To end opioid epidemic, make drug makers pay — and inform consumers

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle Aug. 30, 2019

Johnson & Johnson’s stock went up Tuesday, the day after an Oklahoma judge who agreed that the drug maker’s business practices helped fuel the opioid addiction crisis ordered it to pay $572 million in restitution.

Wall Street apparently was pleased that amount fell far short of the $17 billion plaintiffs wanted the company to pay toward the cost of drug courts, treatment centers and other services for addicts.

Judge Thad Balkman sided with plaintiffs who accused Johnson & Johnson of marketing its opioid products to physicians and patients by downplaying the risk of addiction. He called the marketing campaigns false, misleading and dangerous, and chastised the maker of baby powder for exposing infants whose mothers were addicts to opioids.

Johnson & Johnson said it would appeal the ruling, which may impact similar cases. The city of Houston and Dallas County have filed opioid lawsuits against several drug makers. So have other Texas towns and counties, many of them egged on by lawyers looking for huge monetary awards that match the $246 billion tobacco companies were ordered to pay in 1998. That was the largest civil litigation settlement in U.S. history.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/To-end-opioid-epidemic-make-drug-makers-pay-14400346.php

[rustynail]

To end the opioid epidemic: ban NARCAN®.

[Cyber Liberty]

So, how does bankrupting companies who make Hydrocodone prevent people from dying from Fentanyl overdoses?  Seems to me all that does it take the medications away from legitimate pain patients while doing nothing to stop the overdoses from already illegal "street drugs.".

Sounds exactly like gun control....

[Sanguine]

So, how does bankrupting companies who make Hydrocodone prevent people from dying from Fentanyl overdoses?  Seems to me all that does it take the medications away from legitimate pain patients while doing nothing to stop the overdoses from already illegal "street drugs.".

Sounds exactly like gun control....

You beat me to it.  Stupid "reporting".

[Cyber Liberty]

You beat me to it.  Stupid "reporting".

Well, it's the Houston Chronicle with an especially ungifted writer (even for them)....

[Elderberry]

So, how does bankrupting companies who make Hydrocodone prevent people from dying from Fentanyl overdoses?  Seems to me all that does it take the medications away from legitimate pain patients while doing nothing to stop the overdoses from already illegal "street drugs.".

Sounds exactly like gun control....

Johnson & Johnson  has a net worth of $360 billion. This fine is a paltry business expense to them. No way will they be bankrupted by this.  They will continue producing their opioids.  From 1999 to 2015 300,000 died due to opioid abuse. A good percentage of these deaths were from  prescription drugs sold by corrupt pharmacies using scripts from corrupt doctors. Legal to make. Illegal to sell fraudulently.

This is an attempt to "Do Something to stop the overdoses from already illegal "street drugs.""

[Elderberry]

Opi­oid Crisis

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/initiatives/opioid-crisis

The Texas Office of the Attorney General is working to protect Texans from the scourge of opioid painkiller abuse and related overdoses which are devastating families throughout the state.

    Dose of Reality is Attorney General Paxton’s public awareness initiative to protect Texans from the nation’s opioid crisis by educating them about the dangers of misusing prescription painkillers.

The Dose of Reality website provides opioid-related resources in one location, allowing for quick and easy access to vital and potentially life-saving information. It also features a statewide take back map of locations that accept prescription opioids for safe disposal. 

    On May 15, 2018, Texas filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma for violating state laws against deceptive trade practices and misrepresenting the risk of addiction to its painkillers, including OxyContin, to patients and doctors.

    In September 2017, Attorney General Paxton and a bipartisan coalition of 40 other states served investigative subpoenas and additional requests on eight companies that manufacture or distribute highly addictive painkillers.

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that his office filed a consumer protection lawsuit in Travis County District Court against Purdue Pharma for violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) involving the company’s prescription opioids, including OxyContin. The attorneys general of five other states took similar legal action today against the Stamford, Connecticut-based pharmaceutical giant.

