Generic versions … sending massive amounts of these drugs downstream because there were corrupt doctors all over the country. It became like the Wild West. This was a new drug cartel that was being established in the United States. But instead of coming in from a foreign country, they were drug dealers who were wearing suits and lab-coats. ibid.
A patient survey form. You say, I got back pain. The problem is that no-one ever saw the patient. As long as they have any kind of credit card they were fine. You’d have a doctor on the east coast, a patient and drug seeker on the west coast, the pharmacy was in the mid-west. It was just a trafficking organisation that was hiding behind the veil of the internet. ibid.
Broward County has more pill-mills (142) than McDonald’s. ibid.
Superior Injury Centre 870-6370. ibid.
There was one store in particular that was known by drug dealers as the go-to: CVS Pharmacy. ibid.
In 2011 there was a crack-down by the DEA. Operation Pill Nation involved more than 500 law-enforcement officers resulting in seizures of 7 vehicles, $19 million in cash and 105 arrests. ibid.
But the real problem wasn’t on the street. It was in the executive suites of pharmaceutical companies which had become addicted to the profits opioids could deliver. ibid.
Workers disciplined in Prozac mailings: At least one Lilly’s employee fired; seven face various other measures. ibid.
The product was Act-Tiv. It was a lolly-pop made of Fentanyl whose potency carried the enormous risk of overdose. ibid.
They start paying exorbitantly, a huge number of speaker programs, and they use the speaker program basically as a way of cover for the bribes they are paying. ibid. whistleblower
Clearly we’re breaking the law. ibid.
CVS Pharmacy: on the edge of a highway, so people would cruise in, get their drugs, and be out in no time at all. ibid.
I know they’re sick like me. Gotta be number one. ibid.
These changes are good to one way of thinking in the sense that they make it harder to buy and abuse pharmaceutical opioids. But what that does is it drives all these people who are already addicted on to the black market. ibid.
International drug cartels catered to those who had become addicted to prescription pills. As their need for narcotics increased and doctors were more reluctant to prescribe an increasing dose, users turned to heroin, and a synthetic opioid fifty times more powerful: Fentanyl. ibid.
Since 2015 Fentanyl overdoses have been rising dramatically. Rates have soared by 2000% in San Diego. ibid.
The company told me nothing ever. ibid. whistleblower
Late in 2020 the Trump administration rushed to make an announcement for the presidential election. Pleading guilty to three felony counts. The Sackler family would pay a $225 million fine. Purdue Pharma would plead guilt to kickbacks and fraud. And promise to pay fines totalling $8.3 billion. ibid.
Purdue is in bankruptcy and only has about $1 billion which a whole bunch of creditors are already fighting over. That money is never going to be paid by the company or anybody else. ibid.
A cruel irony: the only way the company could pay damages was to increase its sales of drugs, including Oxycontin. ibid.
But the story of the celebrity overdose overshadows a much larger issue. In the United States more people are now abusing prescription medication than heroin, cocaine and ecstasy combined. The drug of choice for a growing number of users is Oxycodone, a synthetic opiate ... It’s basically heroin made in a lab. Hillbilly Heroin
In Florida some pain clinics are known to dispense medication more than others. ibid.
Some clinics have been set up just to cater to pill addicts. ibid.
Florida has become the pain-killer capital of the US. Of all the Oxycodone dispensed by doctors in the whole country 85% of it comes from Florida. With the abundance of pills the state is seeing a new type of tourism. ibid.
A 14-year-old boy in Pakistan who felt no pain … He has a mutation in one gene. Storyville: The Gene Revolution: Changing Human Nature, Robert Sincheimer, California Institute of Technology 1966, BBC 2020
The pain is still there for most mothers – it remains part of the price they expect to pay for having a baby. World in Action: First Class Delivery, ITV 1968
Because she’s suffered so long having the first two, this time she insisted on an injection to take away what was to her unbearable pain – an epidural injection. ibid.
