Pain Pill Giant Purdue to Stop Promotion of Opioids to Doctors

Pain-pill giant Purdue Pharma LP will stop promoting its opioid drugs to doctors, a retreat after years of criticism that the company’s aggressive sales efforts helped lay the foundation of the U.S. addiction crisis.

The company told employees this week that it would cut its sales force by more than half, to 200 workers. It plans to send a letter Monday to doctors saying that its salespeople will no longer come to their clinics to talk about the company’s pain products.

“We have restructured and significantly reduced our commercial operation and will no longer be promoting opioids to prescribers,” the company said in a statement. Instead, any questions doctors have will be directed to the Stamford, Connecticut-based company’s medical affairs department.

OxyContin, approved in 1995, is the closely held company’s biggest-selling drug, though sales of the pain pill have declined in recent years amid competition from generics. It generated $1.8 billion in 2017, down from $2.8 billion five years earlier, according to data compiled by Symphony Health Solutions. It also sells the painkiller Hysingla.

Purdue is credited with helping develop many modern tactics of aggressive pharmaceutical promotion. Its efforts to push OxyContin included OxyContin music, fishing hats and stuffed plush toys. More recently, it has positioned itself as an advocate for fighting the opioid addiction crisis, as overdoses from prescription drugs claim thousands of American lives each year.

Rising Toll
Purdue and other opioid makers and distributors face dozens of lawsuits in which they’re accused of creating a public-health crisis through their marketing of the painkillers. Purdue officials confirmed in November that they are in settlement talks with a group of state attorneys general and trying to come up with a global resolution of the government opioid claims.

More than 60,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2016, and there was a fivefold increase in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids -- from 3,105 in 2013 to about 20,000 in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The addiction epidemic cost the American economy $504 billion in 2015, the equivalent of 2.8 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product that year, according to a reportby the Council of Economic Advisers.

About 200 remaining Purdue salespeople will focus on promoting the company’s opioid induced constipation drug, Symproic. The drug launched last year in partnership with Shionogi & Co.

 

Just like the cigarette companies, Purdue has now transitioned to making its money on opiates ex-US in Latin America, India and Asia via Mundi Pharma. Guess what version of OxyContin they have in those countries? They are holding the abuse deterrent formulation for later submission to regulatory agencies. This gives them lead time to create opiate epidemics worldwide with a product that lasts for 8 hrs not 12, propagating the withdrawal/ addiction cycle. It's reprehensible.

 

Tge LA Times article is just another scam to try to look like Purdue is doing the right thing, while it puts all of its future in creating the same epidemic throughout the rest of the world. It’s a day late to protect themselves from the problem they caused in the US.

 

i was laid off after many years with Purdue. While I have many mixed emotions,I still want to add, I disagree that Purduestarted the opioid crisis! Did Purdue play a part, sure. However, the fact remains, hydrocodone is and always will be the largest contributor to the opioid crisis. We as reps KNOW this fact. We also need to hold healthcare providers responsible too. I don’t care what anyone says, doctors know that opioids are scheduled for a reason! Our product has always been a CII, so that in itself demonstrates the risks! We can blame Purdue, but the facts do not change!

 

Sorry, hydro always had apap, and lower doses. Bring oxy at maga doses, crushable, and working on kappa receptor.....plus promote the hell out of it, write or buy the guidelines , so no deal. P was right there .

 

I did not say Purdue was not responsible at all. I said they did not start the problem! I understand EVERY prescription opioid’s PK and PE for God’s sake, I promoted our products! If you think OC was the only opioid being highly abused, I pray you didn’t work in Pain Management, or you were probably one of the idiots who potentially promotied your products inappropriately. Please tell me you aren’t so dumb that you think OC was the genesis of opioid drug abuse?

 

When we started, doctors didn't treat pain. Many people suffered needlessly....
And we were so effective selling higher effective doses and more patients than ever; that our market share in prescriptions was LESS THAN 3%. Hydrocodone/apap was the most prescribed medication in the United States (fact), the best OxyContin ever did was reach #164. BTW ahead of OxyContin, were products like tramadol, Tyl#3, percocet and others. Get the emotion out and think critically. I have little empathy for those that mislead their doctors to continue therapy, or stole, or bought opioids on the street. And then when not available, instead of turning for help, they turned to heroin. Instead of blaming a company that is selling a quality product that does exactly what it says it will do; (unlike some manufactures that knowingly sell faulty products ) why don't you turn your efforts to teach children about personal accountability? You have done such a good job with cigarette smoking. Or try to identify those at risk for drug abuse and offer intervention. Oh wait but smoking POT is now "ok". Check back in ten years let me know how that worked out.
Finally, if you or a loved one,ever needed an opioid for pain you would be singing a different tune.

 

Thank you Purdue legal team for trying to minimize Purdue’s role. Haven’ t heard of too many people overdosing on tramadol or Tylenol #3! Plenty of blame to go around and Purdue had a large stake in it by how aggressively they marketed OC and played up the “pain is undertreated” campaign! they Weazled their way into pain organizations to influence guidelines, targeted family practice and pushed the titration model and pseudo addiction! Sad they could never figure out how to diversify and are going v to ride the cash cow until it dies and then the company will die! Symproic can’t save this shit show!

 

Really?

After we decided to call on IM/FP/GP in addition to pain docs?
After we would ALWAYS want them to TRITATE UP!
After we said "this stuff is not addictive!" How could anything be addictive if you only do it twice a day!?"
After we would send people to TOPPERS with only one ot two docs writing
After we started making entire reagions out of a state like Florida, or tiny New England
After we basically bought off the AG of Maine
After we would classify docs as "WHALES" (docs who write a ton of scripts)
After one national meeting theme was "HIGHER EARNING" as a play on words for HIGHER LEARNING?

Really?

 

Above poster is absolutely correct. Whales is now a bad word around here but used to be a gravy train one. Now sacrificing many good sales people to try and appease the villagers who’ve come for revenge and vengeance

 

Spoken like a true Toppers winner. Was that your acceptance speech as they handed you that big bonus check?