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[entremet]

The state of Ohio has sued five major drug manufacturers for their role in the opioid epidemic. In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, state Attorney General Mike DeWine alleges these five companies "helped unleash a health care crisis that has had far-reaching financial, social, and deadly consequences in the State of Ohio."

Named in the suit are:

Purdue Pharma
Endo Health Solutions
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and subsidiary Cephalon
Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals
Allergan

The lawsuit — only the second such suit filed by a state, after Mississippi did so earlier this year — accuses the companies of engaging in a sustained marketing campaign to downplay the addiction risks of the prescription opioid drugs they sell and to exaggerate the benefits of their use for health problems such as chronic pain.

Or, as DeWine's office put it in a press release Wednesday, the "lawsuit alleges that the drug companies engaged in fraudulent marketing regarding the risks and benefits of prescription opioids which fueled Ohio's opioid epidemic."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...or-drug-companies-for-fueling-opioid-epidemic

This epidemic has become a disaster if whole states are suing drug companies.

 

[sazzy]

Is there a similar opioid crisis in other countries where these drugs are available, like Canada, UK, Germany, etc.?

 

[entremet]

Is there a similar opioid crisis in other countries where these drugs are available, like Canada, UK, Germany, etc.?

Not that I've read. Could be wrong.

US Doctors are more prescription happy generally. Moreover, the profit motive doesn't help either here. It's profitable to prescribe drugs. US healthcare is a mess.

 

[Dirtyshubb]

Not that I've read. Could be wrong.

US Doctors are more prescription happy generally. Moreover, the profit motive doesn't help either here. It's profitable to prescribe drugs. US healthcare is a mess.

Not just that but i think the doses we give out are a lot lower than the US does.

For a lot of pain relief in hospital they just give you paracetamol but someone i follow went to have an operation in the US and the simple tablets they gave them apparently felt 100x stronger than paracetamol.

 

[the1npc]

Is there a similar opioid crisis in other countries where these drugs are available, like Canada, UK, Germany, etc.?

Yep problems in Canada too esp with fentynal

 

[HStallion]

How much fraudulent marketing from gun companies have you come across?

Isn't that the entire purpose of the NRA?

 

[Xe4]

It's going to be a difficult case to make. You'd have to prove that the companies encouraged the health care industry and doctors to overperscribe in order to sell more opiates. Simply selling and manufacturing them is not enough.

 

[mclem]

Isn't that the entire purpose of the NRA?

...what happened here?

 

[Red]

It's going to be a difficult case to make. You'd have to prove that the companies encouraged the health care industry and doctors to overperscribe in order to sell more opiates. Simply selling and manufacturing them is not enough.

I don't think it will be too difficult. Drug reps pushed opioids hard. Drug companies encouraged the sort of misinformation that fed this beast.

 

[Silent Chief]

The government approved the drugs for public use.
They can ban them any time they want.
There are no hidden side effect.
They are overtly and blatantly addictive.

Hell, my physician gave me something for migraine headaches.
Whenever I'm in debilitating pain, I read the list of possible side effects and drink a glass of water.

 

[theechrisfox]

Why would a red (this time) state like Ohio go after these lobbyist companies? Wouldn't that be seen as biting the hand that feeds?

 

[demosthenes]

It's going to be a difficult case to make. You'd have to prove that the companies encouraged the health care industry and doctors to overperscribe in order to sell more opiates. Simply selling and manufacturing them is not enough.

There was an interview on npr yesterday with the Ohio attorney General that says they have the evidence to show just that.

Why would a red (this time) state like Ohio go after these lobbyist companies? Wouldn't that be seen as biting the hand that feeds?

The same interview above said Ohio has 200k addicted. I'm assuming the public cost of treatment and policing is becoming a more expensive issue.

 

[Dynomutt]

I wish someone would sue the CIA, Columbia, and the Reagan Administration on behalf of minorities specifically black families in the 70's.

 

[TheOMan]

Is there a similar opioid crisis in other countries where these drugs are available, like Canada, UK, Germany, etc.?

Massive issues with fentanyl here. (Canada)

 

[MonorailCat]

Is there a similar opioid crisis in other countries where these drugs are available, like Canada, UK, Germany, etc.?

Germany is EXTREMELY stingy with all kinds of prescription drugs. And almost all medicines are prescription only here. You can'T even buy higher dosed Ibuprofen without prescription.
And I personally don't know of anybody (friends, family, collegues) who ever got a prescription for opiod painkillers. It's reserved for the most extreme cases only, and only if other painkillers didn't help.

I mean, I have head some doctors in the US presribe opioids after a wisdom tooth operation? Thats pretty insane.

 

[siddx]

Good, hopefully other states follow and the money is put towards treatment.

 

[SliceSabre]

There was an interview on npr yesterday with the Ohio attorney General that says they have the evidence to show just that.



