http://www.ctpost.com/business/article/Purdue-faces-uphill-battle-to-overcome-opioid-12528026.php
A growing number of prosecutors and politicians accuse Purdue Pharma of fueling the national opioid crisis. The maker of the maligned opioid OxyContin says there is another side to the story.
Amid an avalanche of Oxy-related lawsuits in recent months, the Stamford-based pharmaceutical company has mounted several major campaigns aimed at showing a commitment to combatting the epidemic of opioid abuse. But many medical professionals and public officials are responding to the PR push with deep skepticism, saying the company needs to do much more to back up its claims.
“It strikes me as very hypocritical that these companies that have made billions off selling opioids and have been involved in the overmarketing of these drugs for years now say they want to be part of the solution,” said Dr. Jeff Gordon, immediate past president of the Connecticut State Medical Society. “However, if they are being serious, I welcome them now coming on board. But one has to be very realistic about what their past is.”
Major campaigns
Last month, Purdue ran a full-page ad across print and digital platforms in The Hill, The New York Times, Politico, Roll Call, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Hearst Connecticut Media’s daily newspapers.
The ad says the company has made its opioids more difficult to abuse, worked on non-opioid pain medications, and distributed to prescribers and pharmacists federal prescribing guidelines. It also says there are too many prescription opioid pills in medicine cabinets and expresses support for initiatives that limit the length of initial opioid prescriptions. In addition, it calls for doctors to check prescription drug monitoring programs before writing prescriptions.
“No one solution will end the crisis, but multiple, overlapping efforts will. We want everyone engaged to know you have a partner in Purdue Pharma,” the ad says. “This is our fight, too.”
The company also includes a pop-up link to the letter on its website’s homepage.
Similar ads are scheduled to run in the first quarter of this year, according to Purdue officials. They declined to disclose the cost of the campaign. Several estimates peg the cost of such ads in publications like The New York Times at more than $150,000.
“It’s an advertising technique that is trying to reframe their image in the community and their association with the opioid crisis,” said Debbie Danowski, an associate professor of communications and media arts at Sacred Heart University. “From what I can see in this ad, it’s kind of a lot of talk and not any real concrete action. Imagine the number of people they could be helping by using the money they’re spending on those ads on treatment centers for those who have become addicted to their drugs.”
Among other recent campaigns, the company teamed last fall with the public-private agency The Governor’s Prevention Partnership to launch a series of spots about the opioid crisis on iHeartRadio stations.
The partnership marked the latest chapter in a two-decade alliance between Purdue and The Governor’s Prevention Partnership, which focuses on education about youth issues, including substance abuse. In addition to a base of $50,000 Purdue contributed last year to the Partnership, the company paid approximately $250,000 for the PSA spots.
“We’ve done our due diligence and have been in a relationship with them for 20 years,” Jill Spineti, president and CEO of The Governor’s Prevention Partnership, said in an interview last year. “We know they use a scientific approach to prevention. They’ve put a lot of resources into prevention to do the right thing.”
Last June, Purdue and the National Sheriffs’ Association announced the second round of a program that gives officers across the country overdose kits and training for the naloxone drug, which can reverse opioid overdoses.
NSA officials credit the Purdue-funded initiative with helping to save some 120 lives since its late 2015 pilot-phase launch. In the first stage, NSA officers distributed 500 naloxone kits to 12 local law enforcement agencies in several states.
But other groups, like the Connecticut State Medical Society, said they have not received much support from Purdue and other opioid makers.
“The ball is in their court,” Gordon said. “If they want to reach out to us physicians in Connecticut to find ways to work with us and reach out to the public, I think we would welcome that opportunity. I think it would be a plus all around. It’s a team approach.”
Despite the increased PR, Purdue executives continue to shy away from speaking beyond prepared statements about the opioid crisis. The company has not made CEO and President Craig Landau available for an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media since he started in the position last June.
