New majority owner of Peak Resorts

[x10003q]

I wonder at what point PEOPLE will start taking responsibility for their own actions instead of blaming others for their downfalls. Back in the late 70s early 80s there was a big push in medicine for pain control, after many years criticism from the public that their pain was poorly controlled after surgeries. To the point that there was a push to include pain in all vital sign rounds, "pain is the fifth vital" was the mantra in nursing and medical schools.

The big bad rich people created a medicine that is effective in treating pain. Pain which most should never have complained about in the first place but as a society we are soft, so the Sackler's seized the opportunity.

Was the drug abused, yes. Was it misrepresented, probably. Is it their fault people started taking their pills three-four times more frequently and double and triple the prescribed doses, absolutely not. Nowhere on the drug information sheets does it say it is acceptable to chew them (because it gets you high instead of slow release as intended), nowhere does it say crush an snort as an acceptable route of administration (because it gets you high instead of treating pain as intended).

We as a society need to stop passing the buck and take responsibility for our own actions. I couldn't care who owns what as long as they keep the lights on. I have way more important shit to worry about - mainly keeping my kids safe and healthy and teaching them to stay away from all the bad shit that goes on in this world.


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Nope.
Purdue Pharma lied about Oxycontin from the moment they started selling it. They have admitted they lied and been convicted. They branded their version of heroin and then told Drs that it was not addicting.


Here is one of the first convictions from 2007:
http://www.pharmatimes.com/news/purdue_pharma_admits_lies_over_oxycontin_painkiller_risks_989853

 

[thetrailboss]

Nope.
Purdue Pharma lied about Oxycontin from the moment they started selling it. They have admitted they lied and been convicted. They branded their version of heroin and then told Drs that it was not addicting.


Here is one of the first convictions from 2007:
http://www.pharmatimes.com/news/purdue_pharma_admits_lies_over_oxycontin_painkiller_risks_989853

I wonder if pain meds are our generation's "big tobacco" with revelations coming about misleading information and tactics by manufacturers resulting in massive litigation and changes.

 

[JimG.]

Is that a fact?

Admittedly I did not see it myself but heard about it from several sources.

 

[JimG.]

Alcohol kills many more people each year than opioids, but every ski area has bars plus many events sponsored by beer. How come nobody is up in arms over that? Budweiser makes billions of dollars selling a product which has resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of americans. But beer is socially acceptable while heroine is not so nobody is upset......just sayin

This.

 

[Funky_Catskills]

Admittedly I did not see it myself but heard about it from several sources.

I have yet to hear about it from a reliable source.
Also - never hit the press and my friend who's a cop in town didn't hear..

It's a bad rumour to spread imho...

 

[skiur]

Are alcohol and opioids comparable when we’re discussing addiction? Both are addictive, but opioids are likely in a different category. Also, alcohol is 1000x more available. People take up arms against the booze but alcohol isn’t used for medical reasons. It’s apples and oranges.

People dont drink to feel better? Alcohol has fucked up many more lives than opioids have, both extremely addictive and both send billions to some corrupt corporation that knows its product is killing millions. Seems like apples to apples to me. And we are not discussing addiction, we are discussing the Sackler family buying a majority of Peaks

 

[180]

I have yet to hear about it from a reliable source.
Also - never hit the press and my friend who's a cop in town didn't hear..

It's a bad rumour to spread imho...[/QUOTE

Heard from patrol

 

[BenedictGomez]

I wonder if pain meds are our generation's "big tobacco" with revelations coming about misleading information and tactics by manufacturers resulting in massive litigation and changes.

Not really, there were some bad actors, but much of it is overblown from the institutional level.

Also, with "big tobacco" everyone is in it together, whereas with these pills, all pharmaceutical companies are being maligned even though very few of them actually even sell the products, which just goes to demonstrate how little the people doing most of the maligning even know about the issue.

 

[Edd]

People dont drink to feel better? Alcohol has fucked up many more lives than opioids have, both extremely addictive and both send billions to some corrupt corporation that knows its product is killing millions. Seems like apples to apples to me. And we are not discussing addiction, we are discussing the Sackler family buying a majority of Peaks

Oh, I could’ve sworn you compared beer vs. heroine in your post (you did). I agree, alcohol is bad, but doctors don’t prescribe alcohol. They prescribe opioids, similar to heroin.

