Our Views

OxyContin addiction detox and rehab needs to be paid for, who better than the company that lied to us?

OxyContin doesn’t kill people, people kill people – that’s Purdue Pharma’s stand in the OxyContin suit filed in Kentucky’s Pike County Circuit Court that could result in Purdue reimbursing the state for the cost of drug abuse programs, law enforcement, and prescription payments made through state insurance. And the money could help finance the drug detox and rehab programs so desperately needed by those now suffering with OxyContin addiction.

Purdue says the company takes responsibility for their past ‘misstatements’ which led thousands of doctors and millions of patients to believe that the drug was safe, but the company made it clear that their responsibility does not extend to the damage done to individuals.  “We do not believe, however, that those misstatements were responsible for individuals’ abuse of OxyContin,” the company statement said.

How does their argument hold up? Believe me, there is no shortage of upstanding, reputable citizens who got in trouble with OxyContin addiction through perfectly legitimate means. And some of them will show up in court to bear witness. Others, unfortunately, will be represented by the grieving mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, friends and family who buried them. I would hope the prosecution will also use drug detox, drug rehab and ER representatives and records to help make the case.

Although Kentucky and the Appalachian states were among the hardest hit by OxyContin addiction, they are by no means alone. Americans all over the country need drug detox and rehab because of OxyContin. Hopefully, this suit will be won, and others will follow.

If an individual had inflicted as much damage as Purdue has with OxyContin, that person would be on death row. The very least that should be expected from Purdue is reimbursement for the damage done, and financing of the drug detox and rehab programs that will get people out of the mess Purdue helped create.

Popularity: 19% [?]