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It's a federal lawsuit with extremely clear cut documentation, as well as the former head of the FDA stating exactly what happened and that it should not have happened.

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Because 60 minutes is my go-to for the straight scoop.

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NEVER have I stated that "NO ONE" should ever need opioids.  That's absolutely false and I am in complete disagreement as I have personally used them for short term.

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Fentanyl was one of the drugs they gave me when my appendix ruptured and I was wishing I was dead. Still not a junkie.

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There aren't millions of 20-30 year-olds in chronic pain being turned into addicts by being given opiates. You can't possibly think that's true. Any asshole can go to some pain management clinic and get a script so they can get high or sell the pills to make money.

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The whole "opioid crisis" is another stupid left-wing manufactured propaganda piece foisted on the ill-informed and dimwitted by the Democrat Party. It's no different than them focusing on firearms instead of the underlying problem (bad people doing bad stuff). The underlying problem [in the "opioid crisis"] is addiction. If you eliminated all opioids today the addicts would just transition to something else (more than likely meth, cocaine, alcohol, etc.). People need to stop being so gullible and focusing on the inanimate "thing" and instead focus on the underlying behavior.

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Kind of like how they are giving out fentanyl, when its an end-of-life drug.

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So, what would you have someone who is in excruciating pain and has found an opioid that works for them, take?

Just tough it out with some ibuprofen?

"Oh, you have 5 crushed disks and constant nerve pain? Well, we can't have you taking an opioid. You might get addicted. Much better for you to live in agonizing pain so we feel better about ourselves".

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There's so much derp in this thread.

Some folks need pain meds, and bottom line the government and everyone else needs to stay the hell out of everyone's lives. Why does anyone think they can regulate what others do? We're supposed to be a free nation, and if someone wants to ruin they're life I don't give a crap, actions have something something.

CONTROLLED DRUGS, WITH their potential for abuse and diversion, can pose public health risks that are different from—and more problematic than—those of uncontrolled drugs when they are overpromoted and highly prescribed. An in-depth analysis of the promotion and marketing of OxyContin (Purdue Pharma, Stamford, CT), a sustained-release oxycodone preparation, illustrates some of the key issues. When Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin in 1996, it was aggressively marketed and highly promoted. Sales grew from $48 million in 1996 to almost $1.1 billion in 2000.1 The high availability of OxyContin correlated with increased abuse, diversion, and addiction, and by 2004 OxyContin had become a leading drug of abuse in the United States.2

Under current regulations, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is limited in its oversight of the marketing and promotion of controlled drugs. However, fundamental changes in the promotion and marketing of controlled drugs by the pharmaceutical industry, and an enhanced capacity of the FDA to regulate and monitor such promotion, can positively affect public health.

OxyContin's commercial success did not depend on the merits of the drug compared with other available opioid preparations. The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics concluded in 2001 that oxycodone offered no advantage over appropriate doses of other potent opioids.3 Randomized double-blind studies comparing OxyContin given every 12 hours with immediate-release oxycodone given 4 times daily showed comparable efficacy and safety for use with chronic back pain4 and cancer-related pain.5,6 Randomized double-blind studies that compared OxyContin with controlled-release morphine for cancer-related pain also found comparable efficacy and safety.7–9 The FDA's medical review officer, in evaluating the efficacy of OxyContin in Purdue's 1995 new drug application, concluded that OxyContin had not been shown to have a significant advantage over conventional, immediate-release oxycodone taken 4 times daily other than a reduction in frequency of dosing.10 In a review of the medical literature, Chou et al. made similar conclusions.11

The promotion and marketing of OxyContin occurred during a recent trend in the liberalization of the use of opioids in the treatment of pain, particularly for chronic non–cancer-related pain. Purdue pursued an “aggressive” campaign to promote the use of opioids in general and OxyContin in particular.1,12–17 In 2001 alone, the company spent $200 million18 in an array of approaches to market and promote OxyContin.

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PROMOTION OF OXYCONTIN
From 1996 to 2001, Purdue conducted more than 40 national pain-management and speaker-training conferences at resorts in Florida, Arizona, and California. More than 5000 physicians, pharmacists, and nurses attended these all-expenses-paid symposia, where they were recruited and trained for Purdue's national speaker bureau.19(p22) It is well documented that this type of pharmaceutical company symposium influences physicians’ prescribing, even though the physicians who attend such symposia believe that such enticements do not alter their prescribing patterns.20

One of the cornerstones of Purdue's marketing plan was the use of sophisticated marketing data to influence physicians’ prescribing. Drug companies compile prescriber profiles on individual physicians—detailing the prescribing patterns of physicians nationwide—in an effort to influence doctors’ prescribing habits. Through these profiles, a drug company can identify the highest and lowest prescribers of particular drugs in a single zip code, county, state, or the entire country.21 One of the critical foundations of Purdue's marketing plan for OxyContin was to target the physicians who were the highest prescribers for opioids across the country.1,12–17,22 The resulting database would help identify physicians with large numbers of chronic-pain patients. Unfortunately, this same database would also identify which physicians were simply the most frequent prescribers of opioids and, in some cases, the least discriminate prescribers.

