The Sackler Family – A Secretive Billion Dollar Opioid Empire
Summary
TLDRThe video script delves into the Sackler family's role in the opioid epidemic, detailing how their company, Purdue Pharma, aggressively marketed the painkiller OxyContin, contributing to widespread addiction and overdose deaths. It explores the family's tactics, from influencing medical professionals to lobbying for favorable regulations, and their subsequent legal battles and philanthropic endeavors. The narrative questions the ethics of profiting from an epidemic and highlights the ongoing struggle for accountability and solutions.
Takeaways
- 😷 The Sackler family, through Purdue Pharma, played a significant role in the opioid epidemic in the United States, promoting the painkiller OxyContin despite knowing its addictive nature.
- 💊 OxyContin was marketed aggressively, with Purdue Pharma employing a vast sales force and using deceptive practices to downplay the drug's addictive potential to doctors and patients.
- 📈 The Sackler family amassed a multibillion-dollar fortune from the sales of OxyContin, even as the drug contributed to a public health crisis with hundreds of thousands of deaths.
- 🏥 The opioid epidemic has been linked to increased rates of addiction and overdose, with Purdue Pharma accused of prioritizing profits over patient well-being.
- 🚑 OxyContin's addictive nature became evident soon after its release, but Purdue Pharma allegedly continued to mislead about the risks, even internally acknowledging higher addiction rates than publicly stated.
- 🤝 Purdue Pharma allegedly influenced the medical community by paying clinicians to speak on their behalf and encouraging the prescription of opioids for a wider range of patients.
- 💸 The Sackler family has a history of philanthropy, with their name associated with numerous cultural and educational institutions, which has been called into question due to the source of their wealth.
- 📉 In response to the crisis, Purdue Pharma has faced numerous lawsuits and settlements, though the Sackler family has largely avoided direct legal repercussions.
- 🛑 Attempts to reformulate OxyContin to make it less susceptible to abuse may have inadvertently driven users to more dangerous opioids like heroin.
- 🏛 There is growing public backlash against the Sackler family, with cultural institutions beginning to reject their donations and the family's reputation being increasingly scrutinized.
- 🌐 The Sackler family's actions have sparked a global conversation about corporate responsibility, addiction, and the ethics of profiting from a public health crisis.
Q & A
What is the Sackler family's connection to the opioid epidemic?
-The Sackler family is partly responsible for the opioid epidemic due to their involvement with the drug maker Purdue Pharma and their infamous opioid painkiller, OxyContin. Their aggressive marketing strategies and downplaying of addiction risks contributed to the widespread use and abuse of the drug.
How has the opioid epidemic affected the United States according to the transcript?
-The opioid epidemic has led to just under 50,000 deaths per year, making drug overdoses the leading cause of death for people under 50 in the United States. It has also caused countless lives to be destroyed through addiction.
What was the role of Arthur Sackler in the pharmaceutical industry?
-Arthur Sackler was an advertising pioneer in pharmaceuticals, being the first to convince the Journal of the American Medical Association to run a color ad brochure. He also made Valium the first drug to pass 100 million in sales by marketing it for a wide range of ailments.
What was the initial purpose of MS Contin, and how did Purdue Pharma expand its use?
-MS Contin was initially developed for hospice care to help terminally ill patients manage pain. Purdue Pharma expanded its use to the general market with the release of OxyContin, which was a stronger and more addictive version of MS Contin.
How did Purdue Pharma's marketing strategy contribute to the opioid crisis?
-Purdue Pharma employed armies of sales reps, paid off doctors, lobbied for favorable regulations, and used aggressive marketing to push OxyContin as a solution for a wide range of pain issues, leading to over-prescription and addiction.
What was the FDA's role in the approval of OxyContin and its marketing claims?
-The FDA approved OxyContin and allowed Purdue Pharma to market the drug with claims that its delayed absorption would reduce the probability of abuse, despite evidence suggesting a higher addiction rate than advertised.