[Cyber Liberty]

Johnson & Johnson  has a net worth of $360 billion. This fine is a paltry business expense to them. No way will they be bankrupted by this.  They will continue producing their opioids.  From 1999 to 2015 300,000 died due to opioid abuse. A good percentage of these deaths were from  prescription drugs sold by corrupt pharmacies using scripts from corrupt doctors. Legal to make. Illegal to sell fraudulently.

This is an attempt to "Do Something to stop the overdoses from already illegal "street drugs.""

Just wait until more states sue, and other manufacturers get added to the list, like Perdue.  They don't have J&J's resources. 

Bottom line:  Suing the legitimate manufacturers of opioids will cause real pain sufferers to suffer even more.  That is why I compare it to gun control.  Why is this somehow OK?

[Elderberry]

The more that corrupt doctors and pharmacists are put behind bars, the percentage of opioids going to legal sellers will increase. How will real pain sufferers be caused to suffer by this?

[Sighlass]

Just wait until more states sue, and other manufacturers get added to the list, like Perdue.  They don't have J&J's resources. 

Bottom line:  Suing the legitimate manufacturers of opioids will cause real pain sufferers to suffer even more.  That is why I compare it to gun control.  Why is this somehow OK?

Yep ... QFT

[Cyber Liberty]

The more that corrupt doctors and pharmacists are put behind bars, the percentage of opioids going to legal sellers will increase. How will real pain sufferers be caused to suffer by this?

Doctors will become afraid to treat their patient's pain, and the supplies at the pharmacies will dry up even if the Doc write the scrips (these are already happening).  I am not OK with this!  It punishes the law-abiding while doing nothing to fix the problem, just like gun control.

We can start by de-conflating legal painkillers with street-version Fentinol.  Grandma's Hydrocodone != street drugs.

[Sanguine]

Doctors will become afraid to treat their patient's pain, and the supplies at the pharmacies will dry up even if the Doc write the scrips (these are already happening).  I am not OK with this!  It punishes the law-abiding while doing nothing to fix the problem, just like gun control.

We can start by de-conflating legal painkillers with street-version Fentinol.  Grandma's Hydrocodone != street drugs.

I was going to say, it's already happening. 

[Cyber Liberty]

I was going to say, it's already happening.

Yes, it is, and it's discouraging when people fall for the media's lies about this, while ignoring the suffering in their midst.  Too many people are willing to break eggs to make omelets.

[Elderberry]

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/opioid-overdose-deaths-by-type-of-opioid/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Natural%20and%20Semisynthetic%20Opioids%20(e.g.%20oxycodone,%20hydrocodone)%22,%22sort%22:%22desc%22%7D

Opioid Overdose Deaths by Type of Opioid

Looking at the 2017 Opioid Overdose Deaths by type of opioid one will see that many of the deaths are due to semisynthetic opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone.

The table doesn't discriminate between legal and illegal opioids. I don't know it there are many blackmarket oxy and hydrocodones. I do know a large percentage of the synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl are black market, but they are also a prescription drug.

If all the blackmarket drugs were taken off the street there would still be many deaths due to the easy availability of prescription opioids.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Many of these drugs have been around for more than twenty years.  Is there a physician alive who isn't aware they're addictive?

There's plenty of blame to go around, including the manufacturer's presentation of the drug, the physicians turning a blind eye to the realities of the drug, the patients pushing for a new prescription after the episode originally requiring the drug is over and drug pushers able to easily find the drugs to sell --- a perfect storm.

But, unfortunately, the most draconian punishment will be meted out on the souls in legitimate need of the relief these medications provide.

[Cyber Liberty]

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/opioid-overdose-deaths-by-type-of-opioid/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Natural%20and%20Semisynthetic%20Opioids%20(e.g.%20oxycodone,%20hydrocodone)%22,%22sort%22:%22desc%22%7D

Opioid Overdose Deaths by Type of Opioid

Looking at the 2017 Opioid Overdose Deaths by type of opioid one will see that many of the deaths are due to semisynthetic opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone.

