Who's to Blame for Opioid Abuse?

9/8/2019

by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

‘It’s hard to protect people from themselves.’ That saying resonates with everyone from EMTs who wish motorists would wear seatbelts, to parents who demand that their kids “Stop climbing on that!” So, who’s responsible when a significant portion of the population harms itself with prescription painkillers?

If you’ve been following the news, you’ve heard of America’s troubling opioid epidemic, which unfortunately has seen:

Misuse among 21-29% of those who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain
Use disorders in 8-12% of those who take the drugs
Transition to heroin for 4-6% of those who misuse prescription opioids
More than 130 people a day dying from opioid-related drug overdoses

What are opioids? They’re types of drugs that come naturally from the opium poppy plant that are often used to reduce pain. They also “can make some people feel relaxed, happy or ‘high,’ and can be addictive.”

The most common prescription opioids are Vicodin and OxyContin. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, “50 to 100 times more potent than morphine,” that’s often used to treat pain from advanced cancer. Then there’s heroin, “an illegal, highly addictive drug processed from morphine.

Recently, the name often heard in the same sentence as opioid epidemic is Purdue Pharma, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company that makes OxyContin, the brand name for oxycodone hydrochloride. The drug’s position at the center of the opioid crisis has made Purdue Pharma the focus of frequent legal scrutiny.

Used to “help relieve severe ongoing pain (such as due to cancer),” OxyContin should be a ‘medication of last resort.” In other words, if people suffering from very serious illness cannot find relief from anything else, OxyContin can be used to mitigate their pain.

Sufferers of significant, relentless pain, however, are not the ones driving the opioid epidemic. The problem stems, instead, from those who don’t need the drug but take it to get high and, if they don’t end up overdosing, often become addicted.

Should Purdue Pharma be accountable for this abuse by illegitimate users? More broadly, to what extent is any company culpable when consumers don’t use its products as intended. Are organizations responsible for protecting people from themselves?

Since the advent of mass-production, there have been continual examples of consumers injuring themselves by misusing products, often despite clear warnings from manufacturers, e.g., “Don’t stand on the top of this stepladder”; “Don’t put this plastic bag over your head.”

One of the most recent examples of widespread abuse was called the Tide Pod Challenge, which involved mainly teens videoing themselves chewing on the small detergent sacs and posting clips of their reactions on social media. Tragically, several people died as a result of ingesting the liquid.

Procter & Gamble (P&G), the maker of Tide, responded to its product’s misuse by offering advice on Twitter to those affected by the Challenge and by asking YouTube and Facebook to remove Tide Pod Challenge posts. P&G also produced a television commercial with former New England Patriots tight-end Rob Gronkowski urging viewers not to eat Tide Pods. All of these efforts were in addition to the company coating the Pods with a bitter-tasting substance in order to discourage children from biting into them.

P&G hasn’t stopped making Tide Pods, and as far as I know, the company hasn’t assumed responsibility for the Challenge-related injuries and fatalities. Is the firm wrong for failing to take those actions? No. The Tide Pod Challenge is an example of consumers' blatant product misuse, despite the company’s multifaceted, good-faith efforts to avoid it.

The same cannot be said, however, about Purdue Pharma and OxyContin. Here’s why the two cases of consumer abuse are very different:

In contrast to the Tide Pod Challenge, which was a short-lived ‘fad,’ Purdue Pharma knew for decades about OxyContin abuse but avoided addressing it. A New York Times piece details the timeline, beginning in the late 1990s, when the company concealed its knowledge that the medication was being stolen and sold illegally to abusers. Meanwhile, the firm promoted the exact opposite—that OxyContin was less prone to abuse than other prescription opioids.

Although serious, there never was an “epidemic” of Tide Pod misuse; cases were relatively isolated. As the earlier opioid statistics suggested, however, opioid abuse has been shockingly widespread. For instance, during the early 2000s, prescription drug distributors “sent enough pain pills to West Virginia over a five-year period to supply every man, woman and child there with 433 of them.”

Unlike Tide Pods, OxyContin is highly addictive. Probably no one who did the Tide Pod Challenge wanted to try it again, but those who start using OxyContin often can’t stop.

