Maker of Oxycontin Fined For Misleading Public About Addiction Risks

U.S. District Judge James Jones levied the fine on Purdue Pharma L.P., its top lawyer and former president and former chief medical officer for misleading the public about the addictive characteristics of the popular pain medication Oxcontin. Oxcyontin was designed to be swallowed whole but if it is crushed it can produce a heroin-like high. According to a story published in the Boston Globe, ” From 1996 to 2001, the number of oxycodone-related deaths nationwide increased fivefold while the annual number of OxyContin prescriptions increased nearly 20-fold, according to a report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.”