A DRUG INDUCED WAKEUP CALL

Reprinted from: The Washington Post to read the complete
article go to:thewashingtonpost.com/investigations
America’s largest drug companies saturated the
country with 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone
pain pills from 2006 through 2012 as the nation’s
deadliest drug epidemic spun out of control, according
to previously undisclosed company data released
as part of the largest civil action in U.S. history.
The information comes from a database maintained
by the Drug Enforcement Administration that
tracks the path of every single pain pill sold in the
United States — from manufacturers and distributors
to pharmacies in every town and city. The data
provides an unprecedented look at the surge of legal
pain pills that fueled the prescription opioid epidemic,
which has resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths from
2006 through 2012.
Just six companies distributed 75 percent of the
pills during this period: McKesson Corp., Walgreens,
Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, CVS and
Walmart, according to an analysis of the database
by The Washington Post. Three companies manufactured
88 percent of the opioids: SpecGx, a subsidiary
of Mallinckrodt; Actavis Pharma; and Par Pharmaceutical,
a subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals.
The database is a virtual road map to the nation’s
opioid epidemic that began with prescription pills,
spawned increased heroin use and resulted in the
current fentanyl crisis, which added more than 67,000
to the death toll from 2013 to 2017.
The pain pill epidemic began nearly three decades
ago, shortly after Purdue Pharma introduced what it
marketed as a less addictive form of opioid it called
OxyContin. Purdue paid doctors and nonprofit groups
advocating for patients in pain to help market the drug
as a safe and effective way to treat pain.
But the new drug was highly addictive. As more
and more people were hooked, more and more companies
entered the market, manufacturing, distributing
and dispensing massive quantities of pain pills.
Purdue ending up paying a $634 million fine to the
Food and Drug Administration for claiming OxyContin
was less addictive than other pain medications.
Annual opioid sales nationwide rose from $6.1 billion
in 2006 to $8.5 billion in 2012, according to industry
data gathered by IQVIA, a health care information
and consulting company.
Individual drug company revenues ranged in single
years at the epidemic’s peak from $403 million
for opioids sold by Endo to $3.1 billion in OxyContin
sales by Purdue Pharma, according to a 2018 lawsuit
against multiple defendants by San Juan County in
New Mexico.
During the past two decades, Florida became
ground zero for pill mills — pain management clinics
that served as fronts for corrupt doctors and drug
dealers. They became so brazen that some clinics
set up storefronts along I-75 and I-95, advertising
their products on billboards by interstate exit ramps.
So many people traveled to Florida to stock up on
oxycodone and hydrocodone, they were sometimes
referred to as “prescription tourists.”
“The depth and penetration of the opioid epidemic
becomes readily apparent from the data,” said Peter
J. Mougey, a lawyer for the plaintiffs from Pensacola,
Fla. “This disclosure will serve as a wakeup call to every
community in the country. America should brace
itself for the harsh reality of the scope of the opioid
epidemic. Transparency will lead to accountability.”