She was a little girl in chronic pain but only a handful of people believed her. In face some of her doctors accused her of faking it while calling her parents abusers. True Crime Recaps: Mary Kowalski’s Fight for Truth, Youtube 22.18, 2023
Never wish them pain. That’s not who you are. If they caused you pain, they must have pain inside. Wish them healing. Najwa Zebian
Life is nothing but a huge spiral of pain. Dark s1e9: Everything is Now, Noah, Netflix 2017
Dopesick ***** 2021 starring Michael Keaton & Peter Sarsgaard & Michael Stuhlbarg & Will Pouter & John Hoogenakker & Kaitlyn Dever & Rosario Dawson & Jake McDorman & Ray McKinnon et al, director Danny Strong
The time has come to redefine the nature of pain. And for too long the American medical community has been ignoring chronic pain, and this has created an epidemic of suffering. When we live with we are not living our true selves. We are not living our best selves. Dopesick I, Richard Sackler, family meeting, Hulu/Disney+ 2021
You don’t chase a market, you create it. ibid.
Their sales reps brought it up continuously. ibid. doctor’s evidence
Ten times more than what we’ve spent on anything. ibid. Purdue board meeting
They’ve been marketing the drug and pushing it on doctors. ibid. investigator’ talk
It has transformed the entire district. ibid.
The DEA was investigating Purdue last year. ibid.
Purdue has so many levels of deniability. ibid.
It takes anxiety away. You just take the medicine and go. ibid. TV advert
The largest sales force in pharmaceutical history. ibid. company sales promotion
Less than 1% of people become addicted to Oxycontin. ibid.
Your most effective talking point is the FDA label. ibid.
I think I can make this the biggest drug in the world. ibid. Richard
Have there been spikes in crime related to it? ibid. rozzer on raid
A bag filled with Oxycontin pills for distribution. ibid.
Is there something I should know about the approval process? ibid.
The [FDA] guy that approved it goes to work for the company. ibid. attorney
A new drug. The FDA said it’s safe. Dopsick II: Breakthrough Pain
Let’s hold more weekend seminars to explain to physicians how truly revolutionary this drug really is. ibid. Richard
The drug didn’t always worked as Purdue claimed. ibid. evidence
We’ll figure this out. It’s an excellent drug. ibid. Richard
The greatest painkiller in the history of civilisation … Double the dose. ibid.
Oh yeah, he was Oxy-cuted. ibid. wife reveals death of husband to attorneys
These pills are a lot more dangerous than that video claims. ibid. attorney to promotional doctor
The pills stopped working cause my tolerance grew. ibid. victim to attorneys
But a black kid selling weed can go to jail for decades. ibid.
Emergency Rooms See a Sharp Rise in Overdoses, Prescription Painkillers to Blame. ibid. newspaper article
Bridget: How many kids in your school are on Oxycontin? ibid.
Kid: I don’t know. About half. ibid.
What appears as corruption is just how the system works. ibid. investigating attorney
If it were me I’d charge them with Criminal Misbranding. ibid.
Overdose rates are so much higher on Oxycontin. ibid.
It’s time to double the dose again and I present to you the 80 mg pill. Dopesick III: The 5th Vital Sign, sales promotion
The medical community must make pain the fifth vital sign. ibid.
Individualize the Dose. ibid.
I want to look into launching OC in Germany. ibid. Richard
A single prescription drug is filling up jails in rural areas. ibid.
As we make our family the most philanthropic in America. ibid. family party toast
I try not to sell that stuff … ibid. pharmacist to Bridget
They are lying to doctors and patients about the dangers of the drug. ibid. Bridget
Pain societies have infiltrated the hospital rooms. ibid. rozzer/patient
Did you find a Purdue connection with other Pain Societies? ibid. rozzer/patient back to work
We’re going to cure the world of its pain. ibid. Richard