Did Purdue Pharma invent OxyContin?
OxyContin was developed and patented in 1996 by Purdue Pharma L.P. and was originally available in 10 milligram (mg), 20 mg, 40 mg, and 80 mg tablets.
It started in the mid-1990s when the powerful agent OxyContin, promoted by Purdue Pharma and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), triggered the first wave of deaths linked to use of legal prescription opioids.
When Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin in 1996, it was aggressively marketed and highly promoted. Sales grew from $48 million in 1996 to almost $1.1 billion in 2000.
Purdue would be formally dissolved and would re-emerge as a new company called Knoa Pharma that would still produce OxyContin but also other drugs. The new company's profits would go to states and communities to fund opioid treatment and prevention efforts.
Purdue also instructed its pharmaceutical representatives all over the country to tell physicians that oxycontin was not addictive primarily because of its slow-release properties. Purdue told its representatives to tell doctors that only persons with an “addictive personality” became addicts.
Analysts say the opioid problem started with the overprescription of legal pain medications, but it has intensified in recent years due to influxes of cheap heroin and synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, supplied by foreign drug cartels.
Court filings show the family took in $10 billion in profits from OxyContin and could recoup much of what they lose in this settlement.
' Richard currently lives in another Boca Raton home, which he purchased for $1.71million in June 2021. Sackler holds a stake where the mansion is located, as he helped developed the property.
In March 2021, the United States House of Representatives introduced a bill that would stop the bankruptcy judge in the case from granting members of the Sackler family legal immunity during the bankruptcy proceedings. In September 2021, Purdue Pharma announced that it would rebrand itself as Knoa Pharma.
Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, has received a patent designed to treat opioid addiction. The patent, first reported by The Financial Times, is for a new and faster-acting form of buprenorphine.
Is OxyContin legal now?
OxyContin, a trade name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride, is a painkiller available in the United States only by prescription. OxyContin is legitimately prescribed for relief of moderate to severe pain resulting from injuries, bursitis, neuralgia, arthritis, and cancer.
This latest ruling overturns the lower court's December 2021 decision and clears the way for a deal hashed out with thousands of state and local governments. As part of the bankruptcy settlement, the Sacklers are expected to pay roughly $5 to $6 billion and give up control of Purdue Pharma.
Currently, Sackler family members can be found around the world. In the U.S., some family members live in New York, Texas, and Florida. Other members live in Britain.
Purdue developed extended-release formulations containing opioid agonists such as oxycodone, morphine, buprenorphine, and hydrocodone. For many years, Purdue has been an industry leader in the fight against opioid abuse and diversion.
Richard Stephen Sackler (born March 10, 1945) is an American billionaire businessman and physician who was the chairman and president of Purdue Pharma, a company best known as the developer of OxyContin, whose connection to the opioid epidemic in the United States was the subject of multiple lawsuits and fines.
In 2010, Purdue discontinued the original formulation of OxyContin and released one that reduced abuse of the drug, potentially slowing the growth in opioid addiction.
