Purdue Pharma Pays Millions To Continue Fueling the Opioid Epidemic

Purdue Pharma has been facing lawsuit after lawsuit for years due to its mishandling of its labeling and rapid development of its main product, OxyContin. I’ve read reports over the last 10 years of Purdue Pharma paying millions to families and communities affected.

Purdue recently began facing a list of over 1,500 lawsuits coming there way, which began with the first case settling at over $250 million. One out of hundreds of lawsuits resulted in a quarter billion dollars for a pharmaceutical company.

The overarching concern is where does the fine line come into play? How many lawsuits can pharmaceutical companies face until they reduce their opioid production levels?

An average of 60 out of 100 people are prescribed opioids when under the supervision of a professional, reported here. Although opioids have been shown to reduce chronic pain, when will regulations and awareness be taken into consideration? My perspective is that pharmaceutical companies approve doctors who approve opioids to patients to continue this vicious cycle.

We must take a stand now before it’s too late. Or is it already too late? The CDC states that 46 people die every day from overdoses due to prescription opioids. Now is the time we must stand up to doctors and pharmaceutical companies that are continuing this deadly crisis.