GREEDY DRUG COMPANY DESERVES FINE

Drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma, maker of Oxycontin, got off easy last
week with a $600 million fine for misleading physicians and the public
about the painkiller's potential for addiction.

The company and its leadership pushed doctors to over-prescribe the
drug, which has been blamed for hundreds of deaths around the country.

"Even in the face of warnings from health-care professionals, the
media and members of its own sales force. ...Purdue continued to push
a fraudulent marketing campaign," said U.S. Attorney John Brownlee of
Roanoke, Va., who announced the plea deal on Thursday.

As early as 1995, Purdue apparently knew that physicians were worried
about the addictive potential of Oxycontin, a trade name for
oxycodone. But the drug company ignored studies suggesting patients
could easily abuse the medicine and have serious withdrawal problems
when the doctor quit prescribing the drug. Instead, the company
advertised it as a "miracle drug" safer than competing products.

Between 2000 and 2006, Purdue made nearly $10 billion from the sale of
OxyContin.

Purdue's chief executive officer, its general counsel and a former
medical officer, also agreed to fines totaling $34.5 million for their
part in promoting a drug that can be dangerous when abused. That's
precious little to pay compared to those who have lost their lives or
suffered addiction as a direct result of corporate greed.