WHO ARE THE SACKLERS? GREED OF FAMILY BEHIND OXYCONTIN IS 'KILLING AMERICANS,' BERNIE SANDERS SAYS

[Uncle Joe]

Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, announced on Tuesday the settlement of a case brought by Oklahoma for $270 million.

The settlement prompted legal scholars to speculate that other defendants in some of the 35 state cases brought against the company might settle, The New York Times reported. Some 1,600 suits have been filed against Purdue Pharma, whose drug OxyContin is at the center of the opioid crisis that is killing an average 130 Americans a day.

The lawsuits against Purdue have brought increased scrutiny to its operations and the family behind it, the Sacklers, who have amassed a fortune of $13 billion, according to Bloomberg. The company is accused of pushing doctors to prescribe OxyContin while simultaneously promoting an effort that misled the public about the medication's addictive qualities.

The Sacklers have become a widely recognized name and drawn criticism from public figures like comedian Samantha Bee, who hosts Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, and Bernie Sanders. The Vermont senator tweeted a video from Bee on Wednesday, writing, "The Sackler family has made billions of dollars selling opioids. Their greed, which is killing Americans, must end."

(snip)

https://www.newsweek.com/sacklers-opioid-crisis-13-billion-1376871

This is a good read.

[Sherman A1]

1. I believe that they got by cheap in the Oklahoma case

should have been multiple times that amount to recoup the costs of the drugs they peddled onto society.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I agree Sherman.

[Sherman A1]

3. My only hope here is

That their lives will be filled with lawyers.

[Uncle Joe]

4. ....

[guillaumeb]

5. How soon before Purdue Pharma declares bankruptcy?

Or asks for legislative relief?

Only working people are expected to pay for their mistakes.

But this was deliberately over-marketing a product in the name of greed.

[Uncle Joe]

8. I believe you nailed it guillaumeb,

but I believe there should also be criminal charges.

130 Americans a day!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

26. Abso-fuckin-lutely!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Uncle Joe]

9. That's like having a 9/11 every 23 days

[guillaumeb]

15. Agreed.

But business decisions are rarely treated as criminal behavior.

And in the Trump era, with the example of Trump's own crimes, one suspects that this conservative business family will avoid actual punishment.

[Maven]

6. WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING

[Uncle Joe]

7. I copy and paste the title as written.

[Uncle Joe]

11. Would you have him remain silent on this issue?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

27. Hell no... Bernie is right on the money, as usual!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Uncle Joe]

34. His North Star

[Uncle Joe]

12. P.S. Just a cursory search about Bernie's "silence" on this issue.

Bernie Sanders introduces bill to impose jail time for execs behind opioid crisis

By LEV FACHER @levfacher APRIL 17, 2018

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will introduce a bill Tuesday that would impose jail time for pharmaceutical executives whose companies engage in manipulative practices when marketing opioids.

The legislation would impose a 10-year minimum prison sentence and fines equal to an executive’s compensation package if the individual’s company is found to have illegally contributed to the opioid crisis. It would also impose an additional fine on those companies of $7.8 billion — one-tenth the annual cost of the crisis, per a 2016 estimate.

The bill outlined a number of mechanisms by which the Department of Health and Human Services could demonstrate such liability, including by mandating written justifications for pill orders that seem medically unreasonable. And the legislation would establish an opioid reimbursement fund, to be administered by HHS, that would collect the fines levied under the new law and distribute them to other federal departments.

(snip)

Sanders’ new effort is the latest in a spate of opioids-related bills, but takes aim at pharmaceutical companies more explicitly than others. Some version of an opioids-related bill is seen as the last major legislation likely to be pursued on Capitol Hill prior to midterm elections in November.

https://www.statnews.com/2018/04/17/bernie-sanders-bill-jail-opioid-crisis/

[JudyM]

13. As if facts matter.

But thanks for adding that for folks who actually might be interested in truth.

[Uncle Joe]

14. ...

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

28. There you go again Uncle Joe... starting with the facts when it comes to Bernie.

How dare you?!?! hahaha!!


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Hortensis]

29. Here's another really important fact.

I PRESUME the ACA would only be repealed after a genuinely workable 8- or 10-foot high bill MfA was written, finalized and passed. A process "sped" up by presumably cutting and pasting thousands of pages of the ACA into it.

After that, full implementation would occur over 6 years (5 once it actually started). While people who once had insurance or could have had it go without, including most of those going under in this opioid crisis.

Make no mistake, the Sanders destroy-and-replace MfA plan would be the next incremental step toward universal coverage, but a tragically incompetent and piss-poor way to go about it. The Republicans and some of Sanders' populists may be determined to erase the Obama era's legacy, but the cost would be intensely tragic and immoral.

For those who really do care about the people the Sacklers addicted for profit, and the sake of those people themselves, how about we do this big increment AS AN EVOLUTION OF THE ACA, disrupting coverage for no one?

And please ask Sanders himself to get behind expanding coverage to those who don't have it NOW. Is he really going to spend the next 2 years and more fighting improving and expanding coverage people desperately need? Are you?

Link to tweet

[WeekiWater]

16. NUMEROUS STATES KNOW WHO THEY ARE

State’s opioid suit hits billionaire family behind OxyContin

Modesto Bee

[George II]

17. This is an article about a lawsuit settlement. Primaries?

[Uncle Joe]

18. Why tell you and ruin the surprise?

[Hortensis]

19. WaPo: "House Democrats' health-care bill hurts Trump and Bernie"

Last edited Thu Mar 28, 2019, 02:13 PM - Edit history (1)

I initially thought the OP wasn't appropriate for the primaries forum, then I realized it very much is. A new congress won't be sworn in for almost 2 years. And developing legislation for a new healthcare system would take many months after that. Then it would have to be implemented. The ACA was phased in over 5 years.

The dissonance between Sanders' refusing to support saving and improving the ACA now to benefit many millions is staggering. He opposes lowering premiums now, reinstating the income tax credit, disallowing the junk insurance the Republicans raised from the dead, and reaffirming coverage for preexisting conditions and the large, comprehensive package of coverages companies must provide everyone.

If the Republicans succeed in stopping this or damaging the ACA further, that could cost many lives in the first year alone, including those of people Sanders claims to be concerned about here. Sanders' refusal to secure the best healthcare coverage he can right now for people at risk in the epidemic of narcotics deaths absolutely makes this an extremely important primary election position.

Mediaite: On Tuesday night’s edition of All In with Chris Hayes, Sanders slammed the Trump Justice Department’s decision to try and completely invalidate Obamacare in the courts, and promised host Chris Hayes that “I’m going to do everything I can to tell the American people, including the many people who voted for Trump, that he is an absolute fraud” on the issue of health care.

But then, Hayes asked Sanders if he would support a new Democratic House bill to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, and Sanders bluntly responded “No, I support the Medicare for All single payer program.”

HuffPo: What Democrats propose is the sort of step-by-step expansion of Obamacare that both Republicans and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) vehemently oppose. Republicans want nothing; Sanders wants to scrap everything in favor of single-payer health care.

The House Democrats’ bill sets out a proposal to, among other things, reduce health-care premiums (capping out-of-pocket costs at 10 percent of income) and expanding tax credits for those beyond 400 percent of the federal poverty line ($104,000 for a family of four). Protect Our Care, a progressive group backing the legislation, explains, “In all, the bill’s extended tax credits, reinsurance programs and premium assistance would cut premiums for all ACA-compliant plans sold on the individual market, reducing premiums or deductibles for 13 million with individual market coverage and creating lower cost options for 12 million uninsured people eligible for coverage through the marketplace.” The bill also reinstates the guarantee for those with preexisting conditions, disallows non-ACA compliant plans and reaffirms the list of essential health-care benefits to be covered by the ACA.

Ocasio-Cortez is more responsible toward others at 29 than he is at 71. Somehow I think he'd take a different stand if he was covered by the ACA instead of his special deluxe senators' coverage.

HuffPost: “I’m happy to support any provision that strengthens the ACA and plug some of the gaps that we’re seeing, particularly as it’s under assault by the president. I think it’s part of a longer-term vision, at least for me, towards guaranteeing ― truly guaranteeing ― health care for all Americans." Ocasio-Cortez said she understood prioritizing fixes to the Affordable Care Act. “Because we have a Republican Senate, a Republican president, and so the things that we have the ability to pass right now are pretty narrow,” she said ...

[sheshe2]

20. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[mcar]

21. Interesting

Thanks.

[George II]

22. He's actually 77, will be 78 later this year.

[Hortensis]

23. And he's had deluxe taxpayer-funded coverage since

he first took elective office at 40. He has never lived with the prospect of losing everything to a serious illness, including his life to inadequate care. And never will. His senator's insurance will always pay for the most advanced care available.

Meanwhile 130 people a day are dying from inadequately treated opioid addiction alone.

[Uncle Joe]

24. At on average of 130 Americans dying every day,

the Oxycontin addiction epidemic is a national tragedy.

Thanks to everyone that takes this subject seriously for your recs or posts.

[ck4829]

25. K&R

[mr_lebowski]

30. Not saying what this family did is 'okay' but these numbers ... 130/day ... is very misleading

As is trying to pin this crisis on entirely on Purdue and/or Oxycontin.

Oxycontin is composed entirely of Oxycodone (active ingredient-wise), which has been RX'd as a painkiller since the 1930's. Blaming this problem on some single corporation, like it's all their fault, is a copout, and kinda BS AFAIC. They are FAR from the only makers of Rx opioids.

Numbers like 130/day are everyone who dies with a trace of opioids in their system, no matter what age, no matter what cause, no matter whether Rx'd or not ... every heroin user, every old person who died of old age with painkillers in their blood, everybody who mixed alcohol and xanax and vicodin together, etc.

The number of people actually dying daily STRICTLY from opioid OD's, and OC in particular, is a small fraction of this number.

And to be quite frank, anyone dying of Rx opioid OD's alone ... is really not all that bright. OC's have their strength printed in bold letters on one side ... 10, 20, 40, 80. They're white, pink, yellow, and green, respectively. It's not that friggin hard, people.

How about some personal responsibility for the people that abuse this stuff? What, they're all clueless about what they're doing, the mere existence of OC made them become drug abusers? I don't think so. In fact I KNOW that's not true.

People taking opioids (yes, even OC!) as Rx'd, by a doctor, who don't mix it with a buncha booze (which most sane people know not to do) ... really don't OD. It's that simple. You have to take a very considerable amount of opioids to OD and die ... if you don't mix them with other depressants. Fact.

[Uncle Joe]

31. By my calculations, the Sacklers are probably only responsible for about 665 American deaths a year.

But they're definitely a major part of our current dysfunctional health care system that is literally killing Americans by the tens of thousands a year while enriching the pushers.

[mr_lebowski]

32. Sounds about right ...

But have you heard how much harder it's become to get opioids from 'the health care system'? They ain't handing 'em out like candy like they did early 2000's, believe me. I don't know that it's really right to blame the health care system for opioid OD's ... anymore.

My old man has serious chronic pain from injuries and is in a constant battle to not get cut off, he's had to threaten to sue doctors and write angry letters to insurance co and Medicare ... many times. He's one of the original OC users from like 1998.

And yeah, he abuses the crap out of the stuff, runs out early. He's copped to me that he's taken 20 X 30mg instant release Oxycodone in A DAY. That's the equivalent of 120 percocets (5mg/oxy per tablet).

But obviously he has massive tolerance, and doesn't drink, doesn't take xanax or the like. But that's 20 years basically he's been abusing Oxycodone (though w/a legit pain reason), and he's managed to NOT DIE.

And he's honestly not all that bright when it comes to drugs and science and stuff (though he's an intelligent man, he doesn't even know how to email or send a text on his phone ... total luddite, never owned a computer, etc).

I'm tellin' ya ... people who OD and die are, for the most part ... either killing themselves on purpose, dying from counterfeit stuff that are mainly fentanyl and of unknown strength, or mixing pills with a lot of alcohol. If my old man can be a junkie for 20 years on oxycodone and still be alive ... BELIEVE ME. It's NOT that hard. He's lazy as hell and doesn't even know how to look shit up on the internet.

[Uncle Joe]

33. That may be the case but the damage seems to still be ongoing.

There are some nice interactive graphs on the first link

The National Vital Statistics System multiple cause-of-death mortality files were used to identify drug overdose deaths. Drug overdose deaths were classified using the International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), based on the ICD-10 underlying cause-of-death codes X40–44 (unintentional), X60–64 (suicide), X85 (homicide), or Y10–Y14 (undetermined intent). Among the deaths with drug overdose as the underlying cause, the type of opioid involved is indicated by the following ICD-10 multiple cause-of-death codes: opioids (T40.0, T40.1, T40.2, T40.3, T40.4, or T40.6); natural and semisynthetic opioids (T40.2); methadone (T40.3); synthetic opioids, other than methadone (T40.4); and heroin (T40.1).

Other races are excluded from this table. Deaths from illegally-made fentanyl cannot be distinguished from pharmaceutical fentanyl in the data source. For this reason, deaths from both legally prescribed and illegally produced fentanyl are included in these data.

Rates displayed in the table are age-adjusted rates per 100,000 population.

(snip)

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/opioid-overdose-deaths-by-raceethnicity/?activeTab=graph

Millions of Americans suffer from pain and are often prescribed opioids to treat their conditions. However, the dangers of prescription misuse, opioid use disorder, and overdose have been a growing problem throughout the United States.

Since the 1990s, when the amount of opioids prescribed to patients began to grow, the number of overdoses and deaths from prescription opioids has also increased. Even as the amount of opioids prescribed and sold for pain has increased, the amount of pain that Americans report has not similarly changed.

From 1999 to 2017, almost 218,000 people died in the United States from overdoses related to prescription opioids. Overdose deaths involving prescription opioids were five times higher in 2017 than in 1999.

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/prescribing.html