Dying by Prescription: Oxycontin Controversy

This 2012 special report from 16x9 Global News examines the rise and fall of OxyContin in Canada. Marketed as a long-lasting pain medication and promoted as a safer, less addictive alternative to morphine, OxyContin quickly became one of the country's most widely prescribed prescription opioids. However, reports of addiction, misuse, overdose, and devastating side effects soon began to emerge.

Through interviews with patients, families, researchers, and medical professionals, the documentary explores the human cost of opioid addiction, the role of pharmaceutical marketing, and the growing controversy surrounding OxyContin and other prescription pain medications.

Accompanying Information:

"Michael's toxicology report found high levels of the ingredient oxycodone, found in the prescription painkillers he was prescribed, such as hydromorphone and Oxycontin. Incredibly, Michael had been prescribed a cocktail of eight different prescription drugs, resulting in more than 13,000 pills in just 14 months. That works out to more than 30 pills a day."

"Dr. Dhalla and his research team recently published a study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, noting that drugs like Oxycontin are killing users in Ontario at twice the rate they were in 1991. In fact, the rate of deaths involving narcotic painkillers went from 13.7 per million in 1991 to 27.2 per million in 2004. And prescriptions for Oxycontin have increased by more than 850% during the study period from 1991 and 2007."^1,2

"Known as hillbilly heroin, when the drug is chewed or crushed and inhaled, it produces a rapid heroin-like euphoria. But when Oxycontin was first introduced, it was promoted by its manufacturer Purdue Pharma as a safer, less addictive alternative to morphine."³

"When Oxycontin hit the market it became an instant success. Finally, a drug that could relieve pain all day long. It became a wonderful alternative to addictive narcotic pain pills. Prescriptions for Oxycontin soared but it wasn't long before harrowing stories of addiction, abuse and side effects began to surface."

"It is a wonderful pain medication if it is used properly. Best way to look at it is, think about a knife in the hand of a chef. He would make a wonderful meal with that knife. Give the same knife to a criminal and the outcome is totally different. The problem is not the knife, it's how and why it was used."

"A recent survey from the University of Toronto posed this question: Who in Canadian medical schools gets the most training in pain management? Doctors, Nurses, Dentists, Pharmacists, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, or Veterinarians? The answer: Veterinarians got 5x more pain training compared to physicians, who got double what the nurses got."

"In a newer version of the text, all of those claims about Oxycontin being less addictive and having fewer side effect are gone, and today's ads for Oxycontin now warn of the potential for abuse and addiction ... In 2006, this book, Managing Pain, the Canadian Healthcare Professional's Reference, published by Purdue Pharma, suggests that the slow release formula has lower abuse potential, fewer persistent side effects, fewer peaks and valleys, than other opioids."⁴

"Oxycontin was a big money maker for the pharmaceutical company that developed it, convincing doctors it was a safer, less addictive painkiller. But in the U.S., that company made a shocking admission – it lied, purposely misleading doctors and the public all in the name of pill popping profit."

"American court documents obtained by 16x9 reveal executives at Purdue Pharma's U.S. operation designed the misleading campaign for one purpose: to boost sales and drive profits. And there was never any proof that Oxycontin, as Purdue was fond of suggesting, was any better than morphine."

"The U.S. court documents also reveal how Purdue sales reps were trained to pitch drug: They could tell healthcare providers that Oxycontin potentially caused less chance for addiction, and patients who took Oxycontin would not develop a tolerance for the drug. Documents also show that even when concerns were raised to Purdue supervisors, the company did nothing because it didn't want to affect the unique position that Oxycontin had in many physicians minds."

"She's on a personal mission to warn Canadians about the dangers of prescription drugs, especially the kind that killed her son. She's targeting the professional bodies that represent doctors and pharmacists. But for Ada, this is ground zero, the place where her first lawn sign will go, the spot where her 29-year-old son is buried. Ada doesn't much care whether Purdue is forced to pay a big settlement in Canada. No amount of money back bring Michael back. What she wants is something far more permanent - she wants Oxycontin banned."