Despite the added exposure it brought the brand and the additional revenue it produced, all evidence supports that P&G did not want anyone eating Tide Pods. On the other hand, the New York Times suggests that Purdue Pharma, essentially encouraged abuse of its product by claiming that the company “planted the seeds of the opioid epidemic through its aggressive marketing of OxyContin.”

As I’ve read and heard about the opioid epidemic, I’ve wondered about the responsibility of doctors who liberally prescribed the drugs and of the consumers who misused the medication. I now understand that these persons share responsibility with at least one company that knowingly fueled the crisis. Purdue Pharma’s profiting from the nation’s opioid pain is a clear case of “Single-Minded Marketing.”

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19 Comments

Mikey Gelok link

9/11/2019 10:30:55 pm

I agree with this post's claim that Purdue Pharma partook in simple-minded marketing. Upon further research I discovered that their videos promoting their opiods claimed that only 1% of users became addicted to their product. Claims like these certainly boosted the sales of their product, but also caused a great rise in the opioid epidemic. I think Purdue Pharma should have done more testing and created more awareness to the potentially addictive attributes of their pain killers. From what I can see so far, it appears single-minded marketing is the most dangerous form of marketing. All companies should seek to be mindful with their marketing.

Brandon

9/12/2019 12:55:26 pm

Single Minded Marketing like this does not take into consideration what the consumers will be receiving. I think it falls on the corporations wanting to make more profit and money because like it said they sent enough pain killers to West Virginia to supply everyone with 433 each. This doesn't make sense because they are over suppling and thats going to people who are addicted and find ways to get more. They need to be more careful with how they are marketing their products.

Austin

9/12/2019 05:04:27 pm

I do believe that Purdue was extremely single minded in the way they handled this situation. Opioid addiction is a dangerous issue in the US, and the investors, owners, and employees of Purdue put their profits before the safety of the consumer. I have an issue with how easily OxyContin can be marketed to an audience who is unaware of the side effects, addictions, and overdoses associated with the drug. The opioid addiction sweeping the nation should be addressed by the companies who contributed to it, but it seems as though their profits are more important than their patients. This single minded marketing has misled consumers and caused a tremendous amount of avoidable suffering. Drug manufacturing companies like Purdue need to create medication that is effective AND safe, and once they do that they can then create a marketing strategy that is mindful.

Noah Thomas Thomas

9/12/2019 07:38:12 pm

I think that to some degree companies should be held responsible, but that really depends on what they are doing or more importantly not doing to help prevent abuse. So, if the company knows that their product is highly addictive and is being sold by people that don't actually need it then they need to do a better job to regulate that. Additionally, if feel like in that instance the blame should actually fall on the doctors that are being careless with their prescriptions. The doctors need to make sure that only those that have no other options are taking these highly addictive drugs. Because the pharmacy does not know whose prescription is "legit" or whose was a bag one from the careless doctor, so I feel like more blame should fall on doctors. Maybe the government should have tighter restrictions and maybe fines for doctors that prescribe people unnecessary drugs especially of this kind. As a producer you should always be aware when your product is hurting when it should be helping, but with the drugs the pharmacy is kind of just trusting the doctors note that the drug is needed. the doctor did the check up and deemed it needed so they trust it. I think the doctors must find better ways to make sure that those having access to the drug actually have need of it for serious medical issues.

Matt Pangle

9/12/2019 09:08:17 pm

I do think that some blame has to be put on Pudue Pharma and other companies making the drug. If they know they are that adductive and that there is that large of a problem with them then they shouldn't be pumping even more out their doors (in reference to the amount they sent to West Virginia). I think some blame has to be put on doctors though, as without them filling prescriptions for the drugs they won't be sent out to pharmacies as regularily. If the drug was used for what the article mentioned as its "intended use" ; that is for extremely sick people with no other way of relieving pain to help them cope. But it is prescribed more often then necessary and that is where I believe the root of the problem is. Yes, the companies that are pushing them are still to blame but if doctors just stopped prescribing them like they do, those companies wouldn't have as many (lawful) opportunities to get the drugs out.

