The radio show asked why people who have lost loved ones from the disease of addiction or the misuse of a prescription narcotic continue to support the company that was instrumental in helping create the growing epidemic of dependency, addiction, death and family turmoil. The statistics support the fact that Purdue Pharma, with the introduction of OxyContin in late 1995, promulgated the distribution of a substitute for heroin that most in the country were not aware of. The phony marketing of the “under treatment of pain” helped hydrocodone (Vicodin), fentanyl (Duragesic), alprazolam (Xanax), carisoprodal (Soma) and methadone increase in distribution as well. As a result, millions of people in this country have been affected by the masterful hoax of needing addictive narcotics for chronic pain that used to be treated with an aspirin tablet.
A recent Citizens Petition to the FDA has caught my ire. There are four groups that have been created in memory of children who have died following the actions of Purdue. The leaders for all four groups remain misguided by the special interests who continue to prosper from the status quo.
The petition is a weak attempt to ask the “corrupt” FDA to reconsider the decision to allow the new Oxycontin formulation to be marketed. The FDA continues to work closely with Purdue in spite of the criminal convictions of the company three years ago. All four citizens groups remained silent when the radio show revealed that heating studies were not properly administered for the new product. Why would the groups “coincidently” create attention for the new Oxycontin product only two weeks prior to the new formulation’s introduction to the market? Why would parents who have lost children continue to support the marketing of the drug that indirectly or directly killed their children?
The research is irrefutable. OxyContin is not necessary to support the real needs of the terminally ill or intractable pain patient.
I remain intrigued by the well meaning people who have succumbed to the marketing of Purdue Pharma who has had no regard for their family and continue to believe OxyContin cannot be replaced by existing products. For review on the devastation of OxyContin visit: http://www.banoxycontin.com (signature page)
Well meaning people have been hijacked by those who prosper from the status quo.