Purdue Pharma Knew About And Concealed ‘Significant’ Abuse Of OxyContin In Drug’s Early Years, Report Shows
The drugmaker, under fire for its role in the opioid crisis, has maintained that it was unaware of the way its drug was being abused for years. But according to recently disclosed documents, that wasn't the case. In other news on the epidemic: Philadelphia is working through the implications of closing its tent-camps; senators butt heads over an investigation into Teva; and more.
Purdue Pharma, the company that planted the seeds of the opioid epidemic through its aggressive marketing of OxyContin, has long claimed it was unaware of the powerful opioid painkiller鈥檚 growing abuse until years after it went on the market. But a copy of a confidential Justice Department report shows that federal prosecutors investigating the company found that Purdue Pharma knew about 鈥渟ignificant鈥 abuse of OxyContin in the first years after the drug鈥檚 introduction in 1996 and concealed that information. (Meier, 5/29)
Beneath a freight railway north of downtown, an estimated 200 people congregate in tents and atop mattresses in four dank tunnels. Many openly inject opioids into their hands, arms and necks. The drug use spills out into the city鈥檚 row-house-filled Kensington neighborhood. On a recent sunny day, a gaunt man rocked in place on a nearby street, a syringe gripped sideways in his mouth, as three children walk by. Residents frequently find used syringes and say streets have become toilets. (Kamp, 5/28)
Claire McCaskill, the Democratic senator from Missouri, has spent the past 18 months investigating drug makers and distributors to determine what role they played in furthering the opioid crisis. But her investigation into the Israeli drug company Teva 鈥 the world鈥檚 largest manufacturer of generic drugs 鈥 has largely been thwarted. For one, McCaskill said, Teva has stonewalled her efforts and refused requests to turn over documents detailing its efforts to prevent drug misuse and audits of suspicious orders for opioids. (Facher, 5/29)
In a聽record-breaking drug聽bust in Nebraska, state troopers seized 118 pounds of聽fentanyl 鈥 containing聽enough lethal doses to kill tens of millions of people. Nebraska聽State Patrol聽Col. John聽Bolduc announced聽Thursday that a massive amount of suspected opioids聽seized last month in the state have tested positive for聽fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30聽to 50 times more potent than heroin,聽according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (Bever, 5/25)
A Delaware health official is warning people who use drugs that two people have died from suspected overdoses in a 24-hour period involving heroin packets with the same stamp. Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Kara Walker issued the warning on Monday. The department says it鈥檚 not identifying the stamp so people will not seek out the drug. (5/28)
Gov. Rick Scott and leaders of the Florida House rejected appeals to save $28 million in prison programs Friday, choosing instead to allow hundreds of layoffs at inmate transition and treatment programs throughout the state when the programs close at the end of June. The cuts offered up by the Florida Department of Corrections will reduce access to dozens of privately run programs that had a proven track record of preventing offenders from returning to crime and drugs. (Klas, 5/25)
