STAT Investigation Examines Abbott's Role in OxyContin Epidemic

By Kelly Young

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

An investigative article in STAT reveals the extent to which Abbott Laboratories pharmaceutical representatives went to promote OxyContin to physicians.

For example, one rep, after hearing that a sought-after surgeon liked junk food, sent his office a box of doughnuts and snack cakes that spelled out "OxyContin."

Purdue Pharma developed OxyContin and has come under fire for understating the drug's abuse potential, but Abbott's role has gone largely unnoticed. Abbott marketed the drug for Purdue from 1996 to 2002. During that time, annual sales grew from $49 million to $1.6 billion.

STAT obtained documents from a lawsuit in which the state of West Virginia claimed that Purdue and Abbott inappropriately marketed OxyContin and caused addiction in users. The case settled in 2004: Purdue paid the state $10 million, but neither firm admitted wrongdoing.

Abbott reps showed physicians a graphic that indicated that levels of the painkiller remained steady in the bloodstream, but the chart was misleading. In reality, levels were not that flat.