The table doesn't discriminate between legal and illegal opioids. I don't know it there are many blackmarket oxy and hydrocodones. I do know a large percentage of the synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl are black market, but they are also a prescription drug.

If all the blackmarket drugs were taken off the street there would still be many deaths due to the easy availability of prescription opioids.

And stopping the pharmacy companies from meeting the legitimate demand solves this how?

[Cyber Liberty]

These drugs have been around for more than twenty years.  Is there a physician alive who isn't aware they're addictive?

There's plenty of blame to go around, including the manufacturer's presentation of the drug, the physicians turning a blind eye to the realities of the drug, the patients pushing for a new prescription after the episode originally requiring the drug is over and drug pushers able to easily find the drugs to sell --- a perfect storm.

But, unfortunately, the most draconian punishment will be meted out on the souls in legitimate need of the relief these medications provide.

"So what?  We gotta do something, anything!"

[Elderberry]

Start at the source. The manufacturers. The growers. Then work down from there. The transporters. By ship, by submarine, by plane, by train, by vehicle, by foot. The wholesalers, major distributors, minor distributors, buyers, doctors, sellers, and pushers.

It has been tried to work from the other end; the users. That doesn't seem to work.

[Cyber Liberty]

Start at the source. The manufacturers. The growers. Then work down from there. The transporters. By ship, by submarine, by plane, by train, by vehicle, by foot. The wholesalers, major distributors, minor distributors, buyers, doctors, sellers, and pushers.

It has been tried to work from the other end; the users. That doesn't seem to work.

Neither will punishing the suffering innocent, which is what will happen if choking it off from the source is successful. 

[Right_in_Virginia]

"So what?  We gotta do something, anything!"

Drama aside @Cyber Liberty here's the conundrum we're facing: How do we stop the opioid addiction free-for-all and carve out a safe haven for current patients in legitimate need of these drugs.

Have you any thoughts on *this*?

[Cyber Liberty]

Drama aside @Cyber Liberty here's the conundrum we're facing: How do we stop the opioid addiction free-for-all and carve out a safe haven for current patients in legitimate need of these drugs.

Have you any thoughts on *this*?

All the time.  I've been talking to my Senator about it, in fact.

The Fentanol that's killing all those people is coming from China, so let's interdict that before we crush legal pharma companies making the drugs used by pain sufferers.  Cracking down on China is part of the trade issue.

To me, seeing two close loved ones, who've been saved by the medications in question, lose all quality of life to the pain is enough drama for me, thanks.

[Bigun]

Why is it that people want to punish the producers?  IMHO it would be MUCH more productive to focus on the abusers.

[PeteS in CA]

OK, is there a person in the US older than age 10 or 12 who does not know that painkillers more potent than aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen are addictive? And how in Hades could an MD not know this? I have ALWAYS declined to use prescription painkillers after medical or dental surgery unless urgently and painfully necessary! This whole sue-the-manufacturer shtick is just plundering.

[Bigun]

OK, is there a person in the US older than age 10 or 12 who does not know that painkillers more potent than aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen are addictive? And how in Hades could an MD not know this? I have ALWAYS declined to use prescription painkillers after medical or dental surgery unless urgently and painfully necessary! This whole sue-the-manufacturer shtick is just plundering.

 

[Cyber Liberty]

Why is it that people want to punish the producers?  IMHO it would be MUCH more productive to focus on the abusers.

If you crush the handful of manufacturers, then all the abusers will magically go away. 

It's like trimming a tree.  You and I know to trim the smallest twigs of the tree, but a fool would look at the trunk and say "It's a lot more efficient if we cut it once, right there."  Kill the whole tree and the tree-trimming problem is "solved."