Time for Ottawa to Stand up to Purdue Pharma, Say Physicians

The opioid manufacturer has paid hundreds of millions in penalties in US but gets a free pass in Canada

Some Canadian physicians say the federal government should follow the example of the United States and prosecute Purdue Pharma for its aggressive marketing of the opioid OxyContin, which fuelled the current opioid crisis across the country. AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File

An Ontario physician says the federal government is showing zero leadership in prosecuting the pharmaceutical giant that produced and heavily promoted the addictive painkiller OxyContin, fuelling the opioid crisis that is now claiming more lives than motor vehicle accidents in Canada.

Last month, Purdue Pharma announced it would no longer be marketing opioids to doctors in the United States. Purdue pleaded guilty in 2007 for misleading U.S. physicians about the addictive qualities of its top-selling drug and has paid $634 million in criminal and civil charges.