A gallery owner behind a heroin spoon sculpture placed outside Purdue Pharma gets an accelerated rehabilitation

Fernando Luis Alvarez, owner of the Stamford Art Gallery, benefited on Monday from an accelerated rehabilitation for accusing Purdue Pharma, the famous maker of Oxycontin, of having laid a spoon sculpture 800 pounds heroine in front of the head office.

Alvarez confirmed Monday that Judge Richard Comerford of the Superior Court had granted the special form of probation that cancels an individual's case if he is not arrested within 13 months.

Alvarez was arrested in June after placing the sculpture, a large spoon of burned drugs, in front of the company's office on Tresser Boulevard in Stamford and refused to move him. He was accused of obstructing the police and obstructing the free passage.

The sculpture was made by Boston artist Domenic Esposito, who said he was inspired by his brother's drug addiction, which was stimulated by Oxycontin and Percocet before switching to heroin.

"The architects of this epidemic have been very disturbed and moved," said Alvarez after his arrest. "I want to hold this family accountable and put in front of society the modern slaughter they've created with others."

Purdue, a private company run for years by the Sackler family, has become a common target in a devastating opioid crisis that kills thousands of people every year. The company created and marketed Oxycontin, a prescription opioid, among the drugs implicated in drug addiction, which pushed users to higher and cheaper prices with heroin. and fentanyl.

In a statement issued after the spoon was dropped outside its headquarters, Purdue did not condemn the protest.

"We share the protesters' concern about the opioid crisis and respect their right to express themselves peacefully. Purdue is committed to working with people affected by this public health crisis on significant solutions to help stem the wave of opioid-related overdose deaths, "the company said.

At an audition last month, Comerford ordered that the sculpture be returned to Esposito. The Stamford police, who were using heavy machinery to take her out of the Purdue office entrance, testified.