The history of OxyContin, told through unsealed Purdue documents
PIKEVILLE, Ky. — STAT’s multiyear legal battle to unseal secret Purdue Pharma files in a Kentucky court has produced dozens of documents that lay bare new details about the company’s marketing strategy and the role of Dr. Richard Sackler, a member of the family that founded and controls Purdue, in making OxyContin a top-selling pain pill.
Starting in the early 1990s, the internal emails and other documents describe Purdue’s preparation for the opioid’s launch in 1996, its plans for targeting OxyContin to non-cancer patients with chronic pain, and how the company aggressively fought off threats to its blockbuster’s sales, even as the opioid epidemic took hold.
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