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Not a day goes by without hearing something about the heroin and opioid pill epidemic. It’s all over the internet, the news media and it’s getting attention. What is missing from the articles is why the suburbs are targeted by heroin dealers or who is paying the dealers to do it. Reports claim the heroin is coming from Mexico.

 

There is no question middle class America is the target and the perpetrators are banking on your child’s addiction and worse so they can point their finger at the pharmaceutical industry and say …you are responsible! They want you to believe the pharmaceutical industry is evil and must be destroyed. (can you imagine the alternative). Are pharmaceutical companies to blame for heroin overdoses and too many oxycontins on the street? Of course not. They are the manufacturers, not the distributors. Pharma's are getting the blame for an epidemic that was caused by Mexican and Colombian nationals illegally entering our country to intentionally do harm to our citizens. Pill Mills and Pain Clinics are also responsible. 
 

Pain management clinics have thrived in California for years. To get in, a patient is referred by any primary care physician, including some random medical marijuana doctor. Some conditions that qualify for services are arthritis and abdominal, back and face pain. There are over 500 pain management clinics listed in the online yellow pages in Los Angeles alone. 

Pain clinics are known to encourage clients to use very strong addictive medications, even when it’s not necessary to prescribe such a heavy dose of drugs and even when the client objects. I spoke with an amputee, he told me he was encouraged to use very strong pain medications given only to cancer patients. He also told me the over prescribing of strong pain medication is normal at these clinics, so much so that people often sell it on the street. He claimed he asked the pain clinic for 5 mg oxycontins and was given 20 mg tablets instead. The beige 20 mg oxycontins sell for $40.00 each on the street. 10 mg oxycontins sell for $10 to $20 each. 10 mg hydrocodone sell for $10 to $20.00 each. 5 mg vicodin sell for $10.00 each. Green oxycontins sell for $20.00. Not only are pills over prescribed, patches are encouraged too.

Why if pain clinic’s as a rule randomly drug test their clients, and conduct pill counts, are clients still able to sell on the street? More over, if the drugs are taken as prescribed how are so many people becoming addicted to them? You would think the state would ensure these addiction clinics are held accountable for the sheer number of prescription drugs going out the door. Right?

Seattle’s City Attorney Pete Holmes (Democrat) along with Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson (Demcorat) are suing pharmaceutical companies Purdue Pharma, Cephalon, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and Endo Health Solutions  for the opioid crises, claiming the companies deceived physicians and consumers about the dangers of opioid prescription painkillers. The state is only suing Purdue Pharma, the makers of oxycontin and want to force the company to forfeit all profits made in Washington State.  Seattle’s lawsuit 'would seek to recover costs to the city because of the opioid epidemic.'  Seattle hired  Hagens Berman Sobol & Shapiro LLP - to handle the lawsuits for them. They are a national class-action law firm. The suits were filed on Sept. 28, 2017.

 

Campaign contributions tell a story. Attorney General Xavier Becerra's 'BECERRA FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL 2018' list of campaign contributions makes you wonder if California will join Washington State and Ohio in it’s attempt to destroy and dismantle the pharmaceutical industry and it will be even more interesting to see what attorney’s group Xavier Becerra will choose to represent the state. Hagens Berman Sobol & Shapiro LLP donated to his campaign and have an office located in Berkeley.

Mexico's Poppy Fields.

NEW: Pharmaceutical distribution companies responsible for opioid crises.