John Delaney wants pharma companies responsible for opioid crisis to go out of business

Washington Examiner ^ | 07-02-19 | Kimberley Leonard

[Steve1999]

Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney believes that pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid crisis should be fined out of business and plans to push for such an outcome if elected to the White House. Delaney, a former Maryland congressman told the Washington Examiner that companies who knew how addictive opioids were and continued to push them anyway should face fines and criminal charges.

[Go Gordon]

I hope when this guy is in excruciating pain the doctors refuse to give him pain meds because the doctors don’t want to be sued.

[mplc51]

Pharma did not prescribe these drugs........Dr.’s did, you can buy them on craigslist.

[Demanwideplan]

I agree and I am a staunch conservative Republican. Start with the doctors, pharma reps, and charge them with racketeering. They knew what they were doing.

[eyeamok]

this is when these companies need to implement a New Rule for their Products

Any Doctor, Pharmacist, or any other Medical Provider that prescribes, offers, or gives any Opiate to a Government Employee, Federal or State, for ANY reason, shall be permanently banned from selling our products.

[gaijin]

Meet the original billionaire inventer of Oxy, the SACKLER FAMILY..!

Now let's take look at opioid deaths in the USA over time:

Wow, that's a lot. I wonder what might help to account for that amazing growth:

Shameful, huh..? In view of such evil ambition, I wonder how profitable opiods are, huh..? The Sackler family owns an incredible 1/3 of the entire legal opiods market and they route all of their profits through Bermuda, where they own a non-descript office building.

I wonder HOW rich you can get...

But that's just ONE of their many houses.

This one goes for $32 million dollars and it's in Bel Air, next to Beverly Hills.

After HOOKING people, you probably won't believe that they were also recently granted a patent for a drug to get people UN-hooked, would you..?

Yes, paid to hook people, then paid to UN-hook them. Nice biz, huh...?

Nice medal, maybe he planted a flag on Mount Suribachi, right...?

Uh-huh, sure...!

If you weren't in the military, could you wear a serious look on your face while you walked around with a MEDAL on your suit jacket..?

That takes real brass.

[qwerty1234]

>>Pharma did not prescribe these drugs

No, they just created them, made them as addictive as possible, and then gave doctors financial incentives to prescribe them for more and more patients and then left the taxpayers on the hook to cleanup the mess they profited from.

D or R - everyone should be onboard with holding them accountable.

[Gay State Conservative]

Who's really responsible for this "crisis"? Physicians and surgeons may bear some responsibility...although I live near a top medical "hub" and around here they're *quite* careful handing such things out.

Basically I believe that the addicts themselves are largely...if not entirely...responsible.I don't blame Budweiser when I see a drunk on the street...although your typical personal injury lawyer certainly would.

This "crisis" thing is all about money and lawyers!

[miss marmelstein]

Ah, the anti-drug zealots have arrived - those who never had a toothache or an operation. Just like the old anti-vaccine zealots. Are they scientolists or something?

[NTHockey]

Opioids crisis? Opioids addictive? Why are opioids on the market? Why not heroin? IF we insist on keeping these poisons on the market, label them as such. Class A poisons comes to mind. Inhibits transportation, liability for doctors and manufacturers, etc.

This is a case where free market principles do not apply.

[redgolum]

They need some sort of accountability.

The execs know that their product is being abused.

[1Old Pro]

The execs know that their product is being abused.

So do the sales managers, the salesmen, the doctors, and the users.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Bingo. The limited research done to assign the origin of the opioid addiction shows that perhaps 8-10% originates with a prescription, the rest is drug seeking behavior by folks already addicted to other substances who stumble across opioids. The public health response to this is presenting a message of “this can happen to anyone”, which is not true.

[Tax-chick]

“Responsible” is a loaded word.

[wild74]

Yes a good kidney stone should just about do it, tell him to take a aspirin...

[LRoggy]

Agree with you on that, and go after the same for the way they handed out psychotropics for ADD and ADHD too.

EVERY mass shooting by a teen over the past ten years-plus were on that crap. Worst mistake I ever made as a father was letting a psychiatrist get his way on this poison.

[rlmorel]

The number of people dying of opiod overdoses due to prescriptions written for real problems is dwarfed by the number of people dying of opiod overdoses due to prescriptions obtainted from tainted doctors or under medical pretenses and recreationally obtained and used opioids.

People who need help for opioid addiction should be able to get help, but it is shameful to label them as hapless victims in the same light we might view a victim of a cancer.

They do bear responsibility in this.

[rlmorel]

See my post above. Almost all the opiod overdoses I have seen have been people who used them recreationally, in relatively young and otherwise reasonably healthy people.

[rlmorel]

I am sympathetic to those who struggle with addiction, and believe there should be help available.

I think treating the addicts as blameless victims is shameful.

[LRoggy]

I’ve had both, and novocain/sleeping gas was all it took to get through it. Didn’t bother with the pain medication when I woke up. Achilles Tendon complete evulsion took one year of rehab after three months in a full leg cast in 1987 and angioplasty and angiogram in 2001 after a heart attack. Never took a pain pill. Medical marijuana much better for you than an opioid.