How did Purdue Pharma handle the issue of OxyContin's addictive nature?
-Instead of addressing the addictive nature of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma blamed patients for not taking the drug as directed and continued to push for higher dosages, which increased the risk of addiction.
What was the impact of Purdue Pharma's actions on the medical community and patients?
-Purdue Pharma's actions led to widespread prescription of OxyContin, addiction among patients, and a significant increase in overdose deaths. They also corrupted the medical community by paying off doctors and influencing regulations.
What steps has Purdue Pharma taken to mitigate the opioid crisis they contributed to?
-Purdue Pharma reformulated OxyContin to make it harder to abuse by snorting or injecting, but this may have led some users to switch to other, harder opioids like heroin. They have also faced numerous lawsuits and settlements.
How have the Sackler family's philanthropic efforts been affected by the opioid crisis?
-The Sackler family's philanthropic efforts have been tainted by the crisis, with some museums and institutions rejecting their donations and the family facing public backlash for their role in the epidemic.
What are some of the broader implications and potential solutions discussed in the script?
-The script discusses the need for medical reforms to prevent companies from misleading the public about drug risks, the importance of understanding addiction, and the potential role of alternative treatments like medical cannabis in addressing the opioid crisis.
Outlines
🔍 The Sackler Family and the Opioid Epidemic
This paragraph introduces the Sackler family's role in the opioid crisis, highlighting their responsibility for the widespread addiction and death toll linked to their company's drug, OxyContin. It discusses the family's pursuit of wealth at the expense of public health, the scale of the epidemic in the United States, and the connection between opioid prescriptions and addiction. The paragraph sets the stage for a deeper dive into the Sackler's actions and the impact of their pharmaceutical empire.
💊 The Genesis of OxyContin and its Marketing Tactics
The second paragraph delves into the development and marketing of OxyContin by Purdue Pharma, detailing the company's strategies to push the drug onto the market. It discusses the initial use of MS Contin in hospice care and the subsequent release of OxyContin as a stronger alternative. The paragraph also covers the misinformation campaign that downplayed the risk of addiction, the company's aggressive marketing to healthcare professionals, and the corruption within the supply chain that contributed to the epidemic.
📈 Purdue Pharma's Expansion and the Spread of Addiction
This section examines Purdue Pharma's tactics to expand the use of OxyContin beyond cancer patients, leading to a surge in prescriptions and addiction rates. It describes how the company manipulated regulations, incentivized doctors to prescribe the drug, and capitalized on the trust patients have in their healthcare providers. The paragraph also highlights the company's targeting of vulnerable populations and the consequences of Purdue's actions, including the increase in overdose deaths and the transition to even more dangerous substances like heroin.
🚨 The Fallout and Legal Battles of Purdue Pharma
The fourth paragraph discusses the legal challenges Purdue Pharma faced as the addiction crisis unfolded. It outlines the numerous lawsuits, settlements, and the company's evasive tactics to avoid accountability. The paragraph also reveals the company's internal knowledge of the drug's addictive nature and the subsequent attempts to reformulate OxyContin to mitigate abuse, which inadvertently led to an increase in heroin use.
🌐 Purdue's International Ambitions and the Sackler Family's Philanthropy
This section explores Purdue Pharma's plans to expand into international markets and the Sackler family's philanthropic endeavors. It raises questions about the ethics of their donations, especially in light of the opioid crisis, and discusses the growing public backlash against the family's name. The paragraph also touches on the family's attempts to distance themselves from the crisis and the ongoing debate about their responsibility for the epidemic.
🌿 The Search for Solutions and the Road to Recovery
The final paragraph focuses on the efforts to address and mitigate the opioid crisis. It discusses the role of the US government in providing emergency response tools, the use of alternative treatments like cannabis, and the importance of medical reforms to prevent similar crises in the future. The paragraph concludes with a call to action to learn from the past and a tribute to those working to help those affected by the epidemic.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Epidemic
💡Sackler family
💡Opioid
💡OxyContin
💡Addiction
💡Purdue Pharma
💡Overdose
💡Marketing
💡Lobbying
💡Class-action lawsuit
💡Bankruptcy
Highlights
The Sackler family is implicated in the opioid epidemic, with their company Purdue Pharma's drug OxyContin being a major contributor.
