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09/07/2018 -ATIN- A scion of the family that controls Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma, Dr. Richard Sackler, has been granted a U.S. patent on a new opioid addiction therapy. The patent was granted for a new drug, a variation on the blockbuster compound buprenorphine.
The Sackler family of Connecticut has long controlled Purdue, which has come under intense fire for allegedly kicking off the opiate addiction epidemic through unscrupulous and misleading advertising and marketing of OxyContin. Dr. Richard Sackler was at one time the CEO of Purdue, a time when OxyContin sales were soaring, driving immense profits at Purdue.
Purdue is now facing over 1,000 lawsuits, many brought by state attorneys general seeking redress and compensation for the medical and economic damages caused by alleged improper and misleading marketing of OxyContin, which the suits claim was a major cause of the unprecedented opiate addiction epidemic. The latest CDC number put OD deaths in 2017 at 72K+, up from $62K+ in 2016. That makes opiate ODs one of the leading causes of premature death.
News of the opiate therapy patent sparked outrage in many circles, with many questioning the appropriateness of Dr. Sackler profiting from helping solve an opiate crisis many believe was caused in the first place by the Sackler family and Purdue.
Venerable Valley Hope, the Kansas-based treatment operator, earlier this summer filed a lawsuit against big pharma opioid manufacturers, saying the drug makers owe Valley Hope, which often takes a loss treating the uninsured or underinsured as it seeks to deal with the deluge of demand for the mostly affordable services the non-profit offers in seven states.
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