Bereaved Mom Hunts Purdue Pharma Execs
58 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // September 12th, 2007 // 7:53 am
Marianne Skolek is angry, and she won’t rest until the individuals who she believes are responsible for her daughter’s death are punished. In her view, those individuals are the execs at Purdue Pharma, which sells OxyContin. In 2002, her 29-year-old daughter was prescribed the painkiller for a herniated disk and wound up dying of heart failure, leaving behind a 6-year-old son.
Since then, she set up a web site - oxydeaths - to rally others who lost loved ones to the painkiller. She testified before a Senate committee. And she traveled to Virginia earlier this year in an unsuccessful bid to convince a federal judge to sentence three Purdue execs to jail time. The parent company and the execs had already agreed to pay a combined $634.5 million in fines.
So now, Skolek is going after them. She wants Howard Udell, Purdue’s top lawyer, disbarred, and Paul Goldenheim, formerly Purdue’s medical director, to have his medical license revoked. So she’s filed a grievance against Udell in Connecticut, where Purdue is based, and it’s been referred to the state panel (take a look here). New York also wrote back about taking ”appropriate action,” she says, but we don’t yet have a copy of that letter to share with you.
“I want to do whatever is in my power to bring justice to Jill (her daughter) as well as the thousands of victims of these guys and their company,” Skolek tells Pharmalot. “If they’re not going to get prison time, there are other avenues to prosecute them for what they’ve done. And this is my mission.”
For those keeping score, Udell agreed to pay $8 million, Goldenheim paid $7.5 million and Michael Friedman, Purdue’s president, paid $19 million to settle charges of misleading doctors and patients about Oxycontin risks. Each also paid a $5,000 criminal fine. But paying the money may have been the easy part. Skolek is forging a path that holds high-ranking individuals accountable for improperly promoting meds. Pharma execs, she says, are now on notice.
Lisa Van Syckel
Marianne,
YOU GO GIRL!!….
Donna
Marianne,
keep up the good work, you lead and many will follow….
Marianne Skolek
Lisa I’m from Whitehouse Station, NJ — small world
Marianne Skolek
Marianne Skolek
Lisa I’m from Whitehouse Station, NJ small world. Marianne Skolek
Lisa Van Syckel
Marianne,
We should do lunch…..
Ed S.
While I feel your loss Marianne, everyone who takes a CII drug knows of its potential addictiveness.
To sit there and blame the drug company would be like someone suing McDonald’s because it made them fat.
At some point, we need to start to learn to take some personal responsibility.
Lisa Van Syckel
Ed S,
“While I feel your loss,Marianne”….
Boy… You sure allowed your ignorance and errogance shine through here….Didnt you…
Sometimes……Somethings…….are better left unsaid..
Lisa Van Syckel
Ed S,
“While I feel your loss Marianne”‘
Wow…You sure allowed your ignorance and errogance to shine through…Didnt you..
Sometimes……Somethings…… are better left unsaid.
Ed S.
Lisa: My ignorance?
Everyone is always looking to blame someone. When I put something into my body, I research as much as humanly possible and am aware of the risks.
When taking a CII med, you need to be aware of the side effects/addictions.
Lisa Van Syckel
Ed S,
Yes… Ignorance..
Unless you have lost a child,you cant possibly understand Marianne’s loss….
Again…Sometimes……Somethings………
Are just….better left unsaid.
Ed S.
Lisa,
I don’t want to get into a back and forth because you can’t possibly change my mind, and vice-versa.
The fact is, people don’t know how to take resonsibility, and are always looking to blame someone.
I await the lawsuits that are coming to McDonald’s and BK for making people fat.
Marianne Skolek
Ed S — if Purdue Pharma did not market OxyContin as less likely to be addictive or abused, they would not have been found criminally responsible for mismarketing OxyContin. My daughter was told by her physician the drug was less addictive than other narcotics. Do your research before you defend a criminally charged $9 billion corporation whose actions resulted in thousands of deaths and addictions. Do you think my daughter and thousands of unsuspecting people would have taken the drug if they weren’t misled by the CEO’s of this corporation? Do you think they would have pleaded guilty to the charges against them if they hadn’t done anything wrong?
Ed
Did you really just try and ban me?
Marianne Skolek
Ban you? I have no idea what you are talking about — and I don’t think you do either.
Lisa Van Syckel
Ed S,
Ohh,I feel sad for you.
It must be horrible being trapped in one’s own mind.