Legal pressure continues
So far, the PR initiatives have not stanched the torrent of litigation the company faces from local and state prosecutors across the country for alleged deceptive marketing and irresponsible distribution of OxyContin.
New York City last week sued the company and several other pharmaceutical firms, seeking $500 million in damages. Earlier this month, 18 Connecticut municipalities — including Bridgeport, Fairfield and Newtown — filed a similar lawsuit.
“If successful, the (ad) campaign could soften the hardest positions against Purdue,” said Robert Bird, a professor of business law in the University of Connecticut’s business school. “And softening public sentiment may reduce public pressure on the folks who are aggressively pursuing this litigation.”
But Ohio Attorney Gen. Mike DeWine said he was unmoved by the full-page ads. He cited his disappointment in the company’s response to the lawsuit he filed last May.
“They can put as many ads as they want to out there, but that’s not dealing with the problem,” DeWine said in an interview last week. “They’ve refused our invitation to come forward and talk. I find that really speaks for itself. Why don’t we take this opportunity to start talking and try to reach an agreement, so that Purdue Pharma can be part of the solution instead of just being the creator of the problem?”
pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott
Filed under: General Problems
Blame Blame Blame……..What a waste of money….all this suing….What a joke….
Weren’t these “dangerous drugs” approved by the fda? Suing drug manufacturers seems to be the wrong on many levels. Drug companies don’t target addicts, they don’t force anyone to use their products be they for legitimate patients or people who use them for recreational purposes! What about other equally (or more!) dangerous, ineffective, and addictive drugs that the fda approves and pushes as alternatives to opiate/opioid for pain? Something stinks here!
Amen sister! I could not agree w/ you more. While they did have a hand in all this w/ their marketing hype; but they are by no means the ONLY one’s.
Oxycodone has been has been used for many, MANY years & docs are well aware of all the risks. All purdue did was to put a slow melting coating on it, so I don’t buy the excuse that docs were mislead into prescribing it! If they honestly did not know all about oxycodone, then they had no business prescribing it in the 1st place!
I believe that most of the docs that did give it out, did so because they cared about their patients & wanted to help. However, there were also too many that took advantage to get rich!
The sad part is that the DEA were fully aware of all the pill mills & what they were doing, yet let them continue for 10 YEARS before they did ANYTHING!
It’s also strangely odd that the DEA crackdown came around the same time that we took control of the poppy fields in Afghanistan & now we have a DEADLY heroin crisis & the OD & suicide death rates have skyrocketed from 16,500 deaths per yr.(the peak of RX opioids) to over 50,000(illegal street opioids of heroin & carfentanyl!)
Hmm I wonder if there is a link here? Of course not, as our gov’t would NEVER do anything to harm us on purpose, would they?!?
yep
Amen sister, I could not agree more! Purdue took a drug(oxycodone) that has been used for many, MANY years & put a slow melt coating on it. So I don’t buy the excuse that docs were completely mislead as they should know all about the risks of oxycodone & if they honestly were mislead, then they should NOT have prescribed a drug that they didn’t know anything about!
I believe most docs gave this drug out because they really wanted to help their patients; but I also believe there were too many docs that took advantage to just get rich by running pill mills! The sad part is that the DEA was well aware of what was going on, yet did NOTHING for about 10 YEARS!
It is strangely odd the DEA crackdown came around the same time that our gov’t got control of the poppy fields in Afghanistan & now we have a very deadly heroin crisis!!
We went from 16,500 OD deaths(Peak of RX opioids) to over 50,000 deaths(heroin & carfentanyl) along w/ skyrocketing suicide rate of pain pts.
All this CLEARLY shows that this cracking down has only made things MUCH worse & also CLEARLY shows that their goal is NOT to save lives as they claim because many more are dying due to LACK of RX opioids than those that died due to RX opioids!!
Hmmm I wonder if there is a link there? Of course not, as OUR gov’t would NEVER do ANYTHING to harm the people it serves on purpose; would they?!?