Erin ’s Reviews > Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty > Status Update

For those who had passed the point of no return, there was an inexpensive substitute for OxyContin that was cheaper and stronger and widely available: Heroin.

The DEA discussed the possibility of tightening the quotas on legal oxycodone that Purdue would have access to. The Sackler's called it a clear attack on the pain movement.

The Sackler's blamed "The Liberals" for cooking up a fake controversy over OxyContin.

In a 1996 email it was pointed out that according to Purdue's own data, physicians who attended dinner programs or weekend meetings wrote 2x more prescriptions for OxyContin.

Sales reps were instructed to inform doctors that fewer than 1% of patients who took OxyContin became addicted.

Portenoy described the fear of opioids as a kind of hysteria. He gave it a name "opiophobia".

Dating back to 7th century B.C. it was known that Opium Poppy could stimulate sleep, calm the nerves and induce a sensation of euphoria. Opium Poppy could make pain go away.

A new theory was that the cause of mental illness was a chemical in a person's brain, rather than an immutable genetic tendency or a traumatic upbringing.

Drug company Eli Lily started offering free stethoscopes to students in medical schools. Another company Roche provided free textbooks. Pfizer started organizing golf tournaments in which the company name was stamped on all balls.

In the 1960s one study found that in New York City as much as half of the population might suffer from "clinical " anxiety.