a hit with addicts. Drop it in water bottle top and draw seconds later.

"The patent describes a new, improved form of buprenorphine that would come in a wafer that disintegrated more quickly than existing versions — perhaps in just a few seconds"
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018...opioid-addiction-treatment-buprenorphine.html

Lets not forget when they cornered the market in Williamson, West Virginia. Marketing geniuses will not be held down.
Drug companies shipped nearly 21 million opioid painkillers to a town with 2,900 people


Also oxy has went OTC in Mexico. Mexico.. covertly legalizing drugs anyway.

Also, they must still smile over the 35 billion they pocketed from their part in the opiate epidemic. Starting anything is always the hardest part imho, so they deserve credit even if they contribute only court ordered support for the clean up. That's right. Just because the clean up is underway, we need to credit those who started this; even if they have chosen a much smaller role in the later stages.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

They just need to move everything to a remote south american jungle and start churning out the original oxycontins again. I think they could compete with the cartels

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

is it that they manipulated and confused doctors about the "less addictive than morphine" part? because it is much, much less addictive iv. yet it's much, much more addictive orally. making oxy the perfect gateway drug into the hard opiates that don't work well orally (heroin, morphine, dilaudid, opana if that's still around).

also when did grey nurses (100mg er morphine) come out? and didn't they already have it figured out with those er hydromorphone capsules? haven't we had antiabuse systems that were just not used until original patents ran out? why were we ever able to crush oxycodone er and oxymorphone er, when they already knew how to make them like rock hard skittles that turn to snot if they touch liquid.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

is it that they manipulated and confused doctors about the "less addictive than morphine" part? because it is much, much less addictive iv. yet it's much, much more addictive orally. making oxy the perfect gateway drug into the hard opiates that don't work well orally (heroin, morphine, dilaudid, opana if that's still around).

also when did grey nurses (100mg er morphine) come out? and didn't they already have it figured out with those er hydromorphone capsules? haven't we had antiabuse systems that were just not used until original patents ran out? why were we ever able to crush oxycodone er and oxymorphone er, when they already knew how to make them like rock hard skittles that turn to snot if they touch liquid.

I don't blame the pharmaceutical companies. THE DOCTORS SHOULD KNOW BETTER. They should try the drugs themselves.

I would only prescribe a drug to a patient that I myself hadn't tried ONLY if it was a hail Mary pass to save their life or if it was a unique condition that doesn't apply to 99.999999% of humanity. Doctors are SUPPOSED to be drug takers, in my opinion.

If the doctors "thought" it wasn't addictive, some of them knew it, feigned ignorance, got their patients hooked = tons of $$$$ through repeat business. Sick.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

< they knew the drugs were classified as CII highly addictive from the get go.

 

[ro4eva]

Doctors are SUPPOSED to be drug takers, in my opinion.

Such tacit experience likely would be valuable - at least anecdotally, in my opinion. We should keep in mind that not everyone responds similarly towards Rx drugs. For example, short and long-term adverse effects could vary wildly based on a number of factors.

Such tacit experience might also compel the prescribing physician to harbor a strong bias towards the outright refusal to prescribe any given medication, especially if (s)he experienced a serious, adverse reaction after consuming the very first dose of prescribed drug. And given such a negative experience, I honestly wouldn't blame them for looking down upon the cause of their bad reaction.

All in all, I cannot completely side with only one side in this matter. Because there are medications whose market approval was essentially the result of an FDA and/or clinical study fuck up.

As far as Purdue is concerned, I concur with cj's remarks. And, in the end, my biggest concern is for bona fide chronic pain patients whose refills were withheld due to bureaucratic and political pressure. This whole shitstorm a damn tragedy thanks to the undue burden it placed on their shoulders.

Withdrawal sucks.

Forced withdrawal without prior warning (and attempts to taper) yields the type of misery that I suspect could convince these poor folks to blow their brains out in desperation of an escape from their worlds of chronic pain.