OxyContin

Health & Safety

Massachusetts Attorney General Implicates Family Behind Purdue Pharma In Opioid Deaths

9:30am January 16, 2019

In a detailed memorandum, Attorney General Maura Healey alleges eight Sackler family members and nine Purdue board members or executives played key roles in the nation's deadly opioid epidemic.

Despite abuse deterrent formulation, Purdue Pharma's OxyContin continues to be used by some people with opioid addiction to get high.

Health & Safety

Insurer To Purdue Pharma: We Won't Pay For OxyContin Anymore

7:34pm September 12, 2018

by Blake Farmer

Embattled drugmaker Purdue Pharma defends OxyContin as some insurers are dropping the drug in favor of other abuse-deterrent opioid painkillers.

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Dispatches From A 'Dopesick' America

4:08pm August 21, 2018

by Dave Davies

Author Beth Macy details opioids' odyssey from medicine to scourge, in her book about young heroin users, their long-suffering parents, doctors, drug company executives, cops, judges and drug dealers.

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Bottles of Purdue Pharma L.P. OxyContin medication sit on a pharmacy shelf in Provo, Utah, in 2016.

Doctors In Maine Say Halt In OxyContin Marketing Comes '20 Years Late'

4:39pm February 13, 2018

by Patty Wight

Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, won't promote opioids to doctors anymore. In Maine, physicians say the change should have happened long ago.

A single company, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, funneled $4.7 million to advocacy groups over the five-year period, according to the report.

Health & Safety

Drugmakers Spent Millions Promoting Opioids To Patient Groups, Senate Report Says

11:54am February 13, 2018

by Scott Neuman

The report released by Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill says the cozy relationship between pain advocacy groups and pharmaceutical companies may have played a key role in the opioid crisis.

The state of Alabama is suing Purdue Pharma LP, the maker of OxyContin, for allegedly fueling the opioid crisis by deceiving doctors about prescription painkillers.

Alabama Targets OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma In Opioid Suit

4:02pm February 07, 2018

by Samantha Raphelson

Alabama is one of several states, including Ohio and Mississippi, and municipalities filing suit against opioid manufacturers over deceptive marketing of prescription painkillers.

Tops to prescription bottles are pictured inside the Wal-Mart pharmacy.

Cherokee Nation Sues Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens Over Tribal Opioid Crisis

8:58pm April 25, 2017

by Nate Hegyi

The tribe says these companies regularly filled large, suspicious prescriptions within the Nation's 14 counties in northeastern Oklahoma, leading to hundreds of tribal members' deaths.

A user prepares drugs for injection in 2014 in St. Johnsbury, Vt.

Heroin Use Surges, Especially Among Women And Whites

10:57am July 08, 2015

by Richard Harris

All told, more than half a million Americans used heroin in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That represents a nearly 150 percent increase since 2007.

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In Cheyenne, Wyo., emergency room patients who show up more than a few times a month requesting pain pills will now be told no, except in dire emergencies. A similar program at a New Mexico hospital cut ER visits by 5 percent annually, and saved $500,000.

Emergency Rooms Crack Down On Abusers Of Pain Pills

2:14pm June 05, 2015

by Miles Bryan

Hospitals in some states have begun tracking the names of patients who show up repeatedly seeking opioids. Denying these patients pills saves hospitals money, but some doctors question the ethics.

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