Sacklers Launch PR Drive To Make Case For Opioid Manufacturing

The prescription opioid painkiller OxyContin is displayed at a drugstore. Image by Getty Images

By Nathan Guttman December 22, 2017

Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, has embarked on a new ad campaign after coming under fire for manufacturing and distributing the powerful opioid.

The company, owned by the Sackler family, is arguing in the ads placed in major newspapers, that is is part of the solution, not of the problem.

“We manufacture prescription opioids,” one of the ads states. “How could we not help fight the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis?”

The company, which has been accused of profiting from widespread abuse of OxyContin, noted in the ads that it has worked to support strict subscribing rules for opioids as well as limits on opioid painkillers.

Purdue is now being sued by several states and counties for providing misleading information about the dangers of the opioids it produces.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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