Aubrey
Well done Marianne
Obviously people can only take drugs responsibly and take care of their own health if they (and prescribers) are provided with honest information. If the company hid information or misrepresented research, no amount of “research” (per Ed) would have helped. That is the problem.
Obviously if you were provided with correct information, and the research was transparent, then it is a case of buyer beware. Byer beware because you may have been told lies is something a weeny bit different.
Aubrey
http://scientific-misconduct.blogspot.com
Lisa Van Syckel
Pharmalot is having technical difficulties
Ed
I wrote a long post and it wouldn’t stick…
Anyway…Purdue pled guilty for a very basic reason: the public’s perception on pharma right now isn’t that good. Rather than get an even stiffer penalty, they “settled.”
Now, I’m sure you know that Oxycontin is time-released Oxycodone, which is the same active ingredient as Percocet.
Anyone with any knowledge/or has the internet about pharmaceuticals knows this drug can be addicting. It’s not a CII for no reason!
Yes, it is terrible that your daughter became addicted, but it’s not Purdue’s fault. Again, if I have a heart attack because I eat McDonald’s, should my family sue? No. Why? Because I’m aware of the risks.
Marianne Skolek
If it wasn’t Purdue’s fault, they would not have pleaded guilty. I have more important things to do so will let you continue your agenda with others ignorant as regards our legal system and the Federal court proceedings against Purdue. They may find you intuitive — I don’t.
Pete jackson
Ed S, “aware of the risks”, you say? OxyContin is chemically similar to heroin, and just as dangerous, and yet this company duped the FDA, and ultimately thousands of doctors, into thinking it was suitable for moderate pain. People like Marianne’s daughter took it as prescribed by her doctor, and they died. My daughter took it and died also - all she knew was that it was FDA-approved, prescribed by a doctor, and offered to her by someone who she trusted - one pill, and she is dead. She assumed that it was safe. I am not excusing the personal responsibility side of her decision, had she known the risks as you assert, she would never, never have done what she did.
You have no idea what you are talking about. If you had any idea what Marianne Skolek has done for the families of this country, it is beyond courageous. I would suggest that you read Barry Meier’s book “Pain Killer”, and then read the court documents (James Jones, U.S. District Court of Western Virginia), before you try and debate this topic with someone who is very knowledgeable such as Marianne.
jason
Pete,
That is a very sad story, my condelences are with you. But you are doing a great thing by sharing this difficult period in your life. I am sure that story will no doubt save someone reading this blog or someone in the reader’s life.
This is a horrible scourge on our society and especially hit Virginia hard.
Good luck and stay strong
Former Purdue Employee
Purdue ended up laying off a lot of people as a result of all of this controversy. This affected many lives and their families. Some people have had to declare bankruptcy as a result. And I am mostly referring to employees that are lower on the totem pole. They (Purdue execs) kept all of the higher level management while ruining the lives of the lower level employees. They kept the people who made these terrible decisions. Then, the would not even grant interviews to those who were former employees, probably because they knew too much. Instead, new unknowningly employees were hired to support the egos of the management.
Irene Janes
Thank you for fighting for the rights of families. My knowledge of drug companies misleading doctors, patients and the FDA about risks started back in 2002 with one little girl.
I am sorry to say since then many other families have also suffered.
Bob
What is up with all of the pharma hating?
We have two sue-happy psycho women running around. Nice.
jason
Irene,
You don’t get as much empathy when you link to a lawyer’s page. Are you married to one of the Jensen law officers?
paula
FDA warning to Purdue in 2003:
http://www.fda.gov/cder/warn/2003/oxycontin11400.pdf
“…Your advertisements thus grossly overstate the safety profile of OxyContin by not referring in the body of the advertisements to serious, potentially fatal risks associated with OxyContin, thereby potentially *leading to prescribing of the product based on inadequate consideration of risk.*
In addition, your journal advertisements fail to present in the body of the advertisements critical information regarding limitations on the indicated use of OxyContin, *thereby promoting OxyContin for a much broader range of patients with pain than are appropriate for the drug*.
The combination in these advertisements of suggesting such a broad use of this drug to treat pain without disclosing the potential for abuse with the drug and the *serious, potentially fatal risks associated with its use,* is especially egregious and alarming in its potential impact on the public health…”
A person in pain taking a drug prescribed by their physician who has been mislead about its safety by a manufacturer - is quite clearly and obviously not the same as making a personal decision to eat high fat food at McDonalds.
CBT
Note to Bob up there - how do you know the posters you refer to are both women? Do impart some wisdom please.
