Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma stopped promoting opioids decades too late
Summary and Analysis…
Because of widespread criticism that has lead to many lawsuits from 14 states, and many counties as well as cities, Purdue, the maker of OxyContin, an addictive opioid drug, has announced, “We have restructured and significantly reduced our commercial operation and will no longer be promoting opioids to prescribers,” said the company, based in Stamford, Conn.
This is after paying out over 678 million dollars as a result of several lawsuits that accused Purdue of deceptively marketing prescription opioids. Purdue Pharma made billions of dollars doing this, while knowing that by advising doctors the addictive painkiller should be used for chronic pain as a long-term solution, it was making addicts. In 2016 the Center for Disease Control reported that there were over 42,000 overdose deaths attributed to opioids. Few would contest that Purdue Pharma has its share of responsibility in creating the current crisis.
Excerpted from Washington Post
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma said on Saturday that it has cut its sales force in half and will stop promoting opioids to physicians, following widespread criticism of the ways drugmakers market addictive painkillers.
The drugmaker said it will inform doctors Monday that its sales representatives will no longer visit physicians’ offices to discuss the company’s opioid products. It will now have about 200 sales representatives, Purdue said.
“We have restructured and significantly reduced our commercial operation and will no longer be promoting opioids to prescribers,” the company, based in Stamford, Conn., said in a statement.
Doctors with questions about opioids will be directed to the company’s medical affairs department. Its sales representatives will focus on Symproic, a drug for treating opioid-induced constipation, as well as other potential non-opioid products, Purdue said.
