HOOKED
in fines. In 2010, Purdue developed a version of the drug that
was harder to crush and snort or
inject than the original, aimed at
deterring abuse. In April, the FDA
banned the original OxyContin
and all of its generic versions from
hitting the market.
Purdue Spokesman Raul Damas
wrote in an email statement to
The Huffington Post that “like any
public health issue, opioid abuse
is the result of many factors, not
just one drug or one company.”
Brand-name OxyContin represents a small share of oxycodonebased drugs on the market, and
Purdue has taken steps to curb
the addiction epidemic, like paying for addiction hotlines and
working with law enforcement
to help them better identify pills
that are frequently abused.
“The recent increase in heroin
abuse is an unfortunate result of
many different factors, and what
often gets lost is that prescription opioids play an important
role in helping patients and physicians address the very real issue
of chronic pain.” Damas wrote.
“Purdue has led the development
of abuse-deterrent opioids, but
these efforts need to be complemented by public education and
HUFFINGTON
03.09.14
treatment, so that we address demand, as well as supply.”
People typically become addicted to the prescription pills in
one of two ways, Kolodny said. The
majority of younger users, like Arielle, find the pills lying around at
home or at friends’ houses. But the
“We have now this incredibly
unusual public health crisis
that’s essentially caused
by physicians, caused by the
health care industry.”
other demographic suffering from
prescription painkiller addiction —
middle-aged Americans — typically get the pills from their doctors
for things like chronic back or head
pain. Once their bodies adjust,
their doctors have to up the doses
to mitigate the pain.
Betty Tully experienced this
phenomenon firsthand. She
went to her doctor in January
of 2001, looking for a fix for the
pain that had plagued her lower
back for decades. Tully’s doctor
said he had just the thing, a new
“miracle drug” that could help
her pain without putting her at
risk of addiction. He started her