How Drug Companies Continue to Make the Opioid Crisis Worse

Guest: Robin Feldman, JD, Professor of Law, Director of the Institute for Innovation Law, University of California A prominent player in America’s opioid abuse problem, Purdue Pharma, is facing more than a thousand lawsuits from states and cities over its alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis with its prescription painkiller OxyContin. Now, Purdue notes that OxyContin accounts for less than two percent of opioid in the US. But it used to be much higher. And investigative reporting in a range of publications has shown how aggressively Purdue worked to expand opioid use in the US, even as the overdose crisis escalated. The Financial Times recently reported that a company affiliated with Purdue Pharma patented a new drug earlier this year to treat opioid addiction, meaning it could potentially profit off both sides of the opioid epidemic.