The same interview above said Ohio has 200k addicted. I'm assuming the public cost of treatment and policing is becoming a more expensive issue.

Opioid are a massive problem in my(Ohio) state and are constantly making news because of how many people are ODing every day. I mean people are stealing fucking doses that are meant to be used for big animals like fucking elephants.

You know something is a problem when even Republicans who normally don't give a shit about the addicted start believing something should be done besides just putting people in jail longer. I for once am glad our AG is doing something, but I don't honestly think this has a ghost of a chance of winning.

 

[CDV13]

Opioid are a massive problem in my(Ohio) state and are constantly making news because of how many people are ODing every day.

You know something is a problem when even Republicans who normally don't give a shit about the addicted start believing something should be done besides just putting people in jail longer. I for once am glad our AG is doing something, but I don't honestly think this has a ghost of a chance of winning.

Yea man, its ridiculous here. Heroin and pills are ruining Mansfield, which is where i'm originally from. Columbus, where I live now, does not seem as bad, but still hear enough of this shit.

 

[BahamutPT]

Is there a similar opioid crisis in other countries where these drugs are available, like Canada, UK, Germany, etc.?

As far as I know, doctors in the EU usually only prescribe opioids as a "last resort".

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Thank God my company isn't in the list. D:

 

[LegalEagleMike]

I was wondering why the courthouse was abuzz yesterday, and why I had to wait longer than usual to get a clerks attention to do my filings.

 

[TransTrender]

Good.
It's pretty crazy there are now three types of drugs they're advertising on TV to help you shit because you're constipated from all those opioids. Clearly there's a problem.

 

[Enduin]

Thank God my company isn't in the list. D:

Is that why you're always on the crapper. Opioid induced constipation? You know there's a product out there for you. Movantik, the Opioid induced constipation treatment.

 

[Viewt]

Man, opioids are fucking terrifying. I can list a dozen people close to me who've gotten addicted and thoroughly fucked their lives up (thankfully most were able to kick the habit eventually). Addiction in general is a nightmare, but opiates are a special category.

 

[HeySeuss]

Is there a similar opioid crisis in other countries where these drugs are available, like Canada, UK, Germany, etc.?

Canada, yes. The others I can't say. Canada has a few clinics that allow users to come in and use clean needles and have nurses on staff so that people use in a controlled environment so it reduces deaths.

Yea man, its ridiculous here. Heroin and pills are ruining Mansfield, which is where i'm originally from. Columbus, where I live now, does not seem as bad, but still hear enough of this shit.

Yeah Ohio leads the nation in heroin overdoses with over 4000 last year. The numbers are hard to pinpoint because a lot of counties have had their mourges overrun with deaths and they don't have the funding to give everyone a toxicology test to prove cause of death. So the actual numbers are a lot higher than can be reported because the can't officially rule it an overdose without the toxicology report.

It's sad.

 

[slit]

The only problem I see with this is it's going to stigmatize Opioids so much that people who legitimately need them will have a hard time finding physicians who will prescribe them. There are people who have to deal with severe pain from chronic conditions. Meanwhile the ones who don't legit need them will still have access from the street.

 

[kirblar]

Saw something on twitter yesterday about the whole push being based on 5 sentences of a study being taken out of context and plastered everywhere by lobbyists back in the '90s.

 

[see5harp]

Good.
It's pretty crazy there are now three types of drugs they're advertising on TV to help you shit because you're constipated from all those opioids. Clearly there's a problem.

This is the truly absurd part about the whole thing to me.

 

[Cymbal Head]

Shit has gotten really bad not just in Ohio but nationwide.

The trail of painkillers leads to West Virginia's southern coalfields, to places like Kermit, population 392. There, out-of-state drug companies shipped nearly 9 million highly addictive — and potentially lethal — hydrocodone pills over two years to a single pharmacy in the Mingo County town.

Fuck the corporations that enabled it, but with the way our medical industries are structured in the US, things like this are bound to happen.

 

[HeySeuss]

The only problem I see with this is it's going to stigmatize Opioids so much that people who legitimately need them will have a hard time finding physicians who will prescribe them. There are people who have to deal with severe pain from chronic conditions.

Blame the doctors that give out oxy like it's candy to everyone. Oxy was actually pitched by Purdue pharma as a non-addictive substitute for other pain medications. They gave huge bonuses to their reps for sales goals to doctors offices.

Yes, some people really do need medications for chronic pain. But it needs to be regulated much more strictly because it's fueled the heroin epidemic. Oxy is the main reason why we have the problem currently.

 

[see5harp]

The only problem I see with this is it's going to stigmatize Opioids so much that people who legitimately need them will have a hard time finding physicians who will prescribe them. There are people who have to deal with severe pain from chronic conditions. Meanwhile the ones who don't legit need them will still have access from the street.

