THE REAL DRUG CARTELS

Oxycodone was first synthesized in a German laboratory in 1916, a few years after the German pharmaceutical company Bayer had stopped the mass production of heroin due to addiction and abuse by both patients and physicians. It was hoped that a thebaine-derived drug would retain the analgesic effects of morphine and heroin with less of the euphoric effect which led to addiction and over use. The subjective experience of a "high" was still reported for oxycodone, however, and it made its way into medical usage in small increments in most Western countries until the introduction of high strength preparations with inert (inactive) binders radically boosted oxycodone use. It was first introduced to the US market in May 1939 and is the active ingredient in a number of pain medications commonly prescribed for the relief of moderate to heavy pain, either with inert binders (oxycodone, OxyContin) or supplemental analgesics such as acetaminophen (Percocet, Endocet, Tylox, Roxicet) and aspirin (Percodan, Endodan, Roxiprin ). It is also sold in a sustained-release form by Mundipharma in Germany (Oxygesic), and in the United States by Purdue Pharma under the trade name OxyContin (Oxycodone Continuous release) as well as generic equivalents, and instant-release forms Endone, OxyIR, OxyNorm, Percolone, OxyFAST, Supeudol, and Roxicodone. More recently, ibuprofen has been added to oxycodone (Combunox).

Purdue was founded by Dr. John Purdue Gray and George Frederick Bingham in 1892 in New York City. It came under new private ownership in 1952. It currently employs about 1,200 people. The company's different branches include Purdue Pharma L.P., The Purdue Frederick Company, Purdue Pharmaceutical Products L.P., and Purdue Products L.P. (www.pharma.com).
The company's manufacturing takes place at three different sites, which include: Purdue Pharmaceuticals L.P., a plant located in Wilson, North Carolina; The P.F. Laboratories Inc. in Totowa, New Jersey; and Rhodes Technologies L.P. in Coventry, Rhode Island. Purdue Pharma L.P. also has research labs located in Cranbury, New Jersey. OxyContin is currently legally and illegally distributed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Legal distribution takes place from the P.F. Laboratories Inc. in Totowa, New Jersey. An extended-release formulation of oxycodone, OxyContin, was first introduced to the US market by Purdue in 1996. Purdue has multiple patents for OxyContin.

In July 2007, Purdue Frederick Company, a shell company of Purdue Pharma, was criminally convicted in US Federal Court in Virginia with misleading patients and physicians as to the addictive and abusive capabilities of OxyContin. They and their three CEO's Michael Friedman, Howard Udell and Paul Goldenheim pled guilty and were sentenced. The 3 convicted felons were sentenced to 400 hours of community service at a drug rehab facility and were put on probation.

Editors note: community service and probation????????? when black and latino youth are constantly being hauled away into federal and state prisons for decades for less than 100 grams of crack cocaine????? Their actions have resulted in scores of deaths and addictions in every state in the country. Marianne Skolek, Activist for Victims of OxyContin and Purdue Pharma continues in her efforts to further expose them for their criminal activities. Skolek recently filed a complaint with the FDA and Attorney Generals throughout the country against Purdue Pharma for their marketing to pregnant women for pain in pregnancy. In addition, Skolek has charged them with a violation of their probation for this marketing ploy which will result in scores of addictions and deaths of mothers and newborns.

Covidien Ltd. of Mansfield said today that one of its subsidiaries has reached an agreement with Purdue Pharma LP to end a patent infringement lawsuit between them. Covidien is a global provider of healthcare products and the subsidiary involved in the agreement is Mallinckrodt Inc. Headquartered in Stamford, Conn. Under the agreement between the two companies, Purdue will grant Mallinckrodt a royalty-bearing license to sell limited quantities of oxycodone hydrochloride extended-release tablets for a limited period of time ending in 2009; as a result, Mallinckrodt expects to begin selling oxycodone hydrochloride extended-release tablets before the end of September 2008, Covidien said.

Mallinckrodt is the sole legal source for cocaine in the United States, which it receives from a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey, which is the only firm in the U.S. licensed to import coca leaves. Federal restrictions also bar the importation of drugs such as Esterom manufactured from cocaine, which therefore requires that they use this supplier. Mallinckrodt is also one of the U.S. importers of opium from India.