Lillian Katz
MARIANNE,
I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL—-I JUST LOST MY HUSBAND LESS THAN A MONTH A GO. ALL BECAUSE OF PAIN MEDICATION–ONE WAS OXYCONTIN—GIVEN WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE—–YOU TELL THE DOCTOR THE ADVERSE SIDE EFFECTS BUT THEY DENY IT. PUTTING A WARNING LABEL ON A MEDICATION IS NOT THE ANSWER—-IT IS ONLY TO PROTECT THE GREEDY PAHARMACEUTICAL COMPANITES. MOST DOCTORS DO NOT MONITOR MEDICATIONS. IN FACT HE BECAME SICK ALL BEACUASE OF MEDICATION THAT DOCTORS ARE NOT REPORTING THE ADVERSE SIDE EFFECTS. WARNING LABELS SAY TELL YOUR YOUR DOCTOR BUT THE DOCTOR DOES NOT STOP YIOUR MEDICATION.
ED, I WAS CORRECT ABOUT YOU, WE SPOKE ONCE BEFORE. ABOUT THE CORRUPTION OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES. NOW I KNOW I AM RIGHT.
Bob
CBT-Just Google their names…
sid
interesting comment about Ed by Lillian- let’s all let that sink in.
Ed Silverman
Sid,
For the record, I’ve no idea what Lillian Katz is referring to. In the past, she asked for my phone number, but we never hooked up. We’ve not spoken. I can’t tell if she’s chastising me about something, or inferring that she agrees with me about something.
Regards
ed
sid
Ed,
actually I believe you. Anyone who writes in all caps should not be trusted for any reason. Keep showing both sides of every story.
thanks
Lisa
Bob,
“We have two sue-happy psycho women running around”
First of all,those who know me, KNOW, that I would have preferred a CRIMINAL INDICTMENT, over a civil lawsuit.There is no “JUSTICE” in a civil lawsuit.
And for your information..I never received any money!.. Not one filthy dime.
Got a last name Bob?…have any skeletons in you closet?..Bob
Since you didnt provide a last name, I will assume you do.
Ed Silverman
Folks,
Just for the record, other people have commented here and identified themselves as ‘Ed’ or Ed S.’ That was not me - Ed Silverman, the Pharmalot editor. I won’t play guessing games as to whether these are real names or someone tried to engage in a bit of subterfuge. I chose to take them at face value and left the remarks up in the spirit of maintaining a discussion.
But when I post a comment, it will clearly state that it’s from ‘Ed Silverman.’ I will continue to monitor the discussion here for any further confusion. Meanwhile, I want to assure you all that those earlier comments - whatever the point of view expressed - were posted by others. If I choose to express myself, you will know.
Regards
ed at Pharmalot
Lisa
Ed at Pharmalot,
Those of us who have followed your reporting over the years,know your style of reporting,and arent easily confused.
Simon Passanante - Mom who lost daughter to OxyContin goes after Purdue Pharma execs
[...] Sept. 12, Pharmalot described a web site set up by Marianne Skolek. Skolek’s daughter died after using Oxycontin. [...]
AjM
The Pharm directors that were sued and apparently settled out of court have paid a significant amount. To whom was the settlement paid? I know, already, that a fair percentage went to pay lawyers and other professionals that are consulted and paid in the course of the preparation of a law suit–that being said, a significant figure remains after the deductions. To whom was the remainder paid?
This is a queston “without horns” but one with, instead, a fair degree of curiousity about the “mechanics” of such matters. No disrespect is intended towards anyone on this forum who has been harmed or hurt by this pharmaceutical firm.
Diana Cain
My father died December 2004 less than a year later I almost my son in law. My father ended up dying a 75 year old drug addict. When I wrote a grievance letter to the Maryland state board they felt she acted accordingly.
Do not tell me that my father should have taken some responsibility, he had never taken drugs in his life. After a back operation the doctor gave him oxycontin. She never checked up on him to see why he lost so much weight, she kept giving him more and more oxycontin. When he died he had several filled perscriptions in the house. You don’t understand the drug and apparently neither did the doctors that perscribed it. The drug company lied to the doctors and said it wasn’t as addictive as other drugs on the market so the doctors perscribed it. There in is the lie, it’s very addictive. If you try to go off the drug abruptly you go into respiratory failure… like my Dad. Purdue Pharma made millions off of this drug by lying. The hospitals and doctors sued and made millions. The only ones who didn’t get justice are the ones who died. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss my Dad, he should have been able to die with dignity, he was my hero - because of oxycontin he died a drug addict.
someone
To Ed S.
