Quoted post unavailable.
To be fair, it could two (mostly) disjoint groups voicing those two conflicting opinions.
Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
51–60 of 93 posts
Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#52Quoted post unavailable.
> On another hand, HN demands extreme punishment against a pharma company which produced opioids.
They didn't just produce opioids. They fraudulently claimed that the opioids they produced were non-addictive.
>Purdue admits it illegally and misleadingly marketed its opioids, including “to more than 100 health care providers whom the company had good reason to believe were diverting opioids” for misuse; illegally paid doctors to prescribe more opioids; and took part in other fraudulent and illegal practices. Purdue says it did all of this between 2007 and at least 2017 — after a separate guilty plea in 2007 forced the company to pay more than $600 million in fines.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/business/11drug-web.html
https://www.vox.com/2020/10/21/21526868/purdue-pharma-oxycon...
Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#53Quoted post unavailable.
These don't conflict, the only similarity is the presence of a drug.
Purdue Pharma was using legal drugs already with high purity and free of contamination, so this case already satisfies the desired goal that is hoping to be extended to other substances.
Nobody (in your first audience) wants opiates to be illegal. People want the pharma company to not undermine doctor advice to patients with kickbacks, especially after patient consequences.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/opioid-manufacturer-purdue-ph...
The violated the FDA, which is a much better framework than the DEA. This is consumer protection in play. In all vice topics: Criminalization doesn't have consumer protection, decriminalization doesn't have consumer protection, only legalization has consumer protection.
Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#54Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#55Can anyone explain why opioids are still being sold and prescribed?
Because they can be safe and effective for treating some conditions if used cautiously. Not every opiate has the issues OxyContin does.
OxyContin is not significantly more (or less) addictive or dangerous than other opiates. The problem with it is that it has been marketed by Purdue as 'safe', and that it is over-prescribed. I recommend the book Pharma by Gerald Posner, which goes into this in excruciating detail - but well worth a read.
Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#56Quoted post unavailable.
Because it's not a black & white subject, and with the polarization of the extremes in today's discourse you can't bring some points to the discussion, or you'll be shoved to one extreme.
We forget that ultimate freedom is ultimate responsibility, and the truth is that some people just aren't able to be responsible for themselves, some for brief periods of time, others for life.
For some people things like drugs or even money is the worst thing we can give to them because it will only fuel bad habits like addictions and gambling. Some people will for sure become addicts and gamblers if the conditions are right.
Now: are we okay with these behaviors that are frown upon? Or are these actual destructive behaviors that shouldn't be left loose?
Even if these are extreme behaviors that only apply to a small fraction of the population, it's millions of people we're talking about.
Now in this case, some people were probably not properly informed about the side effects and addiction. They were lured into their addiction. Or they just thought chemical addiction wouldn't through to them.
Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#57Can anyone explain why opioids are still being sold and prescribed?
Hi, I prescribe opiates often as a cancer doc. Opiates act on the central nervous system and decrease the perception of pain but don't address the pain itself. They are quite useful in the short term as bridging therapy (a few days to weeks) analgesia while you work as hard and as quickly as possible to address the physical cause of pain.
On the same token, there are great alternatives too. For musculoskeletal pain, a combination of 1000mg Tylenol and 800mg Ibuprofen all at once has efficacy close to that of low dose opiates. This regimen however carries increased kidney and liver injury.
There are also less addictive opiates such as tramadol (rate of addiction 1 in 100,000).
But again, all of the above is simply to mask the pain. The most important aspect is quick and vigorous pain source control.
Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#58Should you be free to use whatever drug you want?
Do doctors hold any responsibility over getting you addicted by drugs they prescribe? (Aren't doctors the experts?)
Now that marijuana is legal, should you sue the legal stores if you get addicted?
Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#59Can anyone explain why opioids are still being sold and prescribed?
Opioids took me from suicide level pain to just tolerable pain over 6 months after I had a half golf ball sized hole scooped out of the base of my tongue due to cancer. It was a bad week when I stopped but it's doable. Opioids have a place.
Re: Judge rejects Purdue Pharma's $4.5B opioid settlement
#60Should you be free to use whatever drug you want? Do doctors hold any responsibility over getting you addicted by drugs they prescribe? (Aren't doctors the experts?) Now that marijuana is legal, should you sue the legal stores if you get addicted?
> Do doctors hold any responsibility over getting you addicted by drugs they prescribe? (Aren't doctors the experts?
In this case doctors wrongly prescribed ( when it wasn't necessary or in too high doses) a drug for personal profit. They're guilty, and so is the company that paid them to do that and kept bullshit marketing reassuring doctors and patients everything is ok.