The man who won billions of OxyContin pushes a drug to wean opioid addicts

After hundreds of lawsuits over the years against pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma, the Colorado Attorney General is suing the creator of OxyContin for his "important role in spreading the epidemic of opioids".

The lawsuit alleges that Purdue Pharma LP and Purdue Pharma Inc. misled Colorado doctors and patients about the potential for prescription opioid addiction and continued to push them. And sometimes the former president and president of the company, Richard Sackler, has patented a new drug to help addicts to opioid withdrawal.

"Purdue's drugs, coupled with their reckless marketing, stole their parents' children, their sons' and daughters' families and destroyed the lives of our friends, neighbors and colleagues," Colorado Attorney General Cynthia said Thursday. Coffman. declaration. "Although no amount of money can bring home loved ones, it can offset the huge costs engendered by Purdue's intentional misconduct."

The lawsuit states that Purdue Pharma "downplayed the risk of opioid addiction", "exaggerated the benefits" and "advised health professionals to violate their oath of Hippocrates and not treat their patients with opioids ". the statement from the Colorado Attorney General's Office.

But Purdue Pharma "vigorously" denied the accusations Friday in a statement to the Washington Post, saying that although it shares "the state's concerns about the opioid crisis," it did not induce prescription opiates. error.

"The state claims that Purdue acted inappropriately by communicating with prescribers about scientific and medical information that the FDA has specifically considered and continues to approve," said a spokesman. of Purdue Pharma in the release. "We believe that it is inappropriate for the state to substitute its judgment for the judgment of FDA regulatory, scientific and medical experts."

In 2016, there were more than 63,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States and more than 66% of them were attributed to opioids, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC states that illegal opioids and prescription opioids, which are commonly used to treat pain, have been associated with addiction, overdose and death.

In 2007, three former and current employees of Purdue pleaded guilty to criminal charges, admitting that they had falsely led doctors and their patients to believe that OxyContin was less likely to be mistreated. than other drugs in its class, according to The New York Times. Then, earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Purdue was planning to stop promoting the drug.

Now, it seems, a new venture is only exacerbating the outcry.

The Financial Times reported that Sackler, whose family owns Purdue Pharma, a multibillion dollar company, patented a new drug earlier this year, a form of buprenorphine, a mild opiate used to relieve withdrawal symptoms. However, some express their indignation at the fact that the Sacklers, who have mainly benefited from opioid addiction, may soon benefit from the antidote.

"It's reprehensible what Purdue Pharma has done for our public health," said Luke Nasta, director of Camelot, a New York-based treatment center for addiction and alcoholism. He told the newspaper that the Sackler family "should not be allowed to sell more synthetic opiates – and that includes opioid substitutes".

The patent description recognizes the risk of opioid dependence:

"Although opioids have always been known to be useful in the treatment of pain, they also present an addictive potential because of their euphoric activity.Thus, opioids taken by human subjects depend on physical dependence.

"These generally undesirable characteristics of opioids can, however, become important in certain scenarios, such as substitution therapy for drug users." One of the fundamental problems of illicit drug abuse among addicts ("junkies") who depend on drug use. constant illicit drugs such as heroin are the drug-related criminal activities that such addicts use to collect enough money to finance their addiction.The constant pressures on drug addicts to make them addicted to drugs. they buy drugs and concomitant criminal activities are increasingly recognized that counteracts effective and lasting withdrawal and abstinence from drugs.

The patent states that the drug could be used in both drug replacement therapy and in the management of pain.

Purdue Pharma has not responded to requests for comment on the new drug, but in response to the complaint in Colorado, the company said, "We share the state's concerns about the opioid crisis. We will continue to work in collaboration with the state to bring meaningful solutions to this public health problem. "

First published in the Washington Post