“.. in 1996 the FDA approved an 80mg version of the pill; four years later it approved a 160mg tablet. According to the FDA’s “History of OxyContin: Labeling and Risk Management Program,” higher dosages were approved specifically for opioid-tolerant patients.
These high-milligram pills were probably one of biggest reasons that OxyContin became such a popular street drug. Recreational users and addicts could crush, sniff, and inject the pill for a powerful high that, as promised, lasted over eight hours. The euphoric effects and potential for abuse were comparable to heroin. But clearly doctors and pharmacies never drew the ghastly parallel.
Purdue and its top executives pleaded guilty to charges that it **misled doctors and patients about the addictive properties*** of OxyContin and misbranded the product as "abuse resistant."
Prosecutors found a "corporate culture that allowed this product to be misbranded with the intent to defraud..
12 claims against the company, seeking damages total $1 billion which is just **one-third of the company's annual revenues from OxyContin **
http://theweek.com/.../how-american-opiate-epidemic...
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