You had a poster saying the same thing in the Tiger thread about his own use case. Did you see the list of drugs Tiger was taking and then the video showing how fucked up dude was? There's legit use and there's straight up abuse. I'm not worried about the cases of people who have gone through multiple tests and doctor's consultations and have gone through the a series of steps to determine whether they have a legit need.

 

[slit]

Blame the doctors that give out oxy like it's candy to everyone. Oxy was actually pitched by Purdue pharma as a non-addictive substitute for other pain medications. They gave huge bonuses to their reps for sales goals to doctors offices.

Yes, some people really do need medications for chronic pain. But it needs to be regulated much more strictly because it's fueled the heroin epidemic. Oxy is the main reason why we have the problem currently.

I do blame the doctors but again the doctors will be the ones who just start blanket refusals just to be on the safe side. Oxy will not be the only drug clamped down on.

You had a poster saying the same thing in the Tiger thread about his own use case. Did you see the list of drugs Tiger was taking and then the video showing how fucked up dude was? There's legit use and there's straight up abuse. I'm not worried about the cases of people who have gone through multiple tests and doctor's consultations and have gone through the a series of steps to determine whether they have a legit need.

Tiger abusing drugs is not what I'm taking about so it's a moot point. A lot of people abuse them and it's going to mess up people who are in genuine need.

 

[Madness]

Opioid are a massive problem in my(Ohio) state and are constantly making news because of how many people are ODing every day. I mean people are stealing fucking doses that are meant to be used for big animals like fucking elephants.

You know something is a problem when even Republicans who normally don't give a shit about the addicted start believing something should be done besides just putting people in jail longer. I for once am glad our AG is doing something, but I don't honestly think this has a ghost of a chance of winning.

Because it is now their communities and their fathers and mothers and sons and daughters being affected by the opiod abuse epidemic. I knew friends and even family in Everett WA which has one of the worst oxy epidemics in the country. It ruined athletic careers, so many families etc.

Think about how crack and heroin and cocaine affected black communities and cities in the 70's and 80's and how people in power responded with a 'war on drugs' which instead of providing support, substance abuse facilities, locked up people for 10 years in federal prison if they had crack on them etc.

But this is a good step. Opiod abuse is no joke. In BC right now Chinese pharmaceutical grade Fentanyl starting to be smuggled in and if left unchecked will do a number on our cities.

 

[HeySeuss]

Because it is now their communities and their fathers and mothers and sons and daughters being affected by the opiod abuse epidemic. I knew friends and even family in Everett WA which has one of the worst oxy epidemics in the country. It ruined athletic careers, so many families etc.

Think about how crack and heroin and cocaine affected black communities and cities in the 70's and 80's and how people in power responded with a 'war on drugs' which instead of providing support, substance abuse facilities, locked up people for 10 years in federal prison if they had crack on them etc.

But this is a good step. Opiod abuse is no joke. In BC right now Chinese pharmaceutical grade Fentanyl starting to be smuggled in and if left unchecked will do a number on our cities.

Yeah synthetic fentanyl has been here in the states for a few years and it ain't no joke. Carfentanil is even worse. But not they have another synthetic fentanyl that narcan doesn't work against. Sometimes it takes multiple doses to bring someone back, but with this new fentanyl it doesn't work at all. It's all coming from China.

 

[Kerensky]

Is the addiction danger not stated on the safety booklet? if so, people who get it should understand the risks and shouldn't seek culpability for something they use on themselves, maybe responsibility was too much to ask.

It sounds a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation where in a few years time when the pendulum has swung the other way and there will be outrage because "These pharma companies have all the patents for pain killers but refuse to make them, did you know this affects the black community even worse?! look at this poor man with crippling backpain!!!"

 

[HotHamBoy]

Devil's advocate, but some people do suffer from debilitating chronic pain. The opiod epidemic hurts them worst of all as more and more doctors and insurance companies cut them off, often quite suddenly.

Areas where people with legit prescriptions for serious conditions are cut off see spikes in heroin use.

On the other hand, legalized marijuana would go A LONG WAY towards helping people manage pain and states with legalized weed have seen drops in opiod abuse.

But Sessions gonna Sessions.

 

[rrs]

Is the addiction danger not stated on the safety booklet? if so, people who get it should understand the risks and shouldn't seek culpability for something they use on themselves, maybe responsibility was too much to ask.

It sounds a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation where in a few years time when the pendulum has swung the other way and there will be outrage because "These pharma companies have all the patents for pain killers but refuse to make them, did you know this affects the black community even worse?! look at this poor man with crippling backpain!!!"

yes but:
1. opioids were heavily pushed as a painkiller over milder and safer products
2. oxycontin's 12 hour dosage being shoved down insurance companies and doctors when the pill lasts 6-9 in most cases helps create a high/low cycle that pushes addiction

Why would a red (this time) state like Ohio go after these lobbyist companies? Wouldn't that be seen as biting the hand that feeds?

because their voter base might turn blue if they do nothing

 

[ReplacementPelican]

Is there a similar opioid crisis in other countries where these drugs are available, like Canada, UK, Germany, etc.?

