 | This article needs to be updated.(November 2021) |
Barry Meier | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1949 [1] |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University |
| Occupation(s) | Author Columnist |
Barry Meier is a writer and former New York Times journalist who wrote the 2003 non-fiction book Pain Killer: A Wonder Drug's Trail of Addiction and Death . [2] His articles "have led to Congressional hearings and changes in federal laws". [1]
Meier studied at Syracuse University. [1]
In his career as journalist, Meier has specialized in reporting on business, public policy, and health and safety. [1] He reported for The Wall Street Journal for five years, [1] worked at New York Newsday as a special projects reporter, [1] and reported for The New York Times . According to his The Times profile, his articles published by The Times and elsewhere "have led to Congressional hearings and changes in federal laws." [1]
In 2001, Meier began investigating Purdue Pharma and OxyContin, [3] when it was still a relatively unknown drug made by a relatively unknown family, the Sacklers, including Mortimer Sackler and his brother Raymond Sackler, their children and grandchildren—at that time "one of the wealthiest families in the United States". [4] In an August 24, 2001 Meier recorded an interview with Purdue CEO Michael Friedman and executives Howard Udell and Dr. Paul Goldenheim, who told Meier "they had learned of OxyContin’s growing abuse only in early 2000, a statement they also made before congressional committees". [4] They said the company had undertaken a "massive marketing campaign", based on a "unique claim" for OxyContin, with FDA permission, that, "as a long-acting opioid, it might be less likely to cause abuse and addiction than shorter-acting painkillers like Percocet." [4] In 2001 Meier published Pain Killer: A Wonder Drug's Trail of Addiction and Death. [2] A 2004 New York Times review of the book concluded:
For years, doctors who prescribed OxyContin were told that the risk of addiction to the painkiller was less than 1 percent. Only after the drug had devastated thousands of lives was it revealed that this figure, touted as scientific fact, was based on a small study that had no relevance for the general public. [3]
The Painkiller , a television miniseries was based on Meyer's book Pain Killer and "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain", a New Yorker article by Patrick Radden Keefe. [5] The series premiered on Netflix on August 10, 2023. [6] [7] .
Meier's 2021 book entitled Spooked: The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies focused on the former The Wall Street Journal journalist, Glenn R. Simpson and the company he founded and co-owned— Fusion GPS —the spy they hired— Christopher Steele —and his report—the Steele dossier prior to the 2016 United States presidential election. [8] [9] [10]
Oxycodone, sold under the brand name Roxicodone and OxyContin among others, is a semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and is a commonly abused drug. It is usually taken by mouth, and is available in immediate-release and controlled-release formulations. Onset of pain relief typically begins within fifteen minutes and lasts for up to six hours with the immediate-release formulation. In the United Kingdom, it is available by injection. Combination products are also available with paracetamol (acetaminophen), ibuprofen, naloxone, naltrexone, and aspirin.
Sally L. Satel is an American psychiatrist based in Washington, D.C. She is a lecturer at Yale University School of Medicine, a visiting professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and an author.
Arthur Mitchell Sackler was an American psychiatrist and marketer of pharmaceuticals whose fortune originated in medical advertising and trade publications. He was also an art collector. He was one of the three patriarchs of the controversial Sackler family pharmaceutical dynasty.
Purdue Pharma L.P., formerly the Purdue Frederick Company (1892–2019), was an American privately held pharmaceutical company founded by John Purdue Gray. It was sold to Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler in 1952, and then owned principally by the Sackler family and their descendants.
Raymond Sackler was an American physician and businessman. He acquired Purdue Pharma together with his brothers Arthur M. Sackler and Mortimer Sackler. Purdue Pharma is the developer of OxyContin, the drug at the center of the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Mortimer David Sackler was an American-born psychiatrist and entrepreneur who was a co-owner, with his brothers Arthur and Raymond, of Purdue Pharma. During his lifetime, Sackler's philanthropy included donations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate Gallery, the Royal College of Art, the Louvre and Berlin's Jewish Museum.
A pill mill is an illegal facility that resembles a regular pain clinic, but regularly prescribes painkillers (narcotics) without sufficient medical history, physical examination, diagnosis, medical monitoring, or documentation. Clients of these facilities usually receive prescriptions only against cash. Pill mills contribute to the opioid epidemic in the United States and are the subject of a number of legislative initiatives at the state level.
Elizabeth Ann Sackler is a public historian, arts activist, and the daughter of Arthur M. Sackler and descendant of the Sackler family. She is the founder of the American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation and the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum.
