There’s an opiod addiction epidemic caused by OxyContin. So where are the drug warriors?

To the editor: Our country is in an epidemic of addiction to opioid drugs like Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin. At the same time, Purdue blithely ignores common sense, preferring to increase company earnings at the nation’s expense. It is unconscionable that the company would not have been well aware of massive orders for the drug from particular pharmacies, doctors or areas. (“Inside an L.A. OxyContin ring that pushed more than 1 million pills. What the drugmaker knew,” July 10)

Patients need controlled access to drugs like OxyContin for really severe or intractable pain, but this abuse of the system cannot be tolerated.

Hospital professionals go through procedures to document the amounts of narcotic drugs they give out as well as how the excess is disposed of, so I see a major lack of accountability when lines of people from skid row can suddenly become “patients in need” when it comes to OxyContin.

Purdue must be held accountable by being thoroughly investigated. Drug addiction is a killer.

Lorraine B. Kirk, Rancho Palos Verdes

The writer is a certified registered nurse anesthetist.

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To the editor: At a time when the American people are questioning the meaning of “and justice for all,” The Times’ outstanding piece on the OxyContin epidemic clearly exposes this country’s double standard in meting out justice.

A doctor illegally prescribing gets jail time, a drug dealer gets significantly more jail time, and the ringleaders of Purdue, who caused this epidemic for their own greedy ends, are forced to pay a fine that pales in comparison to their billions of dollars in profits.

And the FDA doctor who oversaw the agency’s medical review of OxyContin ended up with a high-paying job at Purdue. Surprising? No. Disgusting? Absolutely. It resembles the relationship between Wall Street and federal regulators prior to the 2008 financial meltdown.

African Americans question whether they receive equal justice. How could they not?

Bruce Saltzer, Glendale

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To the editor: That was a blockbuster of a story on Sunday’s front page detailing how Purdue allowed the pill-pushing “clinic” Lake Medical to prescribe OxyContin illegally and even supplied a corrupt pharmacy with the drugs needed to fill the prescriptions but never once reported what it knew to local authorities.

It appears that profiting from the drug was more important to Purdue than saving lives. It also appears the war on drugs has been pointed in the wrong direction in trying to stop the flow of illegal drugs into this country, when all this time a “legal” drug company was a major source.

Harry Norkin, Thousand Oaks

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