Opioids, including OxyContin, are responsible for nearly 50,000 deaths per year in the United States.
The Sackler family has made a multibillion-dollar empire from the sale of OxyContin, despite its addictive properties.
Purdue Pharma's aggressive marketing strategies, including employing armies of sales reps and paying off doctors, contributed to the widespread use of OxyContin.
High prescription rates of opioids correlate with high overdose rates, indicating a direct link between availability and abuse.
The Sackler family has invested in prestigious institutions worldwide, distancing their name from the controversial OxyContin.
Arthur Sackler pioneered advertising in pharmaceuticals, using research papers to leverage the marketing of drugs like Valium.
MS Contin, a precursor to OxyContin, was initially used for hospice care but was later marketed for general use, leading to addiction issues.
Purdue Pharma's internal studies showed a 13% addiction rate for OxyContin, contradicting their public claims of a less than 1% rate.
The FDA approved a claim that OxyContin's delayed absorption would reduce the probability of abuse, despite evidence of corruption.
Purdue Pharma targeted poor areas with high labor work, where instances of workplace injury led to higher uses of OxyContin.
The company recorded information about prescription quantities to target doctors who prescribed the most pills.
Purdue faced numerous lawsuits, often settling out of court to avoid public record and testimonies from executives.
In response to the crisis, Purdue reformulated OxyContin to be harder to abuse, but this may have led to an increase in heroin use.
The Sackler family has been largely shielded from legal repercussions, despite their significant involvement in Purdue Pharma's operations.
Purdue's lobbying efforts have secured the continued sale of OxyContin without generic competition, extending their profits.
The company has expanded into new markets and is reportedly considering bankruptcy to protect assets amidst thousands of lawsuits.
Protests and rejections of Sackler donations in the art world indicate a growing public awareness and backlash against the family's role in the opioid crisis.
The opioid crisis has sparked national efforts to address addiction, including the use of overdose-reversal drugs and medical reforms.
Transcripts
we are in the middle of an epidemic an
epidemic in fact it's called the worst
public health epidemic in our history as
eight members of the Sackler family
caused much of the opioid epidemic and
the case is shining a spotlight on the
powerful family behind the drug maker
they were all hell-bent on becoming
super rich imagine a medical industry
that's supposed to keep a nation healthy
but becomes so completely corrupt that
it causes an epidemic this has become a
reality in the United States where
opioids of course just under 50,000
deaths per year according to recent
figures and that's just the tip of the
iceberg countless other lives have been
destroyed through addiction in the
United States drug overdoses of a
leading cause of death and people under
50 that's a lot to take in but imagine
if most of this tragedy was caused by
one secretive family working behind the
scenes once again this is a reality that
families name is Sackler the Sackler
family is not only partly responsible
for the epidemic but has also made a
multibillion-dollar Empire from it you
may not know about them but you've
surely heard of oxycontin before welcome
to the story of how billionaires and
doctors became the drug dealers that
caused an epidemic
you are watching ColdFusion TV the
opioid epidemic in the United States was
caused by a variety of factors but one
of the main ones is the involvement of
the Sackler family and their infamous
opioid painkiller oxycontin in 2017 when
over 100 people per day were dying
President Trump declared the opioid
crisis and national emergency he is the
problem patients are often given strong
painkillers when in hospital for surgery
or chronic pain while the drugs are life
enabling for many patients to avoid
excruciating pain from injury or
otherwise many fall into addiction
cycles from withdrawals some people
graduate from prescription
pharmaceuticals onto cheaper and more
potent alternatives like heroin or
fentanyl the cases and causes come from
far and wide but research indicates that
there is a strong correlation between
regions of high opioid prescription
rates and high overdose rates and if you
look at it four of five injectable drug
users started getting opioids whether it
be oxycontin prescription or
non-prescription pill taking so there is
a direct correlation between the two
annually more than 214 million
prescriptions for opioid pain have been
given out with more than 11 million
people abusing their medication but how