There is an ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States, originating out of both medical prescriptions and illegal sources. It has been called "one of the most devastating public health catastrophes of our time". The opioid epidemic unfolded in three waves. The first wave of the epidemic in the United States began in the late 1990s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), when opioids were increasingly prescribed for pain management, resulting in a rise in overall opioid use throughout subsequent years. The second wave was from an expansion in the heroin market to supply already addicted people. The third wave starting in 2013 was marked by a steep 1,040% increase in the synthetic opioid-involved death rate as synthetic opioids flooded the US market.
"Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics" is the title of a letter to the editor written by Jane Porter and Hershel Jick and published in the January 10, 1980, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The letter analyzed data on patients who had been treated with opioids in a hospital setting, and concluded that addiction was uncommon among such patients. It has since been frequently misrepresented to claim that opioids are not addictive when prescribed for use at home. This misrepresentation has been blamed for contributing to the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Richard Stephen Sackler is an American businessman and physician who was the chairman and president of Purdue Pharma, a former company best known as the developer of OxyContin, whose initiation of the opioid epidemic in the United States became the subject of many lawsuits and fines, filing for bankruptcy in 2019. The company's downfall was the subject of the 2021 Hulu miniseries Dopesick and the 2023 Netflix miniseries Painkiller, in which Sackler is portrayed by Michael Stuhlbarg and Matthew Broderick, respectively.
Massachusetts v. Purdue is a lawsuit filed on August 14, 2018, suing the Stamford, Connecticut-based company Purdue Pharma LP, which created and manufactures OxyContin, "one of the most widely used and prescribed opioid drugs on the market", and Purdue's owners, the Sacklers accusing them of "widespread fraud and deception in the marketing of opioids, and contributing to the opioid crisis, the nationwide epidemic that has killed thousands." Purdue denied the allegations.
The Sackler family is an American family who owned the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and later founded Mundipharma. Purdue Pharma, and some members of the family, have faced lawsuits regarding overprescription of addictive pharmaceutical drugs, including OxyContin. Purdue Pharma has been criticized for its role in the opioid epidemic in the United States. They have been described as the "most evil family in America", and "the worst drug dealers in history".
P.A.I.N. is an American advocacy organization founded by artist Nan Goldin to respond to the opioid crisis, specifically targeting the Sackler Family for manufacturing, promoting, and distributing the drug Oxycontin through their corporation Purdue Pharma LP.
The timeline of the opioid epidemic includes selected events related to the origins of Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, the development and marketing of oxycodone, selected FDA activities related to the abuse and misuse of opioids, the recognition of the opioid epidemic, the social impact of the crisis, lawsuits against Purdue and the Sackler family.
The Crime of the Century is an American two-part documentary film directed, produced, and written by Alex Gibney. The film follows the opioid epidemic in the United States, and the political operatives, government regulations and corporations that enable the abuse of opioids, particularly the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma.
Joss Sackler is a fashion designer. She is also known for her marriage to David Sackler, whose father Richard Sackler was the chairman and president of Purdue Pharma, and oversaw its manufacturing of the highly addictive opioid Oxycontin, a leading drug in the opioid epidemic.
Curtis Wright IV is an American former government official known for his role in the Food and Drug Administration's approval of OxyContin for Purdue Pharma in 1995, followed by his subsequent employment by the company, which led to portrayals in films and reports in nonfiction books, magazines, and news media outlets of his alleged role as one of the key figures in the current opioid epidemic in the United States. Wright was implicated in a criminal conspiracy outlined in a 2006 United States Department of Justice review document that was first made public in Purdue Pharma's 2019 bankruptcy proceedings. Although that case was settled in a 2007 plea agreement deal, members of United States Congress have requested the full 2006 documentation from the Department of Justice with the goal of opening a new case based upon the evidence then gathered. Parts of Wright's sworn depositions in 2003 and 2018 have internal contradictions and differ from documentary evidence described the 2003–2006 U.S. Federal Government investigation into Purdue Pharma.
Painkiller is an American drama television miniseries created by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. Based on Patrick Radden Keefe's New Yorker article "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain" and Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier, the series focuses on the birth of the opioid crisis, with an emphasis on Purdue Pharma, the company owned by Richard Sackler and his family that was the manufacturer of OxyContin. The Sackler family has been described as the "most evil family in America", and "the worst drug dealers in history".
Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., 603 U.S. ___ (2024), is a United States Supreme Court case regarding Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. This case is about the settlement by Purdue Pharma for opioid victims who overdosed with the OxyContin drug produced by the company. The justices determined that the Bankruptcy Code does not authorize the claimant's order, blocking the bankruptcy plan.
