The Story of the Sacklers and their Drug Fortunes

[Aether2000]

The Sackler family has a long history of unethical or predatory behavior that broke many ethical barriers. In the 1940s, they made their major mark, not in the pursuit of medical advances, but in advertising of pharmaceuticals owned by other companies employing deception, advertising directly to physicians, and ultimately creating the morass within the pharmaceutical industry that prompted Congressional action. They advertised a new antibiotic placing business cards for non-existent doctors claiming more and more doctors are using the antibiotic and the Sacklers paid off the FDA Director to advertise for them in his speeches (he later resigned when the payments were discovered). The Sacklers also were seminal in the advertising of tranquilizers in the 1950s and benzodiazepines (Valium, Librium) in 1960s. Valium was being promoted for college students first entering college due to entering an anxiety producing environment, and also for patients with no demonstrable pathology at all. Their first fortune came in medical advertising and they owned the Medical Times, a journal they used to promote advertising, and at one point reached 600,000 doctors in the US. The next fortune came with the acquisition of Purdue Frederick, a small Greenwich Village drug manufacturer that made earwax remover and drugs to treat constipation. This company introduced MS Contin in 1987, being the first company to package such large dosages in a single pill then followed in 1995 with Oxycontin when it became apparent to the company their patent would soon run out on MS Contin. After Oxycontin was introduced, an entire array of false advertising including infiltrating the FDA, having a package insert that stated Oxycontin was safer than other drugs because of the controlled release. The FDA official responsible subsequently left the FDA and became an employee of Purdue.
Fascinating article: Doximity | The Family That Built an Empire of Pain

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[Ducttape]

very interesting and important read. I should link, in the prescription opioid nutshell thread, to your post.

 

[DrCommonSense]

The Sackler family has a long history of unethical or predatory behavior that broke many ethical barriers. In the 1940s, they made their major mark, not in the pursuit of medical advances, but in advertising of pharmaceuticals owned by other companies employing deception, advertising directly to physicians, and ultimately creating the morass within the pharmaceutical industry that prompted Congressional action. They advertised a new antibiotic placing business cards for non-existent doctors claiming more and more doctors are using the antibiotic and the Sacklers paid off the FDA Director to advertise for them in his speeches (he later resigned when the payments were discovered). The Sacklers also were seminal in the advertising of tranquilizers in the 1950s and benzodiazepines (Valium, Librium) in 1960s. Valium was being promoted for college students first entering college due to entering an anxiety producing environment, and also for patients with no demonstrable pathology at all. Their first fortune came in medical advertising and they owned the Medical Times, a journal they used to promote advertising, and at one point reached 600,000 doctors in the US. The next fortune came with the acquisition of Purdue Frederick, a small Greenwich Village drug manufacturer that made earwax remover and drugs to treat constipation. This company introduced MS Contin in 1987, being the first company to package such large dosages in a single pill then followed in 1995 with Oxycontin when it became apparent to the company their patent would soon run out on MS Contin. After Oxycontin was introduced, an entire array of false advertising including infiltrating the FDA, having a package insert that stated Oxycontin was safer than other drugs because of the controlled release. The FDA official responsible subsequently left the FDA and became an employee of Purdue.
Fascinating article: Doximity | The Family That Built an Empire of Pain

Sounds like the norm for big pharma.

Most of the FDA has conflicts of interest and work as consultants for big pharma companies.

Sounds like business as usual.

 

[Aether2000]

It is indeed the norm now however it was not in the 1940s-70s when the Sacklers used the advertising directly to doctors with fake ads and used a self owned pseudo-scientific journal that reached almost all physicians to in the US to hawk their drugs. They also infiltrated the FDA on more than one occasion and indeed infiltrated most of the pain medicine patient and physician societies that advocated for opioid prescribing. Huge payoffs in the form of speaking engagements were the norm for Purdue. Up to this point the world had never seen anything like this. Because of all of these issues the Sackler's not only made an impact with Oxycontin but changed the entire industry prior to the introduction of Oxycontin in the way advertisements were guised as legitimate and furthered this deception with the advertisements using Oxycontin

 

[DrCommonSense]

It is indeed the norm now however it was not in the 1940s-70s when the Sacklers used the advertising directly to doctors with fake ads and used a self owned pseudo-scientific journal that reached almost all physicians to in the US to hawk their drugs. They also infiltrated the FDA on more than one occasion and indeed infiltrated most of the pain medicine patient and physician societies that advocated for opioid prescribing. Huge payoffs in the form of speaking engagements were the norm for Purdue. Up to this point the world had never seen anything like this. Because of all of these issues the Sackler's not only made an impact with Oxycontin but changed the entire industry prior to the introduction of Oxycontin in the way advertisements were guised as legitimate and furthered this deception with the advertisements using Oxycontin

Same old same old:

FDA panel votes down Sarepta drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Advisory committee votes down >300K/year muscular dystrophy drug due to lack of efficacy studies that only include a 10 patient case series:

Behind the Sarepta drug approval was intense FDA bickering

FDA overrides its own committee and approves the drug due to lobbying pressure, payoffs and "patient rights" groups funded by big pharma.

Or how about how Pfizer got Lyrica approved over an advisory council by INVENTING a disease caused fibromyalgia (which has been rejected by initial founders) using "patient advocacy groups", consultant payoffs and lobbying to become the NUMBER ONE drug on Pfizer's sales list?

Drug Approved. Is Disease Real?

Lyrica was voted down by FDA advisory based upon poor risk/benefit ratio but still eventually got approved due to Pfizer payoffs.

Or how about fake studies on NSAIDS?

A Medical Madoff: Anesthesiologist Faked Data in 21 Studies

Yeah I'd say Sackler is pretty normal.

 

[Doctodd]

your government official has a mortgage too