New Studies Point To Ways Marketing Of Oxycontin Had More Severe Consequences
Freedom of Information requests allowed the opening of unsealed documents from settled lawsuits in Florida, Washington and West Virginia showing how the distributions of opioids was nearly twice as high in states where regulations made it easier to market. Other news on the epidemic is on a report about Walmart allegedly hiding from consumers that it was under criminal investigation.
The New York Times:
Damage From OxyContin Continues To Be Revealed
OxyContin, and the aggressive, misleading way that Purdue Pharma marketed it, might have been even more damaging than was previously understood. Recent research shows how the company focused its marketing in states with lighter prescription regulation — to devastating effect. Also, a new version of OxyContin introduced a decade ago — which was meant to reduce harm — had unintended consequences. Besides contributing to heroin overdoses, it led to hepatitis C and other infections. Careful studies are only now starting to reveal the extent of the damage. (Frakt, 4/13)
ProPublica:
Walmart Hid That It Was Under Criminal Investigation For Its Opioid Sales, Lawyers Say
Walmart, a defendant in the massive lawsuit brought by states and municipalities around the country that accuses a broad range of companies of lax controls over opioid sales, failed to reveal that it had been under criminal investigation for similar conduct, according to plaintiffs in the case. Linda Singer, a partner at Motley Rice, which represents multiple states, counties and municipalities in the litigation, alleges that the giant retailer engaged in “pervasive obstruction,” according to a letter sent late last month to the special master in charge of wrangling the evidence in the case, which is being heard in federal court in Cleveland. (Eisinger, 4/13)
