This episode’s show is on when medical care conflicts with Pharma corporate bottom lines, as a form of oppression. Oxycontin, Corporate Criminal Law and the Public Welfare, with guest and attorney, Kirsten Mayer who explains recent Supreme Court decisions that paved the way for prosecution of executives who were removed from the activity of the criminal behavior (i.e. the misbranding and its results of an explosion of opiate misuse that led to addiction and 500k deaths over the next two decades). As a consequence the prosecution of Purdue Frederick in 2007 along with "its top three executives, pleaded guilty as individuals to misbranding charges, a criminal violation and agreed to pay a total of US$34.5 million in fines as part of a $634m judgment."" It is a story that as we speak today (11/2/20) has resulted in 500,000 deaths, twice the amount of the COVID 19 pandemic (albeit over a longer period of time). When 'corporate profits' dwarf the well-being of the majority population with respect to which is the greater priority. The majority lose and they lose badly. On this episode, we discuss Purdue Frederick’s role in the Opioid epidemic sweeping our nation over the last 25 years and includes substantial portions of an older show (4/17/2008) featuring Attorney Kirsten Mayer. The $634m judgment appears to be significant...until you examine what the GAO noticed: That in 2001 alone, Purdue generated $1.3B in sales. This judgment was followed by others, then most recently in October 2020, Purdue Pharma agreed to plead guilty to three criminal charges and pay $8.3B in fines and damages. The company admitted to bribing doctors to unnecessarily prescribe OxyContin and to lying to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about controls on sales of the painkiller. It also paid illegal kickbacks to a health records company to promote opioid prescribing to physicians according to a 10/20/20 Guardian article. “Purdue deeply regrets and accepts responsibility for the misconduct,” said the chairman of its board, Steve Miller. Meanwhile, the Sackler family reportedly received some $10B in payments over the years. This show includes excerpts from a 2008 BLID show on the lottery and weaves in current 2020 analysis confirming and authenticating the 2008 show content and conclusions. Please, join us Monday nights at 6pm CST at KOOP.org. Enjoy!
