Conflicting Claims by Activists
Some of the leading voices quoted in the media about the opioid crisis place blame on Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family and OxyContin, but then acknowledge the benefits of the medicine.
Activist Nan Goldin
Nan Goldin is the artist and activist who has spent years advocating for museums and other institutions to remove the Sackler family name, and has said her anger towards the Sackler family is “personal.” She also acknowledged that “OxyContin is an excellent drug.”
“It was not about my own addiction, it’s not. OxyContin is an excellent drug, but it should be used correctly.”
Nan Goldin at the New York Film Festival premiere of All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, October 2022[2]
Activist Ryan Hampton
Ryan Hampton is a former member of the Unsecured Creditors Committee in Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy case and author of the book “Unsettled,” in which he inaccurately claimed OxyContin “led to the addiction of millions.” He has also admitted that OxyContin’s market share was “small.”
“Every time I traded cash for an OxyContin prescription, a direct line led from me to the Sackler family. My addiction, and the addiction of millions of Americans, made that family rich.”
Ryan Hampton in ‘Unsettled,’ October 2021[3]
“Well, from OxyContin, they’re looking at numbers that are probably, you know, I mean their, their market share was small.”
Ryan Hampton on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour show, December 2021[4]
Author Patrick Radden Keefe
Patrick Radden Keefe is the author of ‘Empire of Pain’ and reporter for The New Yorker, in which he inaccurately claimed in a 2020 news article that OxyContin “sparked a deadly crisis of addiction.” He has also said that OxyContin should not have been discontinued, acknowledging it has “very important therapeutic benefits.”
“But OxyContin’s success also sparked a deadly crisis of addiction. Other pharmaceutical companies followed Purdue’s lead, introducing competing products; eventually, millions of Americans were struggling with opioid-use disorders.”
Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker, October 2020[5]
“I’m not suggesting they should’ve pulled [OxyContin] from the shelves. I agree with Zoe that these drugs actually do have very important therapeutic benefits in some circumstances.”
Patrick Radden Keefe during a BBC Radio 4 segment, May 2021[6]
Author Sam Quinones
Sam Quinones is the author of ‘Dreamland’ and, most recently, ‘The Least of Us,” in which he claimed Purdue’s marketing of OxyContin “did a lot to create our new wide market for heroin.” He has also said OxyContin is a “fantastic drug when used properly.”
“OxyContin, flogged by Purdue sale reps, did a lot fo create our new wide market for heroin, which never existed when the opioids on the street were Vicodin, Percocet, and others… Fentanyl’s story on the streets of America is rooted in the demand for opioids created by an unprecedented supply of the pills that began with the release of OxyContin in 1996.”
Sam quinones in ‘The least of us’, November 2021[7]
“Again, had [Purdue Pharma] marketed this to just a certain percentage of the health consumers in America, you know, end of life care, that kind of thing, post-surgical care, whatever, we’d be, I believe, because it’s a fantastic drug when used properly.”
Sam Quinones on ‘pod save the peoples’ podcast, december 6, 2022[8]