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Category: Purdue Pharma

In the 1990s, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, put out a promotional video featuring seven chronic pain sufferers, according to John Fauber and Ellen Gabler at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They wondered what had happened to these people, who...

In the 1990s, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, put out a promotional video featuring seven chronic pain sufferers, according to John Fauber and Ellen Gabler at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They wondered what had happened to these people, who talked on the video about how much OxyContin was helping them.

Here's what the reporters found:

 

Two of the seven patients were active opioid abusers when they died. A third became addicted, suffered greatly, and quit after realizing she was headed for an overdose. Three patients still say the drug helped them cope with their pain and improved their quality of life. A seventh patient declined to answer questions.

Sales of OxyContin, they report, have...

Katherine Eban is one of those people who delights in spoiling your breakfast, as...

Katherine Eban is one of those people who delights in spoiling your breakfast, as she did mine this morning. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, I was enjoying my coffee--and then Eban struck.

Her weapon? A scorcher in this month's Self magazine, a place where science writers might not often look for enlightenment and inspiration. The hed and deck of Eban's piece sum it up nicely:

The Hidden Dangers of Outsourcing Radiology

That scan of your brain, bones, or breasts you got last Tuesday? It might have been read by someone who isn't a doctor and...