Purdue Pharma is Exploring Bankruptcy

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Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of Oxycontin, is exploring the idea of bankruptcy to protect itself from over a thousand lawsuits filed across the country blaming them, in part, for the opioid addiction crisis that has claimed thousands of lives in states across the US.

The manufacturer of Oxycontin, as well as the Sackler family that controls the majority of the company, say they are under duress due to the massive litigation they face by counties, cities, and states. They have been repeatedly accused of misleading doctors through marketing and sales pressures, without mentioning the risks of addiction or downplaying those risks entirely.

The bankruptcy type that Purdue is considering is Chapter 11, which would stop the lawsuits from moving forward as Purdue settles the trials under the direction of a bankruptcy judge. Purdue hired law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP for restructuring advice last August, making litigants nervous about …

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Opioid Manufacturers Spent 3 1/2 Times As Much Money on Drs in Canada

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A 2016 report shows that pharmaceutical manufacturers spent 3 ½ times as much money pushing opioids to doctors in Canada. The 2016 report is the only one where numbers are currently available for more than one country.

According to The Star, Purdue Canada, the company that manufactures Oxycontin gave just over $2 million to Canadian health-care professionals in 2016. In the report, the money is flagged as spending for doctors to provide consulting services and deliver speeches on medical topics. In America, it was found that the addresses that the doctors were supposed to have made were sometimes around a dinner table in a fancy restaurant, or in a hotel with a small audience of other doctors.

Purdue Canada gave Canadian doctors a large amount of money. The Star investigation shows that every 1,000 residents, Purdue spent $58 on Canadian doctors compared to $17 in the U.S.

The records …

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Fake Street Pills Made With Deadly Opiates Now Common

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People addicted to Oxycontin often resort to desperate measures, including buying their pills on the street. Unfortunately, addicted persons who buy these pills are discovering that they’re fake street pills. They are now being linked to carfentanil and cyclopropyl fentanyl overdoses in New Jersey and across the country.  New Jersey is just one of many states that has experienced deadly incidents of street pills – typically sold as Oxycontin or Hydrocodone — giving their users more than they bargained for.

Luckily, in Holmdel and Long Branch New Jersey, investigators were able to seize the pills before anyone got hurt – as far as they know, anyway. (It takes months for a state Bureau of investigation to tally the figures that include deaths from any illicit drugs.) The seizure was made last week, and the oxycodone pills were found to not contain oxycodone at all. In fact, they contained carfentanil, a …

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An App that Helps Doctors Spot Prescription Drug Abusers

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Law enforcement and military personnel often use computer simulators as training tools.

A new simulator app will help doctors spot drug abusers who are doctor shopping in search of prescription painkillers like OxyContin. The simulator, which was recently described in The New York Times, uses a video game format to help doctors learn how to tell when patients are lying about their medical conditions and pain symptoms.…

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Government Considers Distribution of Overdose Antidote Naloxone or Narcan

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To help stem the tide of overdose deaths from prescription drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin, the U.S. FDA for the first time is considering widespread distribution of a drug that is an antidote for drug overdoses.

Naloxone, which has been available by prescription for nearly two decades, may soon be available as an over-the-counter medication. Sold under the brand name Narcan, naloxone is non-addictive, nontoxic and able to reverse the effects of potentially fatal drug overdoses. In addition to counteracting an overdose from prescription drugs including oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, codeine and fentanyl, naloxone is effective when used with heroin overdoses.…

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U.S. Drug Deaths Outnumber Traffic Fatalities

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Due to the rise in prescription drug abuse, the number of drug-related deaths in the U.S. now outnumbers traffic fatalities, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Although the number of deaths from most preventable causes is declining across the nation, the death toll from drugs is steadily rising.  Every 14 minutes, someone in America dies from drugs.…

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S.T.A.M.P. Website Aims to Bring Awareness and Change to Oxy Express

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A great new website is online about the prescription drug epidemic. 

Specifically, residents along the “Oxy Express” in states like Florida and Kentucky are being called upon to get involved and fight back against this deadly trend in drug use.

S.T.A.M.P. (www.stampexpress.org) is the new site and it was started by concerned residents who want to bring awareness to the abuse of medications.

We have often covered the escalating phenomenon and as we see more and more overdoses and incidences of pharmacy robberies, clearly more action needs to be given to this silent epidemic.

That’s what makes the S.T.A.M.P. website so great.  It has information and identifies ways to get involved and make a difference.  The founders want to turn the OxyContin Express (highway) to the “S.T.A.M.P. Express.”

Visit this great site, get involved, and spread the word!…

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Smuggling Ring Used Mexican Pharmacies to Sell Oxycontin and Vicodin

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Authorities in Southern California have arrested 15 people who are accused of being part of a large-scale smuggling ring that operated with a twist – they sent narcotic prescription drugs across the border from California to Mexico.  The drugs were then sold over the counter in Mexican pharmacies to American drug abusers who crossed the border in search of illegal prescription painkillers.  The smuggling ring, which operated for several years, is reported to have netted at least $400,000 in the past six months.…

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A Mother’s Loss Influences Oxy Legislation

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Legislative Action Comes in Memory of Ryan Creedon

Ryan Creedon overdosed on OxyContin on September 4, 2009, he was only 21. Creedon fell into the alarming national trend of abusing prescription pills.

Creedon’s mother, Kathy Creedon said that Ryan would run around Palm Desert California, from doctor’s office to doctor’s office to refill his Oxy prescriptions.

Creedon’s mother said, “It’s like watching your child slowly kill themselves. By the time he was 18 or 19, he had started using prescription medications like OxyContin.”

She also pointed out that it was an addiction that was not easily hidden.
“Every time he would get a job, he would go to work under the influence or he was stealing to support his habit,” said Creedon’s mother. 

What bothered Creedon’s mother the most was how easy it was for Creedon to get his prescription medication. “He went from one end of this valley to …

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