 

[Smellytele]

I have been avoiding this as this is a horrible subject and people are going off on fucked up tangents.
Opioids have their place in pain management but their marketing and prescribing has been corrupted. Yes some people abuse them as well but some took them as prescribed and became addicted. More alternatives need to be found to opioids for pain management.
An usher in my wedding was prescribed oxy and became addicted. When he could no long get a prescription he began using heroin at age 40 and over dosed a few months later. Sad


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[drjeff]

Not really, there were some bad actors, but much of it is overblown from the institutional level.

Also, with "big tobacco" everyone is in it together, whereas with these pills, all pharmaceutical companies are being maligned even though very few of them actually even sell the products, which just goes to demonstrate how little the people doing most of the maligning even know about the issue.

Pretty sure that some of the anti vaccine crowd will make the massive leap to further equate pharmaceutical companies "evil" and associate the "poison" of opiods with vaccines.....

Additionally, as someone who has had a DEA license for over 20 years now, I can attest to how much "tougher" it is to actually prescribe any narcotic medication these days than it used to be. And let me get it out in the open that not once have I ever prescribed Oxycontin or any similar what I would classify as a STRONG narcotic pain medication ever.

Frankly, not just the drug companies and their reps who pushed drugs such as Oxycontin, but the few bad Doctors who wrote prescriptions for hundreds, if not thousands of tablets per prescriptions, but also the pharmacists who filled those orders without questioning the large number to be dispensed, and at times the frequency of refill prescriptions share some blame. Heck, I've had pharmacists call me and ask if I knew that a patient I say prescribed 10 tablets of Tylenol with Codeine, had just had a prescription from another doctor for a much stronger narcotic in a larger quantity, a few days before. I also get 1 or 2 calls a year from a pharmacist about certain drugs they think I'm prescribing (most of that comes from the fact that about 30 miles from my office, there is an OB/GYN with my exact name and we apparently have a handful of mutual patients, and I get a call asking if I really was prescribing birth control pills!!)

The tracking system that the DEA has in place Nationwide for going on the last almost 10yrs has a Nationwide essentially real time connects both the prescriber via their DEA number, and the patient. The vast majority of any strength of narcotic pain medications now require either an actual written copy of the prescription a encrypted prescriber identity verified digital direct to the pharmacy prescription with initial prescription quantities at a maximum of 48hrs duration.

It now takes basically an active desire to supercede the safety systems in place for large dose prescriptions such as Oxycontin to be dispensed through a pharmacy without major warning flags going up. Not to say that there aren't some "bad apples" working together that aren't still doing this, but the reality is through legal pathways, that is a very small number these days.

Our society for many is seemingly fixated on the ultra quick fix, "there has to be a pill for that" immediate gratification culture to avoid the reality that something's in life aren't always easy or quick or even fair at times, and many people either can't (or don't) want to handle that fact of life or were ever taught the life skills to handle that...

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[deadheadskier]

Timely news article.

Former Drug distribution executives face life in prison.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...n-company-first-face-criminal-charges-n997571

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[BenedictGomez]

Frankly, not just the drug companies and their reps who pushed drugs such as Oxycontin, but the few bad Doctors who wrote prescriptions for hundreds, if not thousands of tablets per prescriptions, but also the pharmacists who filled those orders without questioning the large number to be dispensed, and at times the frequency of refill prescriptions share some blame.

I was in a pre-med rotation at an ER & this patient came in with back pain & wanted meds. The doc was going to prescribe X medication, and the patient said, "no, I've had that before, and it doesnt work well, I'd like Y", the dude even knew the DOSE he wanted! Even as a 20 year old kid it was obvious to me this guy was a seeker, so I was shocked when the doc actually wrote the script. He could see I was bothered by this (though I didn't say anything), so he motioned be aside behind a curtain & said (paraphrasing), "Look, I know what you're thinking, so here's the deal. If I dont write that Rx this is what's going to happen, that guy leaves here after wasting our time and goes to (nearly hospital) and wastes their time, and if he doesnt get the meds there then he's going to go to (another nearby hospital) and waste their time, and this will continue today until someone writes that script. So I might as well save some doctors and nurses some time to see legitimate patients and give that junky what he wants." The fact I remember this clear as day years later shows it disturbed me.

