Drugmaker’s decision to soften sales brings praise, and caution
The decision by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to stop encouraging physicians to write the painkiller’s scripts is drawing positive reviews from opioid experts who caution that far more work must be done to crush the killer epidemic.
Purdue said it is slashing its sales staff and will halt, effective Monday, promoting the drug to health care professionals. The decision comes as the industry battles an avalanche of lawsuits across the nation related to an epidemic of opioid abuse.
Indra Cidambi, medical director at the Center for Network Therapy detox program in New Jersey and a nationally recognized authority on opioid abuse, said she was encouraged by Purdue’s announcement. But she warned that tightening the prescription supply already has illegal drug dealers turning out more pills that look like branded prescription meds but can be even more dangerous.
“The decision by a manufacturer to stop pushing opioid pain medications is late, but better late than never,” Cidambi told USA TODAY. “Even if we save one life due to this decision, it is worth it.”
Kevin O’Grady, clinical director for Kansas City-based Midwest Recovery Centers, echoed Cidambi’s reaction. He said prescription manufacturers, medical professionals and society need more resources on how to treat those afflicted by “this national health crisis.”
“This recognition by Purdue is a step in the right direction. However, it only represents a small fraction of the problem,” O’Grady said.
“The focus still seems to be trying to stop this epidemic by increasing legal consequences rather than treating it as an illness.”
Purdue said in a statement that it is reducing its sales force by more than
50%. The remaining 200 sales reps will focus on non-opioid drugs such as Symproic, the company said. Symproic is used to treat opioid-related constipation.
Purdue’s head of medical affairs, Monica Kwarcinski, sent a letter to prescribers updating what she described as the company’s efforts to support responsible opioid use.
“Effective Monday, February 12,
2018, our field sales organization will no longer be visiting your offices to engage you in discussions about our opioid products,” Kwarcinski said in the letter. “Requests for information about our opioid products will be handled through direct communication with the highly experienced health care professionals that comprise our Medical Affairs department.”
Opioids are substances that work on the nervous system in the body or specific receptors in the brain to reduce the intensity of pain. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than three out of five drug overdose deaths involve opioids and that annual deaths from heroin and prescription opioids have increased more than five-fold since
1999, including 42,000 deaths in 2016. Kevin Tuohy, associate professor of pharmacy practice at Butler University, said he was not surprised by Purdue’s concession given the national focus on the opioid epidemic. He also said he doubts the decision will have much effect.
“They (opioids) are exceptional painkillers used to treat severe chronic pain associated with cancer and other chronic pain conditions,” he said. “Discontinuing the sales information pipeline to prescribers will most likely not affect the prescribing of these drugs.”