The death rate for drug overdoses climbed 17 percent last year, killing more than 64,000 people in 2016
‘We have roughly two groups of Americans that are getting addicted,” Dr. [Andrew] Kolodny said. “We have an older group that is overdosing on pain medicine, and we have a younger group that is overdosing on black market opioids.”
For those interested in why this is happening, I urge you to read a “biography’ of the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma of Oxycontin fame.
Here is one chilling excerpt:
[Sam Quinones, author of a book on the crisis talking about the] similarities he finds between the tactics of the unassuming, business-minded Mexican heroin peddlers, the so-called Xalisco boys, and the slick corporate sales force of Purdue. When the Xalisco boys arrived in a new town, they identified their market by seeking out the local methadone clinic. Purdue, using I.M.S. data, similarly targeted populations that were susceptible to its product.
My take is this just one of the many similarities between Purdue and the drug cartels – the one chief difference is Purdue et al dosen’t have to worry about law enforcement.
At least not so far.
Interesting article in the New Yorker. Amazing how marketing influences people. Aren’t physicians suppose to be able to look past marketing at the science to understand the impact of drugs. I guess this is another example of the power of $$$