OxyContin Maker Purdue To Stop Promoting Opioids considering Epidemic

Purdue Pharma, the company behind the prescription painkiller OxyContin, announced that in future it would stop marketing opioid drugs to doctors.  Reportedly this is in response to a series of lawsuits taken against the company.  Purdue has been accused of aggressively marketing its opioid painkiller and this led to doctors overprescribing the drug. This is alleged to be a factor in the growing numbers addicted to opioid prescription drugs. This is now a serious public health crisis in America because of the high numbers of people addicted to opium-based painkillers.

Purdue is cutting its number of salespeople who have been selling Oxycontin. The company claims that the opioid is perfectly safe and that it did not aggressively market its drug to doctors. Rather it stated that doctors were responsible for overprescribing the painkillers and this led to many patients becoming addicts. Purdue believes that the best way to reduce the numbers of people addicted to Oxycontin and other painkillers is by doctors adopting a more cautious approach to prescribing.

The CDC believes that some 200 million opioid painkiller prescriptions were issued in 2016. It also estimated that one in four of these were given to those addicted to some opioid painkiller. An unknown number of people are believed to be addicted to Oxycontin. Those addicted to the drug need to spend some time in drug rehab if they are to overcome their dependency.

Some have welcomed Purdue’s decision. However, many experts believe that their decision will not make a big impact on the numbers addicted to Oxycontin.   It is argued that the other makers of opium-based painkillers need to follow the example of Purdue. Those companies who manufacture Fentanyl and other painkillers need to cut the sales and marketing of drugs to doctors. This will lead to a reduction in the number of prescriptions and reduce the availability of opioid painkillers.

Oxycontin was first developed in 1995 and it had sales of almost 2 billion dollars in 2017. This is down almost one billion from its all-time high of 3 billion. Users had learned how to evade the time-release mechanism by crushing and snorting the drug or injecting it.

It is believed that OxyContin is a ‘gateway’ drug and its abuse can lead to an addiction to heroin.

The company's top lawyer and a  former president pleaded guilty to misrepresenting the drug and its benefits and they received community service orders. Purdue is attempting to rebrand the company, to improve its image with the public.

If you or a loved one needs help in overcoming an addiction to an opioid painkiller such as Oxycontin then you can use opioid treatments such as Suboxone. This is a very effective treatment for drug detox. It can help a person to better manage the side effects of opioid withdrawal. Suboxone has a proven track record in the treatment of an addiction to Oxycontin and to other opioids such as Heroin and Morphine. 

Suboxone makes an addict more resilient and therefore more likely to successfully complete drug rehab. If you wish to find out more about Suboxone and how it can help to end the nightmare of addiction to opioids, then contact Suboxone Doctor for more information.

Please visit SuboxoneDoctor.com to find a local doctor to help you or a loved one to achieve a full recovery.  SuboxoneDoctor.com is a directory that lets you know important information regarding recovery from an addiction to an opiate.  Simply search the site’s directory. If you are a doctor you can use SuboxoneDoctor.com to allows patients to find your practice and arrange an appointment.

SuboxoneDoctor.com can be found at https://www.suboxonedoctor.com/.