Udated Lawsuit Teases New Details Against OxyContin Maker
"An updated complaint in Massachusetts' lawsuit against Purdue Pharma claims members of the family that owns the OxyContin maker are personally responsible for fueling abuse of the deadly painkiller.
The filing late Friday in Suffolk Superior Court expands on the lawsuit the state filed in June against the drugmaker, 16 current and former executives and members of the Sackler family, which owns the company.
The suit asserts that over the past decade the Sacklers controlled a deceptive sales campaign by Purdue aimed at getting more people on higher doses of opioids to boost profits.
Much of the specifics on the allegations against Purdue Pharma executives and Sackler family members are blacked out while the state works to release a less-redacted complaint.
The state claims that the Sacklers directed the company to hire hundreds more sales representatives to visit doctors "thousands more times," in a bid to get more doctors to prescribe its painkiller. The Sacklers also directed sales representatives to encourage doctors to prescribe more of the opioids at the highest doses, according to the complaint.
In addition, the suit contends, the Sacklers "studied unlawful tactics to keep patients on opioids longer and then ordered staff to use them.""
Rumor had it that Doctors who were prescribing Suboxone were getting kickbacks from Big Pharma so I asked mine about it. He said if anybody was getting cruises or amenities for prescribing Suboxone it was news to him. We had a good relationship so I felt comfortable asking and believe at least he wasn't getting kickbacks. They prescribe that in large doses, 32MG a day the max as that is it's "ceiling" and beyond that no more effective.
He started me off on 8MG and I could tell within a few days that was more than I needed. I cut myself down to 2MG and he said I knew best. I finally tapered myself off completely. I had an easy time of it because I did it very slowly and always stayed at a low dose. Check out forums where people on high doses post about the hard time they have coming off it.
You have people who go doctor shopping and might be getting scripts from more than one doctor. Maybe that doctor will prescribe a girl something if he gets to do a breast exam. Pill Mills where Pharmacies fill more scripts than the town it's located in has residents.
Then there are people who really need pain meds. The Ideology has changed somewhat and they're more into alternatives to meds now, especially since the media is coming down on them. And it's not just Opiates, Benzodiazepines are much harder to come off of than Opiates. See the old TV movie "I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can" for a picture of someone strung out on Valium.