He did, ultimately, keep his job, but his name went on a list. Story here:
See? It was not all about rigging elections! Take that, moonbat conspiracy theorists!
Boy, thanks BrainGlutton. I’m so glad that the whole US Attorney hullabaloo was not about influencing elections after all.
[Alberto Gonzales] I’m afraid that I have no memory of such an event. [/AG]
Raggedy ass street guy hustles an ounce of dope, he gets 10 years. White guy in a suit hustles dope, he gets 10 million bucks. What’s not to love?
Do not screw with the corporations. They run it all.
You guys just don’t get it. They serve at the pleasure of the President. They were not fired for improper reasons but even if they were they serve at the pleasure of the president. Did I mention they serve at the pleasure of the president. And in conclusion they serve at the pleasure of the president. God damn it I am so sick of that line.
What’s wrong with that line? It just means that any judge who doesn’t pleasure the president has to go. :o
2 for 1 Brain Bleach sale through Friday. Stock up before the rush!
There was no pretzel.
Tris
Clinton did it too. And got a blowjob.
Wait, I couldn’t tell what the drug company did. What exactly did they do that resulted in the felony charge and huge fine?
From the NY Times:
“The company that makes the painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court here to criminal charges that it had misled doctors and patients when it claimed the drug was less likely to be abused than traditional narcotics.”
Purdue aggressively marketed OxyContin, and has been sued hundreds of times by addicts; the guilty pleas were for misbranding, a statutorily broad charge that covers labeling, advertising, and certain communications with doctors.
From the NY Times:
“The company that makes the painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court here to criminal charges that it had misled doctors and patients when it claimed the drug was less likely to be abused than traditional narcotics.”
Purdue aggressively marketed OxyContin, and has been sued hundreds of times by addicts; the guilty pleas were for misbranding, a statutorily broad charge that covers labeling, advertising, and certain communications with doctors.
Isn’t oxycodone the very same drug that is in percocert?
I’ve talked to a lot of doctors around here about it. They say that when Oxycontin first came out, the reps for it were clear that this was a narcotic that could not be abused. They claimed that because it was a slow-release tablet that didn’t produce the “spike” in effect that conventional narcotics do, addicts would have no use for it. I don’t know how artfully this was worded, or whether those reps had the company’s full blessing in sending that message, but it was clearly the one that came through.
We have one of the highest chronic pain rates in the country thanks to back-breaking coal mine work. Doctors started prescribing Oxycontin left and right, and for a while it really seemed like a miracle drug.
What the doctors didn’t understand was that the slow-release mechanism could be bypassed by simply crushing and snorting or injecting the drug. The enormous new supply created a whole population of addicts, and the drug ended up having the same effect on towns like mine as crack had on the inner cities.
The claim is that Purdue knew that the slow-release could be bypassed, and they either covered it up or didn’t take great enough pains to let doctors know about it until it was far too late. I haven’t personally looked into the drug company’s actions enough to say how culpable they were.
Huh. I can’t understand why any doctor would believe that. MS Contin, which is basically the same thing but with morphine instead of oxycodone, has been around for years, and the whole “crush it to defeat the time-release mechanism” thing has been around for years as well.
Interesting. I think I have a book around here somewhere about the situation. I’ll have to do some further research to see if it’s accurate or not.
Sorry for the hijack, folks.
Yeah, oxycodone is just a regular opioid drug; it’s in Percocet (mixed with acetaminophen) and Percodan (mixed with aspirin) and a few other brand-name drugs. OxyContin is pure oxycodone in a time-release form that is supposed to last for 10-12 hours releasing a small constant dosage. It’s more desirable for people who take a lot of opioids (whether because of pain or addiction) because the fact that the only active ingredient is oxycodone means there’s no danger of liver damage from acetaminophen or stomach problems from aspirin.
I don’t understand it, either. I’ve been laying some groundwork for a book about the situation ever since I moved back here two years ago, but I don’t see how I could do it without naming names and laying the biggest chunk of the blame squarely on the doctors. That’s hard to do if I still plan to practice around here.
It’s accurate, because I see it (and the fallout from it) every day. If there is a book, though, let me know the name of it–I’d love to read it.
Are there any totally safe analgesics?!
We’ll collaborate and I’ll take the blame. 
The book I have is Painkiller, and I suspect that, like many media reports I’ve read, it’s hugely sensationalized. But having only read the dust jacket copy, I’m not sure yet.
Not completely, but they’re not TOO bad, at least not in my opinion.
Opioids are about as safe as it comes for long-term use, but they still obviously have big problems with dependence and constipation and overdose potential.
Aspirin and ibuprofen and other NSAIDs are blood thinners, and can cause stomach pitting. I’ve seen estimates that around 7,000-10,000 people die yearly from NSAID-induced bleeding problems.
Tylenol (acetaminophen) can cause liver damage, especially if mixed with alcohol, but even without alcohol it can be hard on the liver if you take too much of it, and at least one study I know of has shown increased liver enzyme measurements in people who have taken regular (i.e., non-overdose) doses of acetaminophen on a regular basis.
And of course there are now concerns over the more recent Cox-2 inhibitors, to the point where some of them have been pulled from the market and you see commercials on late-night TV where lawyers tell you that if you’ve ever taken Vioxx or Celebrex you should call them because you deserve money.