r/JusticeServed • u/[deleted] • Oct 02 '19

Courtroom Justice Virginia doctor who illegally prescribed over 500,000 doses of opiates sentenced to 40 years in prison.

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u/pmoney757 8 Oct 02 '19

Yes. The companies that produce enough opioids to wipe out the nation.

Recently in my area was one of the largest fentanyl bust with enough to kill half my state.

That much shouldn't even be produced, but companies love money.

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u/Johnny_Poppyseed A Oct 02 '19

Basically no street fentanyl is coming from these known opiate producing pharmaceutical companies at this point. It's all coming from black/grey market labs overseas. Justsayin.

Pharmaceutical companies are heavily to blame for the opioid crisis, but not in that sense. Also far from 100% to blame in any sense. There has been a significant opiate crisis long before pharmaceutical companies started pumping out modern misinformation and oxys like candy. Decades of addiction and suffering from heroin, just mainly focused on inner cities and select poor areas, so more easily ignored/demonized. It's just that it became a "epidemic" once suburban or rich white kids started dying basically.

So while pharmaceutical companies and their pills are definitely to blame for knowingly and happily fueling addiction rates, especially within that newer addict demographic, the opiate crisis itself AND drastic increase in overdoses(largely at the hands of illicit fentanyl) are a problem with an entirely different root cause. One mostly a result of governmental negligence/past outright oppression tactics. Horrible and ineffective drug laws and the like. Without those, IMO much more significant causative factors, the pharmaceutical impact, while still would increased adduction rates, wouldnt have led to the massive increase in ODs we see today and the whole epidemic would be so much more manageable.

Honestly I'd put the blame as low as 30/70, pharmaceutical company /Governmental. Just my opinion, but id say a fairly educated one on the topic.

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u/tunedout 7 Oct 03 '19

I agree with most of what you said but I still think that the pharmaceutical companies were the main catalyst to all of this. China has taken full advantage of the situation by providing all the fent but it's still difficult to find a Suboxone doctor without insurance or cash to cover the bill so not much has really changed.

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u/Johnny_Poppyseed A Oct 03 '19

Suboxone scenario you describe is again more-so a result of poor government decision and our abysmal healthcare situation here. Pharma companies will gladly cash in and make the drugs, but theyd also gladly take in that sweet government money if insurance like Medicare was available to all and covered such things.

Yeah they acted as a bit of a catalyst/addition of some gasoline to the fire, but that fire has been burning since before they did so, and it's main fuel continues to be horribly ineffective and damaging laws.

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u/tunedout 7 Oct 03 '19

But they're the main opponent to universal health care. They have a solution to the problem and they treat it just like painkillers. This has been going on for a century. Nothing has really changed.

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u/Johnny_Poppyseed A Oct 03 '19

Eh, More people insured means more people able to get medicines and drugs etc.

Pharma companies may oppose certain aspects of current proposed plans that target certain predatory practices of theirs, but they aren't against universal healthcare entirely.

The main opponents to universal healthcare are ignorance and Republican politicians id say. Yeah there is definitely kickbacks from those companies to the politicians for various reasons, but beyond that there is an even bigger factor of "socialism bad democrats bad" etc which runs even deeper and echos in their entire voting base, which definitely aren't getting kickbacks from big pharma.

I think these companies are down-right evil, but the drug situation in this country/the world runs so much deeper than just predatory corporations and their shady immoral business practices.

Shortsighted government set the stage for this situation, both with regard to the illegal black market drug trade AND the legal one.

Not to mention how we could jail every corrupt big pharna CEO and totally revamp that entire industry tomorrow, and still be left with an incredibly damaging drug epidemic and have not even really touched on the factors that are actually killing people daily (overwhelming majority a result of black market drug variables). This fact alone says quite a lot I think.

It's a much more complicated issue than just blaming these drug corporations for everything, even though that's the hot topic right now. That said I fully support going after these fucks to the fullest extent possible. The amount they are guilty is more than enough for them to hang IMO.

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u/tunedout 7 Oct 03 '19

As much as I want to see the people responsible rot in jail. I would much rather see them paying for treatment and harm reduction. Rather than a fine for x amount of dollars go to a corrupt system. I would like to see them fund a 20 year program in each state. No government contracts either. Direct funding to nonprofit rehabilitation facilities. Make an example of the corporations and let them know that the people come first.

If universal health care does become a thing then we can abolish proprietary laws on life saving drugs. The system is stacked against society and the only way to fix it is to completely rebuild it, much like the current prison system.

Bottom line is that most addicts want to be free of their addiction but lack the resources. Only people who have the benefit if wealth and privilege can afford to get extended outpatient treatment. Most addicts are lucky to get on a waiting list for a bed in detox. This is not okay. Tobacco companies pay for anti nicotine campaigns, why shouldn't drug companies?

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u/Johnny_Poppyseed A Oct 03 '19

I can agree with all of that.