Washington Post Correspondence
After falsely claiming OxyContin “addicted millions” in a 2020 news article, The Washington Post declined to follow up about its reliance on studies that include incorrect information, flawed methodology and false conclusions about the origins of the opioid crisis.
Years later, The Post admits Purdue is not to blame for the opioid crisis.
May 2020:Washington Post Commits Resources to Investigating Opioid Crisis, But Quits When Presented with Falsehoods & Errors in its Sourcing
After The Washington Post accurately concluded that Purdue was a “too-easy scapegoat” the Raymond Sackler family engaged in substantial dialogue with the newspaper about addressing additional false impressions about the opioid crisis and its origins, which pre-date OxyContin.
That correspondence, published here in its entirety, clearly demonstrates that The Post was relying on deeply flawed information for some of its incorrect conclusions. Unfortunately, however, after The Post’s false impressions were debunked, the newspaper failed to publish news articles exposing the errors in the studies on which it and many others had relied.
Initial Correction Request & Responses
Additional Correspondence with The Washington Post
May 2022: Washington Post Admits Purdue is Not to Blame for Opioid Crisis
“Most people think of Purdue Pharma when they think of the opioid epidemic, but they would be wrong to think that Purdue Pharma was the company that really fueled the opioid epidemic.”
reporter Scott Higham (who has been covering the opioid topic for years), May 11, 2022[1]