did this problem get so catastrophic
enter the sackless the cycle has pushed
oxycontin to everyday people who had
little use for the drug they corrupted
the entire supply chain employing armies
of sales reps paying off doctors
lobbying for favorable regulation and
making billions while masses fell into
devastating addiction but in care much
for the addictive properties of their
drugs they were more concerned with
their bottom line
the name is everywhere yet not many
people know about them the Sackler
family have invested a substantial
portion of their 14 billion dollar net
worth into many museums art galleries
and universities the world-famous Louvre
museum in Paris has a Sackler wing Kate
Middleton was stunned when she opened
the Sackler courtyard in the Victoria
and Albert Museum which consists of
11,000 handmade porcelain tiles London's
famous Gothic church Westminster Abbey
even has a window and named after the
sackless while the family is happy to
put their name on any prestigious
institution that will receive their
money it's a name that is far removed
from their golden product oxycontin the
reason why will soon be very obvious so
to understand the cycle isn't for we
must first look at the Sackler story the
story of the Sackler starts in 1952 when
three psychiatrist brothers Arthur
Mortimer and Raymond purchased a small
pharmaceutical company called Purdue
together they co-authored over a hundred
research papers on the biochemistry of
mental illness
Arthur Sackler doubled as an advertising
pioneer in pharmaceuticals perhaps by
using his research papers as leverage it
was the first to convince the Journal of
the American Medical Association to run
an ad brochure in color Arthur went on
to make valium the first drug to pass
100 million sales he did this by
marketing it as a drug to cover all
kinds of ailments with a made-up term he
called psychic tension previously that
kind of drug was strictly only for
anxiety so with the introduction of the
invented idea of psychic tension it
could be prescribed to a much wider
market almost anyone could fit the
symptoms not just anxiety sufferers by
this stage are classic LA was inducted
into the medical advertising Hall of
Fame during the 1980s a recent movement
in medicine was taking place it was
called hospice the hospice sector takes
care of the terminally ill and
end-of-life patients around this time
the cyclist company Perdue would release
a morphine based pill called MS Contin
that could help cancer patients sleep in
the hospice market addiction wasn't an
issue because the patients would soon
pass Perdue would take this concept one
step further they would release MS
Contin
general use unfortunately MS Contin
would be the precursor to the drug that
would help create an epidemic in the
United States MS Contin became the
benchmark for pain relief among cancer
patients during the 1980s several papers
and articles claimed that the link
between opioids and addiction was
minimal and previously overstated a
letter published to the New England
Journal of Medicine stated that the risk
of addiction was less than 1% even
though this letter was later attracted
by the author it didn't stop over 600
citations at the letter in medical
journals the misinformation had already
spread and it was difficult to stop
advertising genius and co-founder of
Purdy
Arthur Sackler had a nephew named
Richard Richard would later become the
president of Purdue but got his start as
a research scientist in the company
Richard would constantly be
brainstorming ideas trying to find new
uses for MS Contin much like his uncle
Arthur he was heavily interested in the
commercial and marketing side of the
business
Purdue's former executive director of
product management recalled that Richard
didn't always work for the research
results Richard Sackler would like to
become the president of the company in
1999 and co-chair in 2003 his uncle and
father became the co-ceos of Purdue
within Purdue Richard was an avid micro
manager he would send out bulletins
which halfway through it read if you're
reading this call my secretary and he
would leave secret passwords in the
texts based on which sales reps called
the secretary and delivered the password
Richard would know exactly who was
reading the bulletins and who wasn't
during the 1990s the company realized
that they needed to do something about
MS Contin the patent was set to expire
by the end of the decade in addition the
use of morphine as an end-of-life
medication stigmatized the drug from
being more widely available the company
moved to make a new drug called
oxycontin with the active ingredient
oxycodone replacing the morphine many
doctors falsely believe that oxycodone
was weaker than morphine the truth was
the active ingredient in oxycontin
oxycodone was in fact 50% stronger than
morphine later in an unpublished study
by Purdue in 1999 the company found that
the addiction rate was 13% not 1% the
FDA even approved a claim the
oxycontin's delayed absorption would
reduce the probability of
abuse the FDA examiner he was involved
in the approval of this claim left the
FDA shortly and within two years had
accepted a role at Purdue sadly this
move hints at corruption in 2015
Purdue was granted FDA approval to
market the drug to children as young as
11
almost immediately after oxycontin was
released the cases of addiction became
apparent but rather than admit that drug
was addictive the company simply blame
people for not taking the drug as
directed even Purdy themselves had to
fire one of their secretaries after she
became addicted to oxycontin so the
question has to be asked why was the use
and abuse of oxycontin so widely spread
well it wasn't by accident the company
knew exactly what they were doing Purdue
strategy for marketing their new drug
oxycontin began in 1995 first the
company focused the drug on the same
marketers MS Contin cancer patients the
move was made to win wide regulatory
acceptance and the integration of the
drug into medical programs the company
began their targeted advertisements on
health professionals during this stage
sales representatives were encouraged to
lie about the addictive nature of the
drug that our best strongest pain
medicines are the opioids but these are
the same drugs that have a reputation
for causing addiction and other terrible
things now in fact the rate of addiction
amongst pain patients who are treated by
doctors is much less than 1% they don't
wear out they go on working they do not
have serious medical side effects and so
these drugs which I repeat are our best
strongest pain medications should be
used much more than they are for
patients in pain then things got really
dirty Purdy then began paying off all
the links in the supply chain
distributors were guaranteed rebates
pharmacists were given refunds and
patients were given coupons for starter
suppliers academia also got their share
in grants medical journals were even
making money from advertising the drug
politicians were given campaign
donations from both Purdue and the
Sackler family but the most important
link in the whole chain was the doctors
after all they were the ones who use
their discretion on what
describe patience Purdue had speaking
events where doctors would be flown in
to so-called seminars which were
essentially golfing trips thousands of
clinicians were paid to speak at
conferences on the company's behalf
prominent doctors on the Purdue payroll
played down the effects of opioids
calling them a gift from nature and
stated that the notion that opioids
caused addiction was a medical myth
during a nine-year stretch from 2006 to
2015
Purdue and other drug manufacturers in
the industry have spent almost 900
million dollars in political payments
and lobbying
perdy lobbied and encourage regulations
that require doctors to ask patients to
rate their pain on a scale of one to ten
this gave them a more quantifiable and
tangible reason to prescribe opioids the
company was trying to make oxycontin a
viable treatment for non cancer patients
an excerpt from a squire who did a piece
in the sackless reads the company
rebranded pain relief as a sacred Rite a
universal narcotic entitlement available
not only to the terminally ill but to
every American by 2001 and your
oxycontin sales had surged past one
billion dollars
business was booming in the five-year
period between 1996 and 2001 in the
United States
oxycontin grew from 300,000
prescriptions to almost 6 million opioid
abuse cases began rising to the surface
and studies which showed direct
correlations between the location of the
cases and the volume of opioid
prescriptions in that area Purdue even
targeted poor areas with high labor work
the higher instances of workplace injury
led to higher uses of oxycontin the
company also recorded information about
prescription quantities that individual
doctors were writing sadly this was so
that the sales reps would have a better
idea of which doctors to target like
casinos targeting clients that would
spend the most
perdy was targeting doctors that would
prescribe the most people trust their
doctor and they think that the doctor is
prescribing things appropriately and
monitoring them appropriately and they
think that if the bottle says take it in
such and such a way that is perfectly
okay to do that it is now possible to
find regions in the country where the
amount of prescriptions is more than the
actual population of the region doctors
would be arrested in the hundreds for
running clinics which prescribe pills to
patients without a legitimate reason
these were often called pill mills the
purdue company not only knew what they
