Bernie Sanders is right: drug companies did help cause the opioid epidemic

At Sunday's Democratic debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) made a point about the harrowing opioid painkiller and heroin epidemic that isn't raised enough: "There is a responsibility on the part of the pharmaceutical industry and the drug companies who are producing all of these drugs and not looking at the consequence of it."

The opioid epidemic began when doctors prescribed a tremendous amount of opioid painkillers to help treat pain — a serious problem, given that chronic pain alone afflicts about 100 million Americans. One reason doctors were so willing to prescribe these painkillers, despite the clear risks of addiction and overdose, is heavy campaigning from the pharmaceutical industry.

In fact, Purdue Pharma, producer of the opioid OxyContin, paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for its false claims about opioids. The Associated...

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