Editing Oxycodone (section)

====United States====
{{See also|Opioid epidemic in the United States}}

Oxycodone is the most widely recreationally used opioid in America. In the United States, more than 12 million people use opioid drugs recreationally.<ref name="Girioin">{{cite news|date=11 September 2013|title=FDA to require stricter labeling for pain drugs|pages=A1 and A9|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|vauthors=Girioin L, Haely M}}</ref> The [[U.S. Department of Health and Human Services]] estimates that about 11 million people in the U.S. consume oxycodone in a non-medical way annually.<ref>[http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Now-a-counselor-she-went-from-stoned-to-straight-6605620.php Now a counselor, she went from stoned to straight], [[San Francisco Chronicle]], 2 November. 2015.</ref>

Opioids were responsible for 49,000 of the 72,000 [[drug overdose]] deaths in the U.S. in 2017.<ref name="NIDA-deaths">{{cite web|date=29 January 2019|title=Overdose Death Rates|url=http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates|access-date=11 May 2019|website=www.drugabuse.gov|archive-date=28 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151128091723/http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2007, about 42,800 emergency room visits occurred due to "episodes" involving oxycodone.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Oxycontin and Addiction|url=http://consumer.healthday.com/encyclopedia/substance-abuse-38/drug-abuse-news-210/oxycontin-and-addiction-648264.html|access-date=24 April 2016|website=consumer.healthday.com|archive-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415210939/http://consumer.healthday.com/encyclopedia/substance-abuse-38/drug-abuse-news-210/oxycontin-and-addiction-648264.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2008, recreational use of oxycodone and hydrocodone was involved in 14,800 deaths. Some of the cases were due to overdoses of the acetaminophen component, resulting in fatal liver damage.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120105112147/http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/pdf/PolicyImpact-PrescriptionPainkillerOD.pdf Policy Impact: Prescription Pain Killer Overdoses] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 24 December 2013.</ref>

In September 2013, the US [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) released updated labeling guidelines for long-acting and extended-release opioids requiring manufacturers to remove moderate pain as an indication for use, instead stating the drug is for "pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long term opioid treatment".<ref>{{cite web|title=ER/LA Opioid Analgesic Class Labeling Changes and Postmarket Requirements|url=https://www.fda.gov/media/86875/download | format=PDF |access-date=12 September 2013|publisher=U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA)|archive-date=18 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130918062419/http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/InformationbyDrugClass/UCM367697.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The updated labeling does not restrict physicians from prescribing opioids for moderate pain, as needed.<ref name="Girioin" />

Reformulated OxyContin is causing some recreational users to change to [[heroin]], which is cheaper and easier to obtain.<ref>[http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/reformulated-oxycontin-reduces-abuse-but-many-addicts-have-switched-to-heroin/20068119.article Reformulated OxyContin reduces abuse but many addicts have switched to heroin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120051037/http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/reformulated-oxycontin-reduces-abuse-but-many-addicts-have-switched-to-heroin/20068119.article |date=20 November 2017 }}, The Pharmaceutical Journal, 16 March 2015.</ref>

=====Lawsuits=====
In October 2017, ''[[The New Yorker]]'' published a story on [[Mortimer Sackler]] and [[Purdue Pharma]] regarding their ties to the production and manipulation of the oxycodone markets.<ref name="eop" /> The article links Raymond and Arthur Sackler's business practices with the rise of direct pharmaceutical marketing and eventually to the rise of addiction to oxycodone in the United States. The article implies that the [[Sackler family]] bears some responsibility for the [[opioid epidemic in the United States]].<ref name="NewYorker_Keefe_20171023">{{Cite magazine|vauthors=Keefe PR|date=23 October 2017|title=The Family That Built an Empire of Pain|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain|access-date=18 November 2017|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=22 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122073308/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, ''[[The New York Times]]'' ran a piece confirming that [[Richard Sackler]], the son of Raymond Sackler, told company officials in 2008 to "measure our performance by Rx's by strength, giving higher measures to higher strengths".<ref>{{Cite news|vauthors=Meier B|date=31 January 2019|title=Sackler Scion's Email Reveals Push for High-Dose OxyContin, New Lawsuit Disclosures Claim|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/health/opioids-purdue-pharma-sackler.html|access-date=3 February 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202180610/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/health/opioids-purdue-pharma-sackler.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This was verified with documents tied to a lawsuit – which was filed by the Massachusetts attorney general, [[Maura Healey]] – claiming that Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family knew that high doses of OxyContin over long periods would increase the risk of serious side effects, including addiction.<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Bebinger M, Willmsen C|date=15 January 2019|title=Mass. AG Implicates Family Behind Purdue Pharma In Opioid Deaths|work=WBUR Boston|url=https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2019/01/15/healey-purdue-oxycontin-sacklers-unredacted-complaint|access-date=19 September 2019|archive-date=16 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016135025/https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2019/01/15/healey-purdue-oxycontin-sacklers-unredacted-complaint|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite Purdue Pharma's proposal for a US$12 billion settlement of the lawsuit, the attorneys general of 23 states, including Massachusetts, rejected the settlement offer in September 2019.<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=DeCosta-Klipa N|date=17 September 2019|title=Maura Healey explains why she refused to join the Purdue Pharma settlement|work=Boston.com|publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC|url=https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2019/09/17/maura-healey-purdue-settlement|access-date=19 September 2019|archive-date=17 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017195611/https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2019/09/17/maura-healey-purdue-settlement|url-status=live}}</ref>