I'm in the UK and only ever really hear about this issue in reference to the USA. I've heard a lot of friends be absolutely amazed with how strong painkillers are in America, especially ones you don't need prescriptions for.

That being said there has been a massive rise in their prescription in the UK but Doctors are being advised to cut that shit out.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

I wish someone would sue the CIA, Columbia, and the Reagan Administration on behalf of minorities specifically black families in the 70's.

Fucking amen. I roll my eyes so hard at this double standard every time it comes up.

Yeah synthetic fentanyl has been here in the states for a few years and it ain't no joke. Carfentanil is even worse. But not they have another synthetic fentanyl that narcan doesn't work against. Sometimes it takes multiple doses to bring someone back, but with this new fentanyl it doesn't work at all. It's all coming from China.

I've had fentanyl as a sedative for a few surgeries. How that shit is even enjoyable is beyond me. I'm knocked out in 3 minutes.

 

[HeySeuss]

Is the addiction danger not stated on the safety booklet? if so, people who get it should understand the risks and shouldn't seek culpability for something they use on themselves, maybe responsibility was too much to ask.

It sounds a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation where in a few years time when the pendulum has swung the other way and there will be outrage because "These pharma companies have all the patents for pain killers but refuse to make them, did you know this affects the black community even worse?! look at this poor man with crippling backpain!!!"

About 15% of humans are genetically predisposed to addiction. Factor in the fact that there are typically enough opiates prescribed for everyone in the united States to have more than a bottle full each, you can easily see how this is such a problem.

 

[bucknuticus]

Bad problem in Ohio right now we bad heroin being sold that is killing/ODing people. The amount of OD cases in Cincy and Cleveland was astronomical

 

[Red]

I suggest Dreamland for people who want to learn more about the conditions that led to the opioid epidemic.

 

[Ogodei]

The bigger thing instead of a lawsuit that'll go nowhere or be settled by chump change would be to change your laws to limit the ability to prescribe painkillers.

 

[Greigor The Fellhand]

living in cleveland. I was thinking about this, there is no way these companies and other pharma companies aren't involved in flooding the streets with the stuff. It's way to cheap, way to much floating around ohio.

heroin and fentynal Overdoses killed more people this month in cuyahoga county then everything else combined.

I hope dewine tears into them, this shit is fueled by them

 

[Kerensky]

About 15% of humans are genetically predisposed to addiction. Factor in the fact that there are typically enough opiates prescribed for everyone in the united States to have more than a bottle full each, you can easily see how this is such a problem.

Prescription does not resign people from their personal responsibility, maybe they shouldn't always say "10!" when their doctor asks them to grade their level of pain and resort to such extreme measures.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

I should probably make a thread about since this has been going on for so long. And as long as rich white people get their fix.

https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/22/abbott-oxycontin-crusade/

https://www.statnews.com/2016/05/11/oxycontin-records-sought-stat-ordered-unsealed-kentucky-judge/

https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/31/opioid-epidemic-nejm-letter/

Prescription does not resign people from their personal responsibility, maybe they shouldn't always say "10!" when their doctor asks them to grade their level of pain and resort to such extreme measures.

Pain as the 5th Vital Sign was a marketing ploy.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/publichealth/57336

 

[fredrancour]

Not that I've read. Could be wrong.

US Doctors are more prescription happy generally. Moreover, the profit motive doesn't help either here. It's profitable to prescribe drugs. US healthcare is a mess.

Don't forget TV commercials for prescription drugs!

 

[Greigor The Fellhand]

The bigger thing instead of a lawsuit that'll go nowhere or be settled by chump change would be to change your laws to limit the ability to prescribe painkillers.

also make it illegal for pharma companies to give "incentives" to doctors for prescribing certain medications.

 

[Red]

Prescription does not resign people from their personal responsibility, maybe they shouldn't always say "10!" when their doctor asks them to grade their level of pain and resort to such extreme measures.

Why is pain considered a vital sign? Who do you think made that push? Who are you to say that somebody's pain is not a 10—what metric are they meant to judge on? No one has access to some universal scale of pain. No one knows what anyone else's experience of pain is like, and it can't be judged outside the understanding of whoever is feeling it.

You fundamentally misunderstand the conditions that lead to addiction.

No one walks into a doctor's office thinking, "today, I will become addicted to oxycodone!" No one says their pain is a 10 because they want to live that.

 

[Rockandrollclown]

Seems like this really ought to cause a deeper look at how pharmaceutical marketing in general works, but I doubt that will happen. I still never understand why television ads for prescription drugs is ok.