Origins of an Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused

Purdue Pharma, the company that planted the seeds of the opioid epidemic through its aggressive marketing of OxyContin, has long claimed it was unaware of the powerful opioid painkiller’s growing abuse until years after it went on the market.

But a copy of a confidential Justice Department report shows that federal prosecutors investigating the company found that Purdue Pharma knew about “significant” abuse of OxyContin in the first years after the drug’s introduction in 1996 and concealed that information.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/health/purdue-opioids-oxycontin.html