The Big Event

In this post, I will explain the specific event that kicked of the drug abuse epidemic in America.

Mills, Amanda "A Female Doctor Examining a Patient." Public Domain.

The single, specific event that led to America’s prescription drug controversy was the United States of America vs. The Purdue Frederick Company, Inc. lawsuit. This occurred in 2007, when the company (Purdue Pharma) that produced the OxyContin drug that every patient seems to get addicted to, pleaded guilty in federal court for misleading doctors, pharmacies, and patients about how high the risk of addiction for this drug really is. 

As a result, Purdue Pharma paid around $600 million worth of fines, which happens to be one of the largest amounts ever paid by a drug company. Additionally, the top three executives of Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty for misbranding and had to pay an additional fine.  They accepted the responsibility of lying about the strength of OxyContin and their claim that it posed a lower threat of addiction than painkillers like Vicodin. After hearing that false claim, patients were bending over backwards trying to get a hold of the new and improved drug. 

Little did they know that after a couple of uses, they would have a racing heart, intense nausea, and be profusely sweating until their next dosage intake. Not to mention the appearance change of opioid withdrawals: runny nose, red, glazed eyes filled with loss and confusion. Patients were not aware of any of these side effects when they decided to take the pain-killers. After this lawsuit, America’s drug epidemic controversy increased significantly in who exactly is to blame for the abuse of opiods. However, the executives of Purdue Pharma were definitely the ones with racing hearts,  intense nausea, and profuse sweating after this lawsuit caused them to pay an extensive amount of fines and take responsibility for their lies.