Drugmaker knew OxyContin was ending up in hands of criminals and addicts, but kept supplying distributors
Harriet Ryan, Lisa Girion and Scott Glover, Los Angeles Times
A Los Angeles Times investigation found that, for more than a decade, Purdue collected extensive evidence suggesting illegal trafficking of OxyContin and, in many cases, did not share it with law enforcement or cut off the flow of pills. A former Purdue executive, who monitored pharmacies for criminal activity, acknowledged that even when the company had evidence pharmacies were colluding with drug dealers, it did not stop supplying distributors selling to those stores. Purdue knew about many suspicious doctors and pharmacies from prescribing records, pharmacy orders, field reports from sales representatives and, in some instances, its own surveillance operations, according to court and law enforcement records, which include internal Purdue documents, and interviews with current and former employees.
Here’s how drugmakers fought state opioid limits
Associated Press, NBC News
The makers of prescription painkillers have adopted a 50-state strategy that includes hundreds of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions to help kill or weaken measures aimed at stemming the tide of prescription opioids, an investigation shows. The drugmakers vow they're combating the addiction epidemic, but The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found that they often employ a statehouse playbook of delay and defend that includes funding advocacy groups that use the veneer of independence to fight limits on the drugs, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and fentanyl, the narcotic linked to Prince's death.
Tennessee has more opioid prescriptions than people
Holly Fletcher, The Tennessean
Healthcare professionals in Tennessee last year wrote more than 7.8 million opioid prescriptions — or 1.18 for every man, woman and child — even as the state grapples with a scourge of painkiller addiction and abuse. The total places Tennessee second in the nation, behind only Alabama in prescriptions of the drugs, according to IMS Health data. Even though the number of scripts has fallen by 724,070 since 2013 when there were over 8.5 million total prescriptions, the state remains ensconced as a leader in prescribing oxycodone, hydrocodone and Percocet.
College high: Students are using more marijuana, fewer opioids
Angus Chen, National Public Radio
High school students and young adults are much less likely to use illicit drugs than their parents, according to data released recently. And compared to baby boomers, young adults today look like outright angels. Except for their acceptance of marijuana, that is. This report comes from a running, four-decade-long study of drug, tobacco and alcohol use from the University of Michigan. This most recent iteration shows that people in their 40s and 50s used far more drugs in their youth than do people in their teens and 20s today.
