Inside STAT: Faced with fears of OxyContin misuse, sales reps touted its safety

(ALEX HOGAN/STAT)

STAT is out with the latest in our ongoing coverage of Purdue Pharma’s aggressive marketing of OxyContin. Over the late December break, I traveled once again to Pikeville in eastern Kentucky to sift through more of the documents that STAT has worked for years to unseal. In this new batch were sales memos showing how, even as physicians raised concerns about OxyContin’s risks, sales reps battled those worries by sharing misleading assertions that the drug caused less euphoria and was less prone to misuse than other similar drugs. The launch plan for OxyContin was also in this new trove of documents, and reveals Purdue’s sweeping vision, including targeting “all 1,200 cancer centers, all 1,200 major teaching institutions, [and] all 2,500 community hospitals” with at least 100 beds. Read the full story from STAT’s Andrew Joseph and me here.