Micah Fitz

9/13/2019 10:33:27 am

Purdue Pharma is definitely creating stakeholder value for their product by allowing abuse of their addictive product. However, by creating stakeholder value in this form they are completely going against societal values. It is clear that Purdue Pharma is more concerned about the money they are gaining than the health of the people that are using their product. For these reasons, Purdue Pharma is being Single-Minded in the way they are going about their business. Purdue Pharma has also failed to address the Opioid pandemic or make any substantial adjustments to their business model in order to prevent misuses of their product. The pandemic on Opioid abuse hasn’t begun to slow down either. People around the country are still dying at an alarming rate from the use of OxyContin and Purdue Pharma continue to mass produce it. Mindful Marketings’ blog also makes a great point which is that OxyContin isn’t a one time use kind of issue, but that it is an extremely addictive substance and users of it become intensely addicted after the first use. Purdue Pharma needs to be willing to take responsibility for their failures in protecting people who abuse their product and they also must make significant changes in order to prevent this pandemic from continuing to grow.

Corinne Mahoney

9/13/2019 11:30:29 am

Opioid addiction is a problem that is currently sweeping the nation, affecting not only users but their friends, family, and everyone around them. I always knew it was a problem, but didn't realize the consequences or exact details of it all until reading this article. Should Purdue Pharma and Oxycotin be at fault for these cases of addiction? Originally, I would have said no- this drug was created as an effective way to help those who need it. Because it does its job so well, it creates stakeholder value. But do they properly disclose all of the side-effects and warn of its addictiveness right off the bat? Users need to know the dangers of opioids, even if they are taking them for the right reasons. Those who are already drug addicts are going to find ways to obtain drugs no matter what it takes; however if opioids weren't so readily available for them (enough drugs in West Virginia for 433 pills per person?! That's absolutely ridiculous! No one needs that many opioids!) then perhaps many would never even get the chance to try opioids in the first place. As the opioid addiction continues to run rampage, it becomes the responsibility of the companies that produce this drug to address the growing problem, and put out some sort of campaign warning about the drugs effects and urging people to take action. If they do not not address this issues and continue to ignore this growing epidemic, then it can be said that they care more about the money made from selling the drug than the well-being of their consumers. They can be found at fault for the problems they have helped create, making this a single-minded act, as it upholds stakeholder value but not societal values.

Logan

9/13/2019 11:45:33 am

I completely agree with the opinions and points made in this article. The case of the Opioid crisis and the ways that Purdue Pharma has reacted are a perfect example of the single minded marketing that we talk about in class. Purdue Pharma was and still is clearly more concerned with the profits and benefits that the company received from issuing this addictive drug. While Purdue Pharma can't always be responsible for the abusers of their widespread drug, they can take greater measures to attempt prevention of the abuse. For example, the story from the blog post perfectly describes Purdue Pharma having knowledge of their drugs being stolen and sold illegally to abusers in the 1990’s. The company not only sealed that information, they continued on with their production and kept using their single minded marketing to encourage consumers to trust their medication.
Looking at the statistics in the post, it is obvious that the Opioid crisis is nothing to brush off in our country. With more than 130 people dying daily from opioid related overdoses, it is time for companies like Purdue Pharma to take responsibilities for their actions and realize that they produce and distribute and extremely dangerous and addictive medication. I also loved what was said about Proctor and Gambles actions after the popular tide pod challenge. Blatant misuse of a company's products is only a reflection of the consumers themselves acting foolishly. With that being said, whether they obtained it legally or not, Oxycontin has and will continue to harm it's users.

Lindsey Macariola

9/13/2019 12:32:53 pm

Purdue is indeed being irresponsible with the opioid crisis. However, the difference between Purdue's actions and Tide Pod's actions are very different. Tide Pod took the right actions and tried to prevent people from consuming their products. As the article mentioned, they covered their products in bitter coating to try and prevent consumption, as well as used advertisements to encourage young children to stop the Tide Pod challenge. On the other hand, Purdue took barely any action to prevent people from developing opioid addictions. Instead they chose to blame it on other things. What they could have done is implement a stricter medication distribution. What I mean by that is giving their patients a smaller amount of opioids if they need some to reduce pain. Therefore, if they're still in pain after the medication runs out, they should be required to go back to the doctor if they need more. Purdue could have taken more precautionary measures to prevent addiction and death from happening to their patients.

