>> Tucker: CLOSE TO 50,000
AMERICANS DIED FROM OPIOIDS LAST
YEAR, ABOUT ONE DEATH EVERY
10 MINUTES.
YOU MUST YOU'RE NEVER ANYONE IN
POWER TALK ABOUT WHAT'S
HAPPENING BUT IT'S CHANGING THIS
COUNTRY FOREVER, COMMUNITIES ARE
COLLAPSING, ENTIRE ZIP CODES ARE
BEING DEPOPULATED.
HOW DID THIS START?
IT STARTED WITH MEN IN LAB
COATS, THE MAKER OF OXYCONTIN.
WHEN OXYCONTIN WAS INTRODUCED,
PRETTY ACCLAIMED WITHOUT ANY
EVIDENCE AT ALL THE USERS OF IT
WERE UNLIKELY TO BECOME ADDICTED
TO THE PRODUCT.
THAT WAS A LIE THAT CAUSED AN
EPIDEMIC.
THEY TURNED OUT TO BE
TERRIFYINGLY ADDICTIVE, MANY
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF
AMERICANS HAVE ENTERED INTO A
DEATH SPIRAL OF ADDICTION AFTER
BEING PRESCRIBED THESE DRUGS BY
DOCTORS.
THE DISASTER BEGAN MORE THAN 20
YEARS AGO AND YET ONLY NOW IS
PURDUE PHARMA COLLAPSING UNDER
THE WEIGHT OF A WAVE OF
LAWSUITS.
HEAD OF THE COMPANY GET AWAY
WITH THIS FOR SO LONG?
THE ANSWER TELLS YOU SO MUCH
ABOUT HOW THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
WORKS IN MODERN AMERICA.
HAVING MADE BILLIONS DESTROYING
AN ENTIRE GENERATION, USED SOME
OF THOSE PROFITS TO PLAY FOR
THEIR PUBLICITY.
ACCORDING TO REPORTING, FROM
2003 UNTIL VERY RECENTLY, GAVE
$50,000 A YEAR TO THE AMERICAN
ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE.
IS A CONSERVATIVE THING TO TAKE
IN WASHINGTON, ONE OF THE
RICHEST.
THE MONEY TURNED OUT TO BE VERY
WELL SPENT.
FOR THE PRICE OF A CAR,
PURDUE PHARMA BOUGHT YEARS OF
POSITIVE COVERAGE THAT HELP THE
COMPANY ESCAPE SCRUTINY FOR THE
MANY DEATHS IT WAS CAUSING AT
THE SAME TIME.
IN 2004, AND AI'S FATHER
PUBLISHED A PIECE OF
"THE NEW YORK TIMES" LAMENTING
DOCTORS WHO RISKED JAIL TIME
OVERPRESCRIBING PAIN PILLS.
THAT ARTICLE SAID IT WAS ALMOST
NONEXISTENT AMONG THOSE WHO HAD
BEEN PRESCRIBED THE DRUG.
AS IT TURNS OUT, THE STUDY WAS
CONDUCTED AND PAID FOR BY
PURDUE PHARMA RESEARCHERS.
YET THE ARTICLE DIDN'T MENTION
THAT KEY FACT.
ALSO DIDN'T MENTION THE FACT
THAT THE PIECE HAD BEEN
COORDINATED DIRECTLY WITH THE
DRUG COMPANY.
HE EMAILS SHOW THAT THE SCHOLAR,
THE ONE WHO WROTE THE PIECE,
SENT A DRAFT OF THE ARTICLE TO
PURDUE PHARMA'S CHIEF LOBBYIST A
MONTH BEFORE THE ARTICLE CAME
OUT SEEKING HIS APPROVAL OF THE
TEXT AND MAKING CERTAIN IT
DIDN'T SEEM TO BLATANTLY PRO
PURDUE.
PRETTY STEALTHY.
IN 2007, THAT SAME SCHOLAR WROTE
AN ARTICLE FOR
"THE WALL STREET JOURNAL"
ENTITLED OXYMORON.
THE PIECE BRIEFLY CHASTISED
PURDUE FOR OVER PROMOTING ITS
DRUGS BUT THEN DESCRIBED
OXYCONTIN AS "A GODSEND" AND
WORRIED THAT PHYSICIANS MIGHT
NOT PRESCRIBE THE DRUG IN
SUFFICIENT QUANTITIES PRINT THE
PROBLEM IS THAT AMERICA DOESN'T
HAVE ENOUGH OF IT.
AS FOR THE MANY PEOPLE STARTING
TO DROP DEAD FROM FOXY COTTON,
THE ARTICLE DISMISSED THEM AS
COMMITTED SUBSTANCE ABUSERS.
IN THE YEAR THAT ARTICLE
APPEARED, 18,000 PEOPLE DIED OF
OPIOID OVERDOSE MORE THAN DOUBLE
THE NUMBER BEFORE.
WAS STARTING TO RAGE OUT OF
CONTROL AND YET ACCORDING TO THE
EXPERT SCHOLAR, THE REAL PUBLIC
HEALTH DAMAGE HERE COMES FROM
ZEALOUS PROSECUTORS TO DEMONIZE
THE DRUG ITSELF.
AGAIN, ACCORDING TO AI, THE REAL
CRISIS WAS NOT ENOUGH AMERICANS
WERE TAKING OXYCONTIN.
THIS WAS IN EFFECT ADD COPY.
TOUTING THE LIFE ENHANCING
BENEFITS OF SOME NEW CONSUMER
PRODUCT EXCEPT IN ONE KEY WAY,
IT WAS VERY DIFFERENT.
READERS HAD NO IDEA IT WAS AN AD
FOR OXYCONTIN.
THEY ASSUMED IT WAS WHAT IT
CLAIMED TO BE, SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH BY BY A WELL-RESPECE
RESEARCH BY BY A WELL-RESPECD
FREE-MARKET THINK TANK.
NO MENTION OF FUNDING FROM
PURDUE PHARMA, MEANWHILE,
THOUSANDS KEPT DYING.
MANY IRONICALLY IN THIS
COUNTRY'S REDDEST STATES.
IS OF A CONSERVATIVE THINK TANK
RAN INTERFERENCE FOR A COMPANY
WHOSE PRODUCTS WERE
DISPROPORTIONATELY KILLING
CONSERVATIVES.
JUST ANOTHER DAY IN WASHINGTON.
YOU'RE STARTING TO SUSPECT THE
CONSERVATIVE ESTABLISHMENT
DOESN'T REALLY REPRESENT YOUR