The Business of Opioids

When the Billionaire Family Behind the Opioid Crisis Needed PR Help, They Turned to Mike Bloomberg

Bloomberg gave media advice to the Sacklers and recommended his longtime mayoral spokesman to them. The relationship could shadow his presidential bid. Long celebrated as civic-minded philanthropists, the Sacklers were becoming pariahs. The billionaire family whose company created and pushed the addictive painkiller OxyContin had managed to escape connection with […]

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Inside Purdue Pharma’s Media Playbook: How It Planted the Opioid ‘Anti-Story’

OxyContin’s makers delayed the reckoning for their role in the opioid crisis by funding think tanks, placing friendly experts on leading outlets, and deterring or challenging negative coverage. In 2004, Purdue Pharma was facing a threat to sales of its blockbuster opioid painkiller OxyContin, which were approaching $2 billion a […]

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