Matt Lucas

9/15/2019 06:59:37 pm

The opioid crisis has been an issue plaguing the United States since the introduction of pain medication many decades ago. However, the last few years it has hit our country even harder. The source of this spike in usage can be linked to the ease in access average people have to trying these drugs. The leading company supplying this crisis as the article points out is “Purdue Pharma”. Through their product “OxyContin”, which is originally used as a last resort pain relief medication, a large population of people have been prescribed this drug and have had the opportunity to become addicted to the feeling. Purdue Pharma may not be directly causing their patient’s addictions, and their intentions may be in the right place, however it affects many more people than their customers. It affects their families and friends. Watching their loved one struggle through an opioid addiction is very painful. I believe their marketing model is single-minded, due to the fact that they didn’t take into account what their product might do besides relieve pain. Based on the article, Purdue Pharma knowingly oversupplies certain areas where opioid addictions are worse, which is a way to make money for them, but destroys those areas even more. If the opioid industry developed drugs that helped people and need and had safeguards to make sure people use them responsibly, we would be able to fight this crisis and to stop suffering as a nation.

Briana James

9/24/2019 09:27:02 pm

I had never thought that Opioid abuse was a huge problem until I moved to Maryland. According to my specific county (Harford County), there is a huge Opioid epidemic. The local police station even keeps a tally of the abuse (overdoses on Opioid) almost to encourage people to not do Opioids because of its fatality. After learning this, I had not even considered it to be a huge epidemic (across the country) until one of my friends from York, PA told me that Opioid abuse is also a huge issue there. I do not think that Purdue Pharma should be held accountable because with anything (especially medication), it lies within the user. If the user chooses to misuse the drug shouldn’t make Purdue Pharma held accountable. Since the company creates OxyContin for health purposes, therefore intended not to be misused. The firm does not control what the individual does with the medication once it falls from the firms hands. It is not Purdue Pharmas fault that people can’t read or choose to ignore the instructions given. There may be people in this world who need OxyContin to relieve pain, if Purdue Pharma is eliminated because of the abuse, it would harm other individuals who actually use the product for its intended use. I understand that the firm knew how addictive the drug could be, however, I would suggest a different way to distribute the drug. I would say that individuals who get it need to go through multiple screenings to achieve the drug and it is not given liberally. Even if that is not done, there will always be a black market to easily supply the needs of addicts so there is no way around it really. I just don’t agree that Purdue Pharma should be blamed for the actions of individual choices. People are always going to make a good thing into bad things in a lifestyle if they choose to. Purdue Pharma should hold partial blame but the individuals do too. If Purdue doesn’t provide it, they will find another way to get it. If Purdue limits the dosage or limits who gets it could be beneficial to the safety of individuals to themselves and others.

Emilee Ryon

9/25/2019 07:25:49 pm

People have described the opioid epidemic as happening in "waves" the first wave is when doctors incorrectly prescribe opioids, the second when patients prescribed opioids request stronger medications such as Fentanyl, and the third wave when patients turn from legal substances to illegal substances such as heroin. I believe that pharmaceutical companies are certainly responsible for the number of opioid deaths in the USA. These companies are the ones advocating for the sale and therefore, prescription of these dangerous drugs. Sales representatives are often involved in patient decisions when deciding a care plan for cancer or another serious illness. In high school, I injured my knee playing softball. I ended up tearing my ACL, an injury that would usually require surgery but because of my age and condition, I didn't need surgery. However, the doctor still offered me OxyContin "for comfort" I denied the prescription and was comfortable taking ibuprofen over the counter. This example goes to show that the pharmaceutical companies are more concerned with making a sale and distributing their product, even amidst trial from the FDA. As discussed, this is "single-minded" marketing.

Zak

9/25/2019 10:51:10 pm

I agree that this is a single-minded marketing post. They are creating stake holder value by saying that less than 1% of people overdose and by driving up stake holder value, in this case they would be disrupting societal values. Society does not approve of drug use and it is clearly illegal. Being a Christian, it goes directly against our values. Purdue Pharma is being single minded in the fact that they haven't really done anything to change this. they keep doing the same thing because it makes them money. By not doing anything, people are dying at an alarming rate and it is completely avoidable by just doing more to spread awareness about the dangers of misusing this product. I do not think they can be held liable because they are a corporation and it is a separate legal entity from the owners. Unless they are doing something highly illegal, the board of directors and shareholders in this company would just lose their initial deposit into the company.

