Prescription Opioids and Heroin - Our Kids are Dying!
The talk is not working. The workshops are not working. The government task forces are not working. Education is not working. If it were, the numbers would be declining not going through the roof. Our kids are dying!
(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - In the 14 years I have been writing about the prescription opioid crisis which has evolved into a heroin epidemic, my frustration level has elevated.
In July 2007, I testified in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about OxyContin and the criminal conviction of Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin.
My testimony is shown here:
Testimony
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Evaluating the Propriety and Adequacy of the OxyContin
Criminal Settlement
July 31, 2007
Marianne Skolek
_________________________________________
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Evaluating the Propriety and Adequacy of the OxyContin
Criminal Settlement
July 31, 2007
Marianne Skolek
_________________________________________
My name is Marianne Skolek. I had a beautiful 29 year old daughter named Jill. She had the misfortune of being prescribed OxyContin in January 2002 and was killed on April 29, 2002. Jill left behind her son Brian who was 6 years old at the time of his mom’s death. Brian is with me in the Senate today.
Why did a $9 billion privately held pharmaceutical corporation take the life of my precious daughter? My work against Purdue Pharma for the past 5 years initially focused on J. David Haddox, dentist turned psychiatrist and Senior Medical Director of Purdue Pharma.
I also focused on Robin Hogen, former Public Relations spokesman for Purdue Pharma.
In 1996, the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the American Pain Society issued a set of guidelines for the use of opiates in the treatment of chronic pain.
These guidelines are referred to as a “consensus statement.” The statement leaning toward a more liberal use of opiates was adopted just as the marketing push for OxyContin began.
This consensus statement was produced by a task force, which was headed by J. David Haddox, former president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, who was senior medical advisor for Purdue Pharma – the maker of OxyContin.
Haddox was quoted as saying that “the point was to gather consensus. If you are going to do this, this is how it should be done.”
There was question as to whether it was ethical for Haddox to be associated with a pharmaceutical manufacturer to guide the formation of a document that would play a key role in promoting the use of products made by the company – Purdue Pharma.
When OxyContin was introduced on the market, it was intended for the treatment of cancer patients and they were losing the patent on MS Contin. At one point, in the greed and sheer evil of Purdue Pharma, they intended to market OxyContin to OB/GYN patients.
