<p>OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharmaceuticals announced last week it would no longer be marketing opioids directly to physicians.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We have restructured and significantly reduced our commercial operation and will no longer be promoting opioids to prescribers,&rdquo; said the company in an official statement.</p>
<p>Purdue will continue to sell OxyContin, but will no longer send sales representatives to doctors&rsquo; offices. Purdue told employees it would be cutting its sales force by 50%, down to just 200 workers. ;</p>
<p>Marketing efforts will now be focused on non-opioid products. ;</p>
<p>The major policy change ;follows a string of lawsuits alleging Purdue contributed to the opioid crisis by misrepresenting the risks and benefits of OxyContin &#8211; a claim that has persisted for more than a decade.</p>
<p>OxyContin, approved by the FDA in 1995, was originally hailed as a miracle due to its ability to provide pain relief for up to 12 hours. But as many patients quickly realized, they could get a heroin-like high by crushing the tablets and either snorting or injecting an entire dose at once. ;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, OxyContin sales generated billions of dollars for Purdue. ;</p>
<p>Criticism against Purdue and its aggressive sales tactics began as ;early as 2000. A government report published in 2003 notes the DEA was concerned by Purdue&rsquo;s marketing of OxyContin to &ldquo;physicians who may not have been adequately trained in pain management.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Purdue has long advertised OxyContin as &ldquo;safer&rdquo; than competitors due to a delayed-reaction mechanism that reduces the risk of abuse. But everyone knows painkillers are addictive, and OxyContin is no exception. ;</p>
<p>In 2007, Purdue executives pled guilty to accusations of misleading regulators, doctors, and patients about OxyContin&rsquo;s risk of addiction and potential for abuse. Three top executives &#8211; including the company&rsquo;s president &#8211; pled guilty as individuals for the criminal violation of misbranding. ;</p>
<p>Purdue shelled out $634.5 million in fines, one of the largest amounts ever paid by a drug company in this sort of case, and the execs paid a total of $34.5 million. ;</p>
<p>Last November, Purdue confirmed it is in engaged in settlement talks with state attorneys general and is &ldquo;trying to come up with a global resolution of the government opioid claims.&rdquo;</p>
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<p>Deaths from opioid abuse increased about 13% each year between 1999 and 2009. The death toll in 2016 was more than 42,000, and numbers for 2017 are expected to be higher. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question that the marketing of these drugs to physicians in the past has played a role in where we are today, but this move is not going to move the needle on overdose deaths,&rdquo; says addictions expert Keith Ahamad. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re so far down the line that it&rsquo;s too little, too late. There are so many other pharmaceutical companies in the game now. Physicians need to be getting their prescribing and treatment education from evidence-based guidelines rather than from pharmaceutical companies.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Purdue&rsquo;s changes in the US will not extend to Canada, where the company operates independently. ;</p>
<p>Like the US, Canada has also watched abuse and addiction climb alongside the success of OxyContin. The number of deaths for 2017 is estimated at 4,000, marking a 40% increase over 2016. ;</p>
<p>Purdue settled a Canadian lawsuit for $20 million in 2017, but did not admit guilt. ;</p>