You are a DOLT! Comparing Macdonald’s making people fat to a pharma company peddling serious drugs is straw man tactic which has no place here.
Not only are you a DOLT you are an insensitive coot, ergo when you say you can feel the pain, you cannot possibly….
I would ask the lawyers and the mother of the child who died, to pull every paper that was published in any journal and sue the P.I.’s as well. You need to threaten the accomplices or else this will never end…
Ed Silverman
Dear Someone,
For the record, that was not me whose comment upset you. Another person, several months ago, if you look back at this thread, signed on as ‘Ed S.’ I don’t know if that was their real name or not, although I could check. In any event, I would like to make clear to everyone that my own comments always carry my name, ‘Ed Silverman.’
Regards,
Ed Silverman
someone
Dear Ed,
I do realize it wasn’t you…
You seem to be a caring person and I thoroughly appreciate the job you are doing..
Best,
Ed Silverman
Dear Someone,
I’ve been called a lot of things since beginning Pharmalot a year ago, but caring isn’t one of them. So thank you. I will refer back to this comment, as needed.
Cheers
Ed Silverman
Justice in Michigan
Wow, I hesitate to get this into this at all, but perhaps the class can agree on some version of the following:
1. Purdue did, indeed, attempt to mislead docs and pts about the _relative_ safety of Oxy.
2. People are responsible for themselves, yes. That includes corporate people being responsible for their actions.
3. Hamburgers are entirely irrelevant.
4. The apparent attempt to impersonate Ed S. (even if it is an Ed S.) is contemptible.
To the other “Ed.” I know Ed Silverman. You’re no Ed Silverman.
4.
Stephany
Good for Marianne demanding accountability where it belongs.
Brian
Lot’s of people die from pain medication like NSAIDs, COX-2 and opioids. It’s a fact of life that people live with pain, live with pain killers or die in pain. Is the answer to stop making pain medication, making pain medication illegal in the U.S. or to find better medications for pain? I’m sure less and less people want to study this problem if at the end they can expect lawsuits from those who had a bad reaction. Time to be a little more mature about side effects in this country
truthman
Brian “Time to be a little more mature about side effects in this country”
I would say it is time to be a little more mature about drug regulation and ethics…
But then again..
I’m don’t work for a pharmaceutical company…
Brian
Pain killers have also helpful in the music industry.
Diana Cain
Brian - um not everyone is into music, not everyone wants to get high. Some people have painful operations that don’t work leaving them in more pain. Then doctors hand out pain meds that they can’t get off of without going through a drug rehab program. Yes thats what I said. Now back operations are in three parts, the operation - the pain meds - that the med rehab program. This is a new thing, they didn’t offer it when my Dad passed away December 2004.. he was told oxycontin would take away the pain, they never said “but it’s addictive and you can’t get off of it without help” AND he was 75 and they should have never given it to him to begin with. So have some compassion and don’t be so glib.
truthman
Brian
Pain killers have also helpful in the music industry.
Bob..
You are so ridiculous..
Keep em comin.. your sily comments put a smile on my day..
truthman
Sorry I meant Brian..
I get so confused..
Bob, Brian, Atlex, Nathan..
Sometimes its hard to decipher which Bull is coming from whom..
Apologies ..
Brian
Truthman,
While you are avoiding the issue again, I will point out that musicians were the first to show us all how to abuse medication to improve performance..
Diana,
Sorry to hear about your Dad. Oxycontin is an opioid and is as potent a pain med as you can get. It can be addictive and is only used in the most intractable pain. There are no totally safe pain medications on the market so my question remains (Truthman you may answer as well ):
Shall we live with pain, live with pain killers or die in pain. Is the answer to stop making pain medication, making pain medication illegal in the U.S. or to find better medications for pain?
Diana Cain
Brian - I was under the impression this was a bereavement board.
I know oxycontin inside out and upside down, I know it’s family as well. Do you know how it works? How it gives you a pain free high, then as it wears off you become paranoid and afraid and depression sets in? No you can’t feel the pain because you can’t feel at all. Did you ever see the pictures of Courtney Love on oxycontin? Is that what living is to you? The cause of the pain is still there, the oxycontin only hides it or masks it.
“We live in pain?” So your on oxycontin? Oxycontin is a prescription drug but don’t worry your family doctor will hand it to you. You can’t live with the pain killers because the pain killers will kill you… plain and simple. Once your pain is over you’ll find you can’t get off the oxycontin and if you try getting off the drug cold turkey you’ll die of respiratory distress. You have no idea how addictive oxycontin is.