were doing but they were happy about it
the company's memos between sales reps
read dollars dollars dollars
it's Bonus Time in the neighborhood some
of the better sales reps were earning
six-figure commissions with the company
paying out 40 million dollars in bonuses
in 2001 but for the Sackler family and
Purdy things weren't going to stay so
rosy
by this stage there was mounting
criticism of oxycontin but Purdue still
managed to make things even worse the
effects of oxycontin was supposed to
last 12 hours enough for a good night's
rest
however often the effects are only
present for eight hours now / you could
have done one of two things increase the
frequency of the dose or increase the
dosage and increase the potential for
addiction they did the latter sales reps
was strictly instructed to inform
doctors to increase the dosage amounts
instead of the frequency this created
the perfect cycle for addiction the
increased dosage would make the patient
feel the effects of withdrawal for a
short period and then they would have to
take another pill to put them at ease
again
this led patients down the slope of
being prescribed more than they needed
as their tolerance is cru they fell
deeper into addiction every night on the
news you'd hear someone dying in the
state or in other states because of oxy
cotton and it was so addictive
and they knew that pharmaceuticals knew
that to bring the same I have to show
you the real impact of opioid withdrawal
from the inside with this you can gain
an empathetic view and understand why so
many people don't make it out family
time is something Travis reader does not
take for granted the Johns Hopkins
University bioethics professor soaks up
every moment he can that's because two
years ago prescription opioids stole a
chapter of his life 2015 a serious
motorcycle accident left Travis with a
crushed foot he would have six surgeries
to fix it including a transplant from
his thigh requiring large amounts of
pain medication it was had a follow-up
doctor's appointment with the initial
trauma surgeon the guy who saved the
foot and he's the one who asked me about
my pain level and my drugs and he's like
oh you're on a lot of opioids you
probably need to think like it
Travis says his doctor suggested he
begin weaning off of the drugs over four
weeks he says three days in he was going
through serious withdrawal I felt like I
got the flu my temperature kind of went
haywire
I couldn't sleep very well she watched
him get worse every day
uncontrollable crying you know they
often he would just burst into tears
like you know he couldn't sleep
Travis reached out to more than a dozen
of his doctors some told him to take
stool softeners and drink lots of water
but no one could tell him how to get out
of the withdrawal hell he was in hey I'm
really in trouble here I'm feeling
really bad it's that bad go back on the
drugs Travis says he is not anti opioids
and believes they do have a place but
doctors need to prescribe them with a
plan the failure wasn't not following up
never telling me what to look forward to
in my experience
okay withdrawal was the worst feeling
I've ever had
hands down I have vivid memories of
being sick in my bed sweating with the
covers on and freezing with the covers
off I was constantly sick I vomited
almost every single morning it's
something that I would never want to go
back to you can die straight up your
heart can explode for not having it you
can die because when you don't have it
your blood pressure goes up that is why
a lot of people's heart feels like it's
pound our chest when they have to
withdrawal symptoms and if I didn't have
them the hair on my head hurt not only
that withdrawal symptoms you're going to
be having growing up you're gonna be
vomiting you're gonna have cold chills
you're gonna have hot flashes you're
gonna not be able to sleep because
you're gonna have restless legs your
legs are gonna be moving all over the
place this is your legs this is what
they're gonna be doing because you can't
stand to be in your own skin and that is
exactly what it feels like the
withdrawal exactly you're also gonna
have probably anxiety attacks maybe even
pain
attacks your face is flushing you might
get scared you know so you start
hyperventilating and things like that
there was no counseling along the way I
was never told that dependence was gonna
be a problem right and then at the end
no one knew how or was able or willing
to appropriately wean me off so why
wasn't anyone doing anything about this
well soon people did as time went on
perdy would go on to face many
class-action lawsuits in regard to their
practices with the drug often the
company settle awarding plaintiffs
millions in 2004 Purdue was sued for
deceptive marketing as the drugs were
meant to last 12 hours
but lasted much less the company settled
the suit for ten million dollars sealing
the case under confidentiality and
admitting no wrongdoing or changing any
practices Purdue always avoided any
cyclist testifying under oath
they always reached a settlement just as
they were going to be called upon in
2007 the company faced a suit from the
federal government in which Purdue was
charged for a criminal felony of
purposefully pushing misconceptions
about oxycontin Purdue acknowledged that
they knew about the misconceptions
doctors had about their drug and
actively exploited it for profit this
settlement cost Purdue 600 million
dollars even though a lot of the Sackler
family were on the board and Richard
Sackler had a direct hand in operations
the CERCLA family name appeared nowhere
in the 89 page guilty plea however the
cyclin name did appear on an agreement
attached to the plea which would mean
that the government wouldn't go after
any of the listed entities related to
the Sackler family the company's
eagerness to settle was in order to
avoid anything going on the public
record especially anything from the
circles themselves the family's only
testimony on the topic came in 2015 from
Richard sealed from public view for four
years and only released in 2009 the
testimony showed that Richard Sackler
knew about the dangers of oxycontin in
2001 after it was reported that 59
people died from oxycontin overdoses his
email to executives read that is not too
bad it could have been far worse
by 2010 perdy had realized that they
need to address the issue facing them so
they created a new formula for their
pill which is harder to snort or inject
after the reformulations a study was
conducted that found 1/3 of users
switched to other drugs and of those a
further 70% began using heroin it
appears that this reformulation simply
increased the rate that people turn to
cheaper and harder opioids this was
shown by the significant increase in
cases post 2010 your money gets tiny
you're just like well what can I get
something close to this but cheaper
companies do play a big role
Purdy's actions went two step further as
the oxycontin pattern was nearing its
end Purdue with an apparent sudden
change of heart
stunningly lobbied that the drug was
prone to abuse and then no other
companies should be allowed to remake it
in 2013 the FDA agreed no generic copies
of oxycontin were to be made but
Purdue's version of oxycontin remained
on the market this simply meant that no
other competitors could make their own
versions of the drug
so what looked like a rare noble act
from Purdue was simply a cunning act to
move to secure a few more years of
competition free selling of their
billion-dollar baby
oxycontin with his trail of destruction
ruining large sections of the American
population Purdue appears to be moving
to other markets markets with fewer
regulations would be a simple way for
the cyclists to keep milking their cash
cow in 2016 and LA Times investigation
into Purdy's child company Monday farmer
suggested that is gearing up to take on
international markets with their drug in
response US lawmakers wrote a letter to
the World Health Organization warning
the intents of the company owned by the
Sackler family in 2018 the SEC has
obtained a patent for a drug which is
used to treat opioid addiction
ironically they might make even more
money from the crisis they helped create
in March 2019 Purdue settled yet another
lawsuit this time the company agreed to
pay 270 million dollars to the state of
Oklahoma for its part in the opioid
epidemic the Sackler family was not
called by name as the defendant however
perhaps an order to not be called to
testify the Sackler family has
voluntarily pledged 75 million dollars
to the National Centre for Addiction
Studies at Oklahoma State University the
company is currently said to be
considering bankruptcy in the midst of
thousands of lawsuits in order to
protect the assets in total a separate
collection of about 1600 lawsuits are
being carried out from various levels of
government
the circular name was kept far away from
their products and oxycontin wasn't
called oxy Sackler on purpose but now
the world is waking up we're here to
call out the Sackler family who've
become synonymous with the opioid crisis
the family who made billions off the
bodies of hundreds of thousands
protestors have began assembling and
organizing against the cyclists in
February 2019 the Guggenheim Museum in
New York a common recipient of suckler
money was taken over by protesters
prescription papers fell from the
balconies symbolically as carelessly as
doctors on the cyclope roll once wrote
them the chant
shame on Sackler occurred throughout the
streets of New York as angry groups
gathered it now seems that the cyclists
favorite domain the art and museum world
has now been overtaken by people who