It now takes basically an active desire to supercede the safety systems in place for large dose prescriptions such as Oxycontin to be dispensed through a pharmacy without major warning flags going up. Not to say that there aren't some "bad apples" working together that aren't still doing this, but the reality is through legal pathways, that is a very small number these days.

Yup, but no matter, the people need a demon and that demon is the "pharmaceutical companies", even though that makes very little logical sense as I previously noted. Some of that is political too, create an "enemy" and you create a useful political issue.

 

[Ol Dirty Noodle]

The issue people have is they’ve been found like big tobacco to intentionally alter chemical compounds to make products more addictive while also pedaling the rehab programs and detox drugs.
If it came out Anheuser Busch was trying to make their beers more addictive and buying up rehab facilities people would be calling them monsters too.
And none of it is done for the betterment of the people it’s done for the Board’s profits. Ever seen a new drug rollout video? Guy walks on stage and literally says who is ready to get filthy rich selling this drug? And all the reps in the crowd go nuts.
Is there a societal problem? Yes. But big pharm has done everything to capitalize on it and that is disgusting and utterly irresponsible.

 

[skiur]

Oh, I could’ve sworn you compared beer vs. heroine in your post (you did). I agree, alcohol is bad, but doctors don’t prescribe alcohol. They prescribe opioids, similar to heroin.

I was discussing the hypocrisy of why people are so crazy and want to boycott peaks for having an opioid producing family as a major shareholder while they dont mind alcohol money all over the mountain when alcohol has killed many more people, fucked up many more lives and there are many more drunks than junkies. You decided I was discussing something else. I very much enjoy alcohol and personally dont care about ski areas getting money from alcohol or do I want to boycott peaks because of the sackler family being a major stock holder which they have been for some time now.....to each their own.

 

[ThinkSnow]

But big pharm has done everything to capitalize on it and that is disgusting and utterly irresponsible.

While I agree that many Pharma companies are guilty of this, it is not all of them. I have worked in Biotech/Pharma for over 15 years, and my company makes products that target rare diseases, and frequently supplies patients with life saving/prolonging medications at no cost.

 

[Ol Dirty Noodle]

While I agree that many Pharma companies are guilty of this, it is not all of them. I have worked in Biotech/Pharma for over 15 years, and my company makes products that target rare diseases, and frequently supplies patients with life saving/prolonging medications at no cost.

Right and what funds the research on said rare treatments? Profits from widely sold PKs, I get it it’s an unfortunate reality/business model with built in zero-accountability

 

[cdskier]

While I agree that many Pharma companies are guilty of this, it is not all of them. I have worked in Biotech/Pharma for over 15 years, and my company makes products that target rare diseases, and frequently supplies patients with life saving/prolonging medications at no cost.

Couldn't agree more. I also have worked in Pharma for 15 years and my company is the same way (we also have rare diseases as a major focus). Most people I know where I work are genuinely concerned with helping people. Lumping all Pharma together because a couple people were greedy or not patient-focused is ridiculous.

 

[prsboogie]

That certainly is the sacklers side of the story.
Do you know how many americans died from opioids last year alone? I believe its about 47,000. dead. In one year. Thats a lot of "irresponsible" people. Its quite the coincidence that this epidemic exploded after purdue flooded the country with oxy for everything. and the evidence is pretty clear that they were well aware of how addictive it was and furthermore that it was being abused on a massive scale. Its kind of ironic that you preach about responsibility while denying any culpability on the part of the drug dealers who made billions of dollars selling a product which has resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of americans.

I'm not denying culpability, what I am saying and see on a daily basis is people who have actively chosen to abuse medications that were either never prescribed to them or if they were, were taken in a manner that they were not prescribed.

I work in a busy midsized hospital's ER in SE Mass and we average 2 ODs every day (Monday-Friday) I'm here. At least 2-3 deaths per week out of those. So no one needs to tell me the horrors of opiate addiction. The ones I get to talk to didn't start using heroin because the had a surgery and was prescribed oxys for pain control. The lionshare illegally obtained them to help them escape their demons.

You want to stop most issues in this country, fix the mental health issues that are rampant. Also people need to stop thinking there is magical fixes for everything, there is no one pill fixes all out there.

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[jaytrem]

This old story becomes a bit more interesting...

https://www.tnonline.com/2013/aug/21/police-make-four-arrests-after-lengthy-drug-probe