September 17, 2019: The Opioid Epidemic and Corporate Responsibility
Summary:
400,000+ people have lost their lives to opioid overdose in the past twenty years, and the financial cost according to the CDC has been estimated at $78.5 billion per year.
Opioid manufacturers paid physicians; the more opioid scripts written, the higher the kickback.
Johnson & Johnson was found to have contributed to the opioid crisis in Oklahoma.
Purdue Pharma and lawyers representing local governments are interested in continued negotiations related to opioid epidemic lawsuits.
Some are seeking lawsuits against individual members of the family who owns Purdue Pharma.
The American Pain society pushed pain as the fifth vital sign, but there is no device which can objectively measure pain; it is the first and only vital sign which is entirely subjective.
Fewer than 20% of opioid addicts are receiving what could be life-saving treatment.
Discussion Questions:
Is pain truly a “fifth vital sign,” as the American Pain Society lobbied for it to be?
Is pain management an issue of patients’ rights? Is patient satisfaction related to quality of care?
How culpable are physicians and hospital administrations for the over-prescription of opioids?
Can the family who owns Purdue Pharma be held responsible for the opioid crisis?
Do situations like this mandate future regulation of marketing campaigns for drugs? If so, all drugs, or just opioids?