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Losing A Loved One To Hillybilly Heroin – OxyContin

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The below article was written by me and published in 2009.  In my almost 22 years of exposing Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, the FDA, politicians, and the list goes on, I have been plagiarized and watched billions of dollars make people live a lifestyle they only dreamed of while they danced with the devil.  This lack of conscience in the interest of financial gain was a man-made crisis of addictions and deaths — while foxes stormed the hen houses.

I will work very hard to have OxyContin reclassified for severe pain and in the process make Purdue Pharma shudder.  I do it for my daughter, Jill, and the scores of victims of OxyContin.

Oxycontin
Courtesy: lynnpolice.org

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) – For the past seven-plus years I have been learning everything I can about Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and what I have learned has caused me to know the true meaning of the word evil.

You see, seven years ago, I lost my only daughter – Jill at 29-years-old.  She had the misfortune of being prescribed OxyContin for a herniated disc.

I set out to determine how a drug nicknamed “hillbilly heroin” could be killing and addicting so many people in every state in the country, as well as Canada.

I worked with Attorney Generals, Congressmen, Senators, Departments of Justice, the DEA and the FDA as well as private attorneys and the media. When Purdue Pharma was charged (and pled guilty) to marketing OxyContin as less likely to be addictive or abused in Federal Court in Virginia in July 2007, I was asked by the US Attorney prosecuting the case to make a statement in front of the courtroom.

I did it with the three CEO’s (Michael Friedman, Paul Goldenheim and Howard Udell) who were put on probation and given community service hours at a drug rehab facility glaring at me. I also went to Washington, DC and testified against them in front of a Judiciary Hearing of the U.S. Senate.

I thought my work was over and that a $10 billion privately held pharmaceutical company would discontinue their less-than-honest marketing of OxyContin. I was wrong — very wrong.

In 2008, Purdue Pharma began to very subtly market OxyContin for something called “pregnancy pain”.  They didn’t stop there.  They marketed for the “undertreatment of pain in newborns and pediatric patients” on their website.

I reported them to the FDA and the DEA and believe I used the words — “This company is marketing a very addictive and dangerous drug to the most vulnerable of people”.

There was no doubt in my mind that Purdue Pharma had no conscience.  They pulled this marketing tactic, but I have no doubt that they will try it again when things calm down for them and they feel they can get away with it.

Recently, I came across the below posting on Purdue Pharma’s Partners Against Pain website —

Regarding physician perceptions of female patients with pain, Hadjistavropoulos and colleagues found that physicians distinguished between their “attractive and “unattractive” patients.  Attractive female patients were perceived as experiencing less pain than unattractive female patients, evidencing a “healthy is beautiful” stereotype.

My hope is that the FDA and the DEA find this insult to physicians as offensive as I have found it to be — and they do something about it and in doing so send a very strong message to Purdue Pharma — We’ve had enough!

I recognize that Massachusetts Senator Tolman is conducting OxyContin hearings since the state has been so hard hit by deaths and addictions. But hearings are not going to save lives — definitive and st rong action will though. I am calling upon the FDA to reclassify OxyContin for “severe” pain only — and no longer to be prescribed for “moderate” pain.

A strong message needs to be sent that lives — especially of our young people — are more important than Purdue Pharma’s profits.  I intend to send that message loud and clear for the victims of OxyContin who cannot be heard.

I had a dear friend send me a plaque that reads “Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says — Oh no, She’s awake!”

I will work very hard to have OxyContin reclassified for severe pain and in the process make Purdue Pharma shudder.  I do it for Jill and the scores of victims of OxyContin.


Marianne Perez

Marianne Perez, Salem-News.com Investigative Reporter, is an Activist for Victims of OxyContin and Purdue Pharma throughout the United States and Canada. In July 2007, she testified against Purdue Pharma in Federal Court in Virginia at the sentencing of their three CEO's - Michael Friedman, Howard Udell and Paul Goldenheim - who pleaded guilty to charges of marketing OxyContin as less likely to be addictive or abused to physicians and patients. She also testified against Purdue Pharma at a Judiciary Hearing of the U.S. Senate in July 2007. Marianne works with government agencies and private attorneys in having a voice for her daughter Jill, who died in 2002 after being prescribed OxyContin, as well as the voice for scores of victims of OxyContin. She is currently working on a book that exposes Purdue Pharma for their continued criminal marketing of OxyContin. Marianne is a nurse, graduated in 1991 as president of her class, and also has a Paralegal certification. Marianne served on a Community Service Board for the Courier News, a Gannet newspaper in NJ, writing articles predominantly regarding AIDS patients and their emotional issues. She was awarded a Community Service Award in 1993 by the Hunterdon County, NJ HIV/AIDS Task Force in recognition of and appreciation for the donated time, energy and love in facilitating a Support Group for persons with HIV/AIDS.
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