A lucrative bonus system encouraged sales representatives to increase sales of OxyContin in their territories, resulting in a large number of visits to physicians with high rates of opioid prescriptions, as well as a multifaceted information campaign aimed at them. In 2001, in addition to the average sales representative's annual salary of $55 000, annual bonuses averaged $71 500, with a range of $15 000 to nearly $240 000. Purdue paid $40 million in sales incentive bonuses to its sales representatives that year.19

From 1996 to 2000, Purdue increased its internal sales force from 318 sales representatives to 671, and its total physician call list from approximately 33 400 to 44 500 to approximately 70 500 to 94 000 physicians.19 Through the sales representatives, Purdue used a patient starter coupon program for OxyContin that provided patients with a free limited-time prescription for a 7- to 30-day supply. By 2001, when the program was ended, approximately 34 000 coupons had been redeemed nationally.19

The distribution to health care professionals of branded promotional items such as OxyContin fishing hats, stuffed plush toys, and music compact discs (“Get in the Swing With OxyContin”) was unprecedented for a schedule II opioid, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.19

Purdue promoted among primary care physicians a more liberal use of opioids, particularly sustained-release opioids. Primary care physicians began to use more of the increasingly popular OxyContin; by 2003, nearly half of all physicians prescribing OxyContin were primary care physicians.19 Some experts were concerned that primary care physicians were not sufficiently trained in pain management or addiction issues.23 Primary care physicians, particularly in a managed care environment of time constraints, also had the least amount of time for evaluation and follow-up of patients with complicated chronic pain.

Purdue “aggressively” promoted the use of opioids for use in the “non-malignant pain market.”

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The whole "opioid crisis" is another stupid left-wing manufactured propaganda piece foisted on the ill-informed and dimwitted by the Democrat Party. It's no different than them focusing on firearms instead of the underlying problem (bad people doing bad stuff). The underlying problem [in the "opioid crisis"] is addiction. If you eliminated all opioids today the addicts would just transition to something else (more than likely meth, cocaine, alcohol, etc.). People need to stop being so gullible and focusing on the inanimate "thing" and instead focus on the underlying behavior.

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The government put themselves in to our lives via pay off from pharma in this case, and gave the blessing that a drug is safe for long term use when it is not safe for long term use.

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We all know that taking NSAIDs long term is bad for you but take them anyway because drugs are bad M'kay.

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An utter crock of shit.

"Opiod Crisis" my ass!

Its truly pathetic what the DEA and .gov have now done to people with legitimate pain issues.

Just flat pathetic.

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The deal with oxycontin, which was genuine, was that it makes abuse more difficult. It is a time-release oxycodone tablet made in such a way that it can't (at least not easily) be chewed, dissolved, ground up, et c. Doing those things releases the full dose immediately, which gives the buzz that abusers are after.

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Define "not safe".

Clean morphine can be ingested in perpetuity without damaging the body.

Driving is "not safe". Should that be regulated, too?

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The deal was also it was being given away in massive quantities for everything “because it’s non-addicting” all over the country until fairly recently.  Turns out many folks (obviously) got enough of a taste for opioids from oxy that the reduced addictive quality was overwhelmed by the ease of access, and when it was denied were compelled to seek other compounds.

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Not a single person in the last decade has gotten an opiate script and NOT told about the risks and side effects with addiction being the very first thing talked about. Hell even the pharmacy handout the number one risk is  addiction. Nobody in today's world doesn't know the risks of opiates use.

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It CAN be chewed, crushed, dissolved, and ground up.  The testing to reach that conclusion has been proven to be flawed.

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If they’re gonna kill themselves regardless, yeah, do it before they are driving a large truck at speed or robbing/killing for drug money & funding a multi billion dollar invasion at the southern border in the process.

What an idiotic question.

BTW, you’re making an argument for assisted suicide (ie prescribe a one time massive dose of junk).  Not sure if you realize.

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Everyone wants to blame big pharma for their problems as big pharma is viewed as having deep pockets. Start suing the FDA if you feel this strongly about it.

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So, what would you have someone who is in excruciating pain and has found an opioid that works for them, take?

Just tough it out with some ibuprofen?

"Oh, you have 5 crushed disks and constant nerve pain? Well, we can't have you taking an opioid. You might get addicted. Much better for you to live in agonizing pain so we feel better about ourselves".

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These types of threads reveal who has actually been in REAL PAIN........and who hasn't.

And also who has watched their love ones in REAL PAIN suffer.

Who has a theoretical understanding and who has real life experiences.

The abusers will still be abusing and the legitimate people who need pain meds get royally f#cked over.

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Or make legit street addicts out of them. Every person and I do mean every person I know that had opiate scrips have been cut cold turkey.  We are talking about people with some real pain issues and OTC and Phys Rehab ain't going to help.

My wife had a post op patient  in her office in tears because they refused to refill a script and cut her cold turkey from Percocet and she had been in withdrawals from opiates for 4 days before her office and the pharmacy got squared away.

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It has dawned on me that I could help some of the non believers in pain management to have a different perspective.

I have simple ways to show you pain that you would do absolutely anything to make it stop.

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LOL at the muh pain pills people losing their shit at the thought of losing their connect.

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/85104/E664924E-A0A1-45F3-85F0-9C4DA6E691D2_png-857978.JPG

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THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS THREAD IS ABOUT.