Big Pharma Against Big Pharma

Poor Mr Purdue must have pissed somebody off in big pharma, since he was part of it.

This is the article I read, and I suggest you do too. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/purdue-pharma-oxycontin-plea-deal/ . First of all, all of those folks accusing Purdue, once viewed as a savior at one time, I suspect, already understood clearly everything about its creation, OxyContin, and its addictive nature. If this were not the case, then we should be suing the FDA, which approved it. Purdue invented it, but others also had a hand in it when the sales started, and Doctors are encouraged to prescribe them like they are when a new vaccine comes out. As we discovered, doctors are often paid a bonus for the vaccines they successfully administer. Ultimately, Purdue Pharmaceuticals is responsible for having created it, but what I am saying is that the FDA approved it. Shouldn't the FDA be equally responsible? Isn't it their job to know these things to make an informed assessment before giving their blessings? That was my first thought.

Then I realized they didn't expect the conflict between Opiates and the new wave of Fentanyl deaths. Someone has to be blamed as the deaths mounted. Whatever it was Mr. Purdue did that the powers did not like (my assumption, of course), this is what they came up with. Mr. Purdue is the physical entity that everyone can feel and touch, whom the public would accept as the blame for all those overdoses. I notice that the industries seem to protect the individuals when Vaccines harm the public, but they choose to blame Purdue when fentanyl harms the public. Does that make sense? It does if you understand a little of how the government does business. Opioids have been around as long as I can remember, and I am 64. They replaced Valluim with Zanex, and Zanex was highly addictive. Then one day, as fentanyl deaths began to reveal their ugly face, they took away Zanex, but not until years of acceptable use. Then, after everyone settled into a comfortable addiction that helped their already stressed mental illness, they revoked it, and they did this overnight, scaring the hell out of those who were attached to it. I know this because I worked in healthcare, and those I cared for complained about it.

That did not solve the Fentanyl crisis; in fact, it increased. So when they report thousands of families impacted by the opioid crisis waiting for a decision on Purdue's role, I questioned how they could have blamed him and only him. According to the news, it is estimated that there were 900,000 plus deaths since 1999. Haven't opioids been around just about forever? How many thousands of families are waiting, exactly? Is it 900,000 families or 10,000 families? Are they compensating everyone who ever took an opioid or everyone who ever took OxyContin? Are they including deaths from street people who stole them from grandma and sold them on the street? How are they measuring this? How are they choosing who deserves something from this and who is directly linked to a death caused by it, in one way or another?

I think there are three things worth mentioning about this. The first, keeping in line with the blame, is that it appears that families who lost someone, lost them to Fentanyl. What they claim is that if not for OxyContin, their beloved loved one would never have turned to heroin, which led to the overdose by Fentanyl. That is very fishy! Does everyone who was on OxyContin turn to Heroin? My mom was on them after an accident, and she didn't turn to heroin. Boy, was I lucky! I'm not saying that they aren't addictive, just that they didn't kill everyone like Fentanyl does. Weed was once thought to be a gateway drug to more drugs; now the government has legalized it. Did anyone research those people who used OxyContin to see if they used any other drugs, like heroin, prior to their prescription of OxyContin? I will wager they did not.

The second is that they make it clear that Purdue Pharmaceuticals is dissolving and proudly announce that it will be replaced by a company focused on the public good. In fact, it is the first sentence of the article. Ya, Purdue made someone angry, and mission accomplished when that someone wanted them gone. I don't know of anyone who lost someone to Fentanyl, and I know many who died this way, whose family would say, 'wait a minute, what were they taking before heroin, right, it must be that OxyContin that caused his death, not heroin and fentanyl.' So, who really came up with this hypothesis and why? I know people who bought any barbiturate on the street after they were doing all kinds of street drugs, and not all were on heroin, and not all heroin users were using OxyContin first. This was nothing less than a witch hunt and was planned some time ago when Zanex was alerted to take anything addictive off their to-do list of prescriptions. Besides, they made a whole lot of money that is not going to the supposed victims who supposedly started all this to begin with.

The third and final mention is the amount of money involved in this fight over opioids. The claims against Purdue, from just those who put a financial figure they wanted, totaled $40 trillion. Wow! However, in the settlement, after the company went bankrupt, Purdue agreed to contribute $7 billion over 15 years. But, overall, the settlements are worth over $50 billion. This tells me the Government you may think loves and protects you just made a lot of money you'll never find a use for, because most of this huge amount of money, they say, will go to the government to fight the opioid crisis, while everyone is still paying taxes to fund these same programs. Programs that obviously do not work. And what will it leave for the victims after the government takes its cut? The victims get anywhere between $8,000 and $16,000 in take-home pay per family. The Government will still get its hands on some of that, through taxes each family is responsible for on its share. A real loss for the families who thought their million-dollar payday was coming, and I think some of them deserve this. After all, money is everyone's motivation, but for the families who want to place blame on anyone but their innocent heroin addicted low life family member, they deserve nothing. Until they see that ultimately the blame falls on the drug addict. I'd like to know whether the families who shifted the blame would have gone through all that if they'd known it would only result in a $16,000 payout? Barely a new car.

One last thing. How is it determined which family gets $6,000 or $18,000? One death in the family versus two? Overdoses from Fentanyl are overdoses with no one worse than the others. They all fall down, can't move, suffocating due to the inability to breathe, the fear that must overwhelm the person over their helplessness just prior to death, be it ten seconds or two minutes. Anyone using anything that can result in a Fentanyl death, beware, it isn't an easy one.

This picture is what everyone feels about life. It is uncertain and unfair. Drugs won't stop this.

But if you like doing them, please, do something that won't kill you!