The Cost of Doing Business: Holding Big Pharma Accountable
Should the recovery community and families of those who have lost their lives to the opioid epidemic allow Big Pharma to find ‘an easier softer way’ and bail on accountability at $10 to $12 billion?
The answer is no.
With all of the consequences endured by those who have suffered with substance use disorder in the history of the world, to let Big Pharma just pay their way out of the mess they created with the blood money of our friends, family and community members, is a slap in the face to those directly affected by the opioid crisis, and a punch in the gut to anyone who has ever walked a path of recovery.
In the name of addiction, individuals have suffered prison terms, societal alienation, harsh legal financial obligations, barriers to school and employment, and financial, spiritual, moral and physical bankruptcy, to name a few. When I was finally beaten and baffled by my addiction and actions I remember being told, “Hey, that’s just the cost of doing business”.
For those of us that have been lucky enough to survive addiction or step into the rooms of recovery we are probably quite familiar with a reading from pg. 58 of a classic recovery text. It says “We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not.” This points directly to our hopes of an ‘easy out’ from the consequences and circumstances of our behavior.
Once in a program of recovery, 9 times out of 10 we are expected to be accountable. By writing or taking personal inventory, we discover exactly who we have harmed out of our selfish/self-centered actions, and make amends to all people we had harmed, cleaning up our side of the street, regardless of how much we think they may be at fault. Many times we have had to pay back money, are asked to complete a program, or told to screw off. Other times things go well and we are welcomed back into the arms and lives of those we have harmed.
Either way, the goal is honesty and accountability for the damage we have done, giving those harmed the opportunity to tell us exactly how it felt and what we can do to repair things. We do it because the fact is, we tend to wear people out in our addictions.
Well the verdicts are coming in, and Big Pharma has worn America out, and you could imagine this proposal from Purdue Pharma to ‘settle’ for the $10-$12 billion as their attempt at finding their version of an ‘easier, softer way’.
We cannot allow this. It is not enough.
If we can agree to roughly define addiction as a ‘behavior or substance that someone uses and despite negative consequences, can’t give up’, then would it be safe to say that these businesses, these Big Pharma families, are addicted to power, money and greed? I’d say so.
If that’s the case, as someone in recovery who has dealt with incarceration, alienation, suffering of various degrees, and has had my family directly impacted by the overprescribing of these narcotics, I suggest they finally be subjected to the ripened fruit of their actions, just like I was.
But how do we hold these organizations accountable for taking the lives of our community members and families in the name of greed and profits? All of the lies, deception and destruction that has been perpetuated needs to be answered for. These aren’t the run of the mill crimes like low level dealing, retail theft and vehicle prowling. We’re talking interstate distribution, pill mills, overprescribing and deceptive marketing. Their corporations lobbied our politicians, pushed their agenda and were enabled with lax federal oversight to keep this crisis moving while making billions. They have individuals behind every one of those decisions that are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. What resolve should families and their communities require to possibly begin to heal from this disaster?
My personal ask is that the members of these organizations be held to the same standards and systems consistent with those they put in bondage to their pills have had to endure.
It is not delivering an inch of justice to let the perpetrators of the heinous crimes associated with the opioid crisis decide how to settle out and wash their hands of any further responsibility. Doctors, pharmaceutical giants and the families behind these companies, all have a role in the damage done. They should have to experience the court proceedings, hear the stories of grief and loss, and be willing to continue to right this wrong for decades to come. State and city reparations towards addiction treatment, imprisonment, fines, future accountability for continued loss of life, inability to get business licensure or patents etc., forfeiture of assets, should all be on the table right now.
These are my starting points. What are yours?
