Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Blame Big Pharma, profit motive for legal drug deaths

OxyContin is among the drugs contributing to a rise in opioid abuse in the United States that has given rise to a dramatic increase in overdose deaths. President Barack Obama on Tuesday will announce a mutli-part program to combat the problem, including new efforts at medical schools to train doctors to provide fewer opiod painkillers.
OxyContin is among the drugs contributing to a rise in opioid abuse in the United States that has given rise to a dramatic increase in overdose deaths. President Barack Obama on Tuesday will announce a mutli-part program to combat the problem, including new efforts at medical schools to train doctors to provide fewer opiod painkillers. Toby Talbot AP

Congratulations, America, we have just reached the point where legal drugs are killing more people annually than illegal drugs and they even outnumber traffic fatalities. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that legal prescription drugs are now the silent epidemic, mostly in the USA.

We protect Big Pharma and organized crime by sticking to an outdated drug law. Before you believe the propaganda from the drug companies that underground abuse is the main reason, please Google statistics for yourself and discover who these pharmaceutical companies are, how many people have died from these legal drugs, how many billions of dollars they paid out for those wrongful deaths and the outrageous profits they made from over-priced legal drugs.

These are the same people who are pushing for laws to bring vitamin and mineral nutrients under their control. Why is that? You should be aware there are only a handful of documented deaths in the last 10 years from overdosing vitamins.

This is not my main reason for writing this. We spend billions each year for so-called interdiction against illegal drugs in this country to no avail, and then we put many small offenders in jail for long periods of time to illustrate what a great job we are doing to fight a crime that, by the way, hurts only the user.

How many top executives of Big Pharma have ever been placed in jail, let alone even prosecuted, for participating in the deaths of millions of our friends and relatives?

They just go into the bank vault of their corporation and take out a few billion dollars to settle a claim someone might make because Big Pharma caused the death of their loved one.

Bob Trumbo

Ellenton

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Blame Big Pharma, profit motive for legal drug deaths ."

Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER