Kentucky Sues Devil of Drug Manufacturers, 'Hillbilly Heroin' Maker Purdue Pharma

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sean January 27, 2013 6:19 pm (Pacific time)

THE HARSH REALITY OF ADDICTION The producers of this short film are both recovering addicts who have both spent time living and indulging with drug addiction in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Today they are both clean and sober with multiple years of recovery http://archive.org/details/VancouverAddictionHomelessChaosPoverty

M. Dennis Paul, Ph.D. January 24, 2013 7:34 am (Pacific time)

To Laura Woodward et al.... Not to belabor this issue, but the point remains Oxycontin is not solely resposible for most of the deaths attributed to it by emotional writers. An investigative journalist would readily find attribute to a multitude of other drugs in combination...as did the writers from the Atlantic. Had they looked even further, they would have discovered that while Oxycontin is a very popular drug, methadone has far more attributable deaths over all. The fact is that pin-pointing just one drug fails to address the real issue. Repeating ad nauseum that there are "hundreds of thousands" of deaths caused by Oxycontin does not make it a fact. By saying this am I also implying that Oxycontin is ok and that Purdue is OK? Only a fool would ascertain such from my writing. FYI, I have been a drug counselor and innovator of therapy for over 20 years. Part of any therapy is to avoid hysteria and false claims based on emotions. The preferred treatment is reality based. Imply what you will, it only reflects poorly upon you and your cognitive abilities.

Laura Woodward January 23, 2013 8:12 pm (Pacific time)

Gee M. Dennis Paul, that is a pretty crappy way to address this writer. Exactly how many children have you buried as a result of OxyContin? You are a highly insensitive person and I assume, probably a drug addict. Your attack is a sad thing to read, I wholeheartedly disagree with your entire view, but those rich corporate bastards at Purdue likely applaud you. Really, you are operating as if you are being paid, why else would a person attack such a noble cause?

M. Dennis Paul, Ph.D. January 23, 2013 3:15 pm (Pacific time)

From the Atlantic Aug 23 2012... "The reliance on government checks, and a vast array of painkillers and opiates, has turned towns like Gary into modern opium dens. The painkillers OxyContin, fentanyl -- 80 times stronger than morphine -- Lortab, as well as a wide variety of anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, are widely abused. Many top off their daily cocktail of painkillers at night with sleeping pills and muscle relaxants. And for fun, addicts, especially the young, hold "pharm parties," in which they combine their pills in a bowl, scoop out handfuls of medication, swallow them, and wait to feel the result. A decade ago only about 5% of those seeking treatment in West Virginia needed help with opiate addiction. Today that number has ballooned to 26%. It recorded 91 overdose deaths in 2001. By 2008 that number had risen to 390. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in West Virginia, and the state leads the country in fatal drug overdoses. OxyContin -- nicknamed "hillbilly heroin" -- is king. At a drug market like the Pines it costs a dollar a milligram. And a couple of 60- or 80-milligram pills sold at the Pines is a significant boost to a family's income. Not far behind OxyContin is Suboxone, the brand name for a drug whose primary ingredient is buprenorphine, a semisynthetic opioid. Dealers, many of whom are based in Detroit, travel from clinic to clinic in Florida to stock up on the opiates and then sell them out of the backs of gleaming SUVs in West Virginia, usually around the first of the month, when the government checks arrive. Those who have legal prescriptions also sell the drugs for a profit. Pushers are often retirees. They can make a few hundred extra dollars a month on the sale of their medications. The temptation to peddle pills is hard to resist." I wonder why the focus remains on Oxycontin? I also wonder why provable statistics consistently fail to bear out the dramatic claims of your "investigative journalist"... There is a big difference between emotional writing and actual investigative journalism.

stoppnow January 16, 2013 3:51 pm (Pacific time)

Marianne Keep us posted. It's all about money, greed and corruption. Keep us all posted. Janet Colbert stoppnow

Toni Samanie January 16, 2013 1:06 pm (Pacific time)

Marianne, Another great story. Thank you for continually exposing the underbelly of the Pharma cabal. I started a group on Facebook recently - Prescription Drug Dangers https://www.facebook.com/groups/Prescriptiondrugdangers/ and in effect said the same thing today about how doctors fail to disclose the awful effects of these drugs to an unsuspecting and all too trusting public.

Matt Johnson January 16, 2013 12:52 pm (Pacific time)

Can you explain what you mean Luke?

Luke Easter January 16, 2013 3:08 am (Pacific time)

As far behind as the Cleveland Browns are from the New England Patriots.

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