Caleb Puleo

9/25/2019 11:02:04 pm

This past summer I had the opportunity to intern with the Drug Taskforce in Harrisburg, PA. I witnessed first hand how problematic and serious the opioid epidemic is. Certainly, Purdue Pharma is not unaware of the abuse that has come from OxyContin. With this understanding, comes the obligation to act. Choosing to standby and even profit from the abuse of this product is unethical and does not uphold societal values. While the product may have originally been designed to benefit society, it is clearly having an adverse effect on society, and as a result Purdue Pharma should have taken action to right these wrongs.

Flora Ligdi

9/26/2019 03:33:10 am

I agree with the blog, the fact that Purdue Pharma was aware of what was happening with their product and that they were avoiding to address the issue says a lot about the company's integrity. I think that Purdue Pharma should be partially responsible for their actions. I believe it very hard to compare what happened with tide and with opioids. Because as it is stated in the blog, Purdue Pharma was somewhat engouraging the abuse of their product.

Sydney Smith

9/26/2019 11:02:53 am

After reading this article, I am very intrigued that Purdue Pharma knew about the misuse of their product OxyContin, yet kept marketing it aggressively. I liked that this situation was compared to the Tide Pods Challenge because on the surface level, these two seem to be similar. After a closer examination though, the producer of Tide Pods, P&G, went through a good amount of work to discourage users of eating their products. They contacted social media networks and asked them to remove posts about the challenge, and even coated the pods with a bitter tasting substance to further discourage people from ingesting them. While considering Purdue Pharma's knowledge of people misusing one of their products, it does not seem like they even backed off advertising their product, which is said to have been a last resort option anyways. The actions of Purdue Pharma seem to be driven by factors like profit and not ones that would protect their user.

Colt Price

9/26/2019 11:11:00 am

The points made in this blog are key examples of how most companies blamed for the opioid crisis react. In Purdue’s case, they are more concerned about making a dollar off of the people who are in need of pain medicine rather that looking for a solution to this nationwide problem. This is a single-minded marketing post because they are not worried about societal values by acting blindly to the actual percentage of users due to these opioids. Purdue knows the side effects of misusing this product. However, they did not hesitate to produce this drug and open it to the market. On a more personal note back home where I am from I’ve seen this opioid crisis hot the streets and effect people who had no intention of getting hooked on these drugs. We see in the news everyday that people are dying at an ever increasing rate from these drugs yet no one has taken action against the big name pharmaceutical companies. These companies will continue making billions of dollars off these drugs unless someone takes action. They continue to market these drugs as helpful and effective. The only effectiveness of this drug is to get you hooked and coming back for more. Little do these companies know that people stop being able to afford their overly priced prescriptions, so they turn to heroin, one of the deadliest drugs available on the street.

Caleb

11/1/2019 04:30:48 pm

I agree with the author that Purdue Pharma marketing is very single-minded in that it is creating value only for the stockholders. I have lived in a region impacted by the opioid crisis and have seen how it affects families. The fact that Purdue Pharma had the knowledge about the addictiveness of the drug but promoted it as being less addictive is very damning. Furthermore, the fact that they shipped enough pills to West Virginia to give 433 pills to all the citizens is crazy. At no point they had someone look at their sales and think that there may be abuse in that area, and maybe they should try and deal with it. They were so focused on profiting on their product that they abused the customer and should be held partly responsible for the crisis. However, I believe that doctors that prescribe the medication are also to be held accountable because they are the ones giving to their patients. They should know the side effects and work to keep their patients from becoming addicted. Furthermore, they know who long to prescribe the medication. So when someone is on Oxycontin for over a year. They have known it was abuse and worked to stop it. Also, they should have seen the crisis going on and start prescribing some other kind of medication. Overall, I think that both the doctors and Purdue Pharma are to blame for the opioid crisis in America.

James Ramos

11/8/2019 02:33:25 am

I agree that this was simple-minded marketing, just based on the fact that they are unconsciously producing the product that is killing people. Even though they aren’t the ones giving it to the people, they still have some sort of responsibility for making the drug. While they collect their money, people become more addicted to the stuff.

Who's to Blame for Opioid Abuse?

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