Osler's Razor

The New York Times has a great article out that details the way one small drug company marketed an opioid containing Fentynl. It's really shocking, but consistent with everything I have learned about the corporate roots of the opioid epidemic.

It confirms something I have known: that pharmaceutical companies hire their sales reps based on their looks. Twenty years ago, a guy I met who was in the field (he hired these sales reps) told me that the one thing they looked for was cheerleaders, "especially the good looking ones, the ones you want to be around."  

The bizarre thing is that crack dealers were brutally condemned for "marketing" their drug to customers. They were amateurs, though-- and their drug much less deadly-- compared to the people who did the same thing with opioids. Do you think the crack dealers deployed an army of cheerleaders armed with food, pamphlets, samples, and "speaking fees?"

 Nearly always when I post something about this, I receive a comment or email from someone telling me that I am being unfair to the corporate opioid pushers-- which shouldn't be surprising, given their efforts to effect social media. Often these missives are from opioid users who complain that their supply might be restricted-- and when I research them, they are connected to a Pharma-sponsored corporate group and/or have posted similar comments all over the web. It kinda proves my point, actually. If we are going to lock people up for life for getting people hooked on drugs, there are some easy targets out there, who have done far worse than the many of the people we imprisoned for life in the 1980's and 1990's.