have had enough in 2019 one by one art
galleries around the world began to
reject their work the National Portrait
Gallery in the UK announced that it
would be rejecting a 1.3 million
donation from the Sackler trust London
State Museum in New York's Guggenheim
Museum both announced that any further
donations from the sackless will not be
accepted as far as outrage against the
sackless goes the deeper story is more
nuanced most of the Sackler descendants
are involved in philanthropic work
organizing various charities and
well-meaning causes some have never
owned any shares and Purdue but Barre
the Sackler name
should the descendants some of whom have
no interaction with Purdue apart from
collecting their checks which some
estimates put as high as 1 billion
dollars per year be held accountable the
publication The New Yorker puts forward
a good argument that the money received
from ill games should go to measures to
counter the impact that they had for
example john d rockefeller founded
Standard Oil which was later broken up
into massive oil companies such as
Chevron ExxonMobil and BP the
descendants of Rockefeller have used
some of their fortune to fund resources
involved in climate change and ordered
the companies harms due to their
enormous moral responsibility should the
cyclists do the same the last of the
three original Sackler brothers who
started the company back in the 1950s
died in 2017 however Richard who ran the
Purdy company and other Sackler members
who have served on the board are still
alive and being sued all of these
settlements seem like pennies on the
dollar for a company which reportedly
earned thirty five billion dollars in
revenue from oxycontin and further
fueled an epidemic which has killed over
200,000 people since 1997 one senator
even described the settlements as an
expensive license for criminal
misconduct sure the cyclers are not
solely responsible for the opioid
epidemic a range of other drugs were
available both pharmaceutical and on the
street and there were other factors too
but their large role in the entire
crisis is undeniable perhaps there's a
silver lining though the US government
has taken the first steps to addressing
the issue on a national level emergency
response tools such as narcan nasal
spray have saved countless lives in
emergency overdose situations drugs such
as buprenorphine and methadone combined
with psychological help are often used
to treat patients addicted to opioids
meanwhile researchers in Canada are
finding a 30 percent of medicinal
cannabis patients use the drug as a
substitute for their previous opioid
addictions 2014 study found the deaths
from opioids were 25 percent lower in
states that had legalized cannabis in
total it's a complicated issue and it's
going to be a long road but
understanding addiction and creating
medical reforms that make it harder for
companies to lie about their drugs will
be key in the future change
credit and a bit of thankfulness must be
given to the countless people who are
trying to help those affected by this
horrible crisis hospital staff charity
workers local police fire departments
social workers in their own way they all
help save lives every day but it is
evident now more than ever the effect
that the Sackler family has had on the
world depending on how long the opioid
crisis continues we still may not know
the full and true extent of the cyclers
efforts ironically after Sackler once
told his children leave the world a
better place than it was when you came
in if you've ever seen a bigger case of
hypocrisy please let me know the
cyclists that were involved in creating
an opioid epidemic cared more about
their profits than they did about their
patients the very people they were meant
to help it may be too late to bring
those responsible to justice
or completely heal from the impact that
their actions had on the world but it's
not too late to stop this kind of thing
from happening again in the future for
the last thirty years the cycle has had
a secret but not anymore
and now you all know it too so that
wraps up our look at the Sackler family
and their role in the opioid crisis if
you do know anyone going through this
I'm sorry
and I hope things get better for them
so just a bit of housekeeping quickly if
this video does well like the
thoroughness video I did before and you
guys kind of like this longer form
content then I think I'll do one of
these long form documentaries maybe once
a month we'll see how we go so again
thanks for watching this has been - go
go you've been watching cold fusion feel
free to share this video to anyone who's
interested in this topic and wondering
how this opioid epidemic actually really
started and I'll catch you again soon
for the next video cheers guys have a
good one
[Music]
you
you
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