My sisters brother in law took oxycontin because of a back injury.. he lost his business, his wife and his kids - he tried to kill himself.
There are so many stories… what you don’t get is Purdue Pharma lied, they lied to the doctors, they said it wasn’t addictive. I’d like to think if my Dads doctor had known that bit of information she wouldn’t have given him the drug.
No one is saying “make pain medication illegal in the U.S.” they are saying make it safe and tell people what the side effects are - give them a choice.
Brian
Sorry Diana but I’m not sure of your point. The opioid class of pain medication has been known from ancient times to be highly addictive. Oxycontin is a slow release form of one of these drugs. Many folks purposely defeat the slow release technology and smoke or inject the entire dose. I’m not sure the manufacturer should be liable for that kind of behavior.
Diana
Well apparently Brian your wrong, since they have been sued in a court of law and have paid millions of dollars, they admitted to lying.
There have been drugs around since the dark ages however when a company says “hey we’ve got a new pain med that isn’t addictive” they knew full well that doctors were going to hand it out. AND that is why they got sued.
My father did not inhale or inject his meds, he took them as directed so the manufacturer should be held accountable.
What part don’t you understand? Not everyone who got hooked on oxycontin was a drugged out heavy metal band member, My Dad was 75 with no history of drug abuse.
Again do not tell me how oxycontin works, I know how it works and I know how it kills. Ever see someone you love go into respiratory distress?
Brian
Diana,
Opioids are well known to cause constipation, respiratory distress and eventually death. Often the cause of death for cancer patients is from over medication with opioid drugs. Oxycontin is a control release formulation of oxycodone. For a most basic overview which corrects much of what you have said see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxycodone .
I’m sorry there aren’t any better pain medications for the most desperate of patients but that is the truth and your doctor knows it. It’s time for you to understand how this medication works. Pharma firms will often settle with claimants in courts because judges, juries and the public at large is pretty much scientifically illiterate, on that we can agree…
Nathan
Diana says:
“No one is saying “make pain medication illegal in the U.S.” they are saying make it safe and tell people what the side effects are - give them a choice.”
The second part of that statement is fine — fully informed people make better decisions and probably have better outcomes. But a statement like “make it safe” is laughable to people in the industry like myself and Brian. Armies of chemists and biologists have spent decades researching painkillers. If we had something safer to sell you, I assure you that we would gladly take your money. As I’ve said many times on this website, risk-free drugs don’t exist.
Jenimi
I have written a long entry and forgot to put in my email address and now it’s all gone.
To sum it up, as a pharmacist i’d like to say a few things
1. It’s a CII for a reason. Less does not mean no addiction. IF not this CII, then it’s another CII.
2. IT’s time to take a look at the doctors who consistently “prescribe” these medications. There are great doctors out there but there are some who just “prescribe” but not “practice”. DO NOT point your fingers at one large pharmaceutical company ( I DO NOT WORK FOR ONE) but look at the whole picture.
3. Please take some time to look at the other side of the fence. These medications have alleviated the pain and sufferings of countless oncology patients and have given them a better QOL.
4. I’m sorry for what has happened to your daughter, I don’t know what it’s like therefore I will not praise nor critique what you did. As a healthcare professional, we took the oath to make sure the patients’ well being is our number one priority. I just hope you have not lost all your faith in us because some of us DO CARE.
Diana
I will try to post this as if I didn’t watch my Dad die and my son in law almost die because of oxycontin.
First do not assume I did not do my homework, I did. Please do not talk down to me as if I just stepped off the boat of a third world country. You sound like the doctors in the hospital.
I have faith in the medical field because my granddaughter would not be alive without her meds for her diabetes insipidus.
I have proplems with several issues. His doctor should have never given him oxycontin, he was 75, with high blood pressure and the beginnings of emphysema. He lost over 80 pounds and she never saw him in her office yet she continued to hand out the drug. He had bottles of it all over the house. I have problems with the doctor, I have a problem with the drug company. While those of you who deal with meds in your everyday life might have known it was highly addictive the rest of us didn’t. We are a information society, when the information your given is faulty problems occur… in this case people die.
My Dads doctor over medicated him, Purdue Pharma lied about the drug they manufactured. Purdue lied because they knew doctors would recommend oxycontin over other drugs because it was supposed to be less addictive. It’s about the money, it’s always about the money.