Attorney General Letitia James Says Purdue Pharma is Killing New Yorkers

By Joseph Leo and Milette Millington

The opioid crisis in the United States is one of the biggest problems the country is facing, and New York City is right in the thick of it. Attorney General Letitia James announced on Thursday that New York State is filing a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma.

The suit details how systemic failures led to massive shipments of opioids to specific New York pharmacies that fill prescriptions written by providers who have been charged with or convicted of illegal prescribing.

Purdue is one of the major distributers of opioids, selling over seven million pills to New York pharmacies. “Each day more than 130 people in the United States, about nine of whom live in New York, died as a result of opioid related overdoses,” said James in a press conference.

The attorney general wants to change the laws surrounding opioids—ultimately banning the distribution in the state of New York. “If you do not go into compliance with the law, we will not allow you to sell controlled substances such as opioids,” she said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (the CDC), almost 400,000 people died from an overdoses involving opioids, prescribed and illicit.

Purdue Pharma, however, still claims that addiction related opioids is still small or non-existent. In 1996, Purdue launched Oxycontin. Marketed as providing 12 hours of pain relief, it packed a large amount of addictive narcotic into a single pill, becoming an instant market sensation generating billions of dollars. Purdue Pharma claims that patients that show signs of addiction are not addicted, but suffering from undertreatment of their pain.

However, the addiction problem of the United States has steadily increased since 2015, with more than 3,200 New Yorkers dying from an opioid related overdose.

The CDC also claims overdose deaths involving prescription opioids are five times higher in 2017 than they were in 1999.

There was a survivor in attendance at Thursday’s press conference, Justin St. George, who spoke. St. George is one of the lucky ones who realized he had a problem before it was too late. St. George is in recovery at Youth Clubhouse in Staten Island. Referring to people like St. George, Attorney General James said companies like Purdue Pharma “chose money over the health and safety of their patients.”