{"id":100571,"date":"2021-12-09T08:38:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T12:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=100571"},"modified":"2021-12-09T08:47:37","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T12:47:37","slug":"see-how-big-pharma-and-their-lawyers-mocked-appalachia-pillbillies-during-opioid-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=100571","title":{"rendered":"<h2><b>See how <i>Big Pharma<\/i> and their lawyers mocked Appalachia &#8220;Pillbillies&#8221; during opioid crisis!<\/b><\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<h1>Big pharma executives mocked \u2018pillbillies\u2019 in emails, West Virginia opioid trial hears<\/h1>\n<h2>This article is more than 6 months old<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Attorney: AmerisourceBergen executive showed \u2018contempt\u2019<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Three companies in dock over crisis which has killed 500,000<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_100575\" style=\"width: 940px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-100575\" class=\"wp-image-100575 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/unnamed-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"930\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/unnamed-1-1.jpg 930w, https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/unnamed-1-1-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/unnamed-1-1-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 930px) 100vw, 930px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-100575\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The US courthouse in Charleston, West Virginia. The city of Huntington and surrounding Cabell county are suing AmerisourceBergen and two other major distributors. Photograph: Kenny Kemp\/AP<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<h4 id=\"m_7181886464770426185maincontent\">by Chris McGreal<br \/>\nThe Guardian<\/h4>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Executives at one of the US\u2019s largest drug distributors circulated rhymes and emails mocking \u201chillbillies\u201d who became addicted to opioid painkillers even as the company poured hundreds of millions of pills into parts of Appalachia at the heart of America\u2019s opioid epidemic.<\/span><\/div>\n<figure id=\"m_7181886464770426185a4f26c29-7938-4217-adec-428acf36e3b8\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"CToWUd\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 220px; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/ci6.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/xR9HKKLvlxFY9ZGxTjmXyZwwQ8co_gl6hoCze7UKVobrEI905aKcj1XG3_ANGEbJDC-RZWlbHG3uWShifZWdQhva5Jh8Qo8MN0bl7OsoPscChWA09zN5ybQq__lBUbvA0DCgo8XIoLql5GVgGyH4qh5rRMYUaazz-IIVeSwIn0qPgAmEr85H2X8bJPPnz9Ge_ECKQFN44Gou4syxbfnQ20Fn9xt2aArwSST_ptozYuHRITX7J1hncfS2BYH2uz-bNkRB5JAUQg=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/9bea3d63827d3f4d249e85ca44cf54b1bc156ba3\/0_100_3000_1800\/master\/3000.jpg?width=460&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=0d12113cc01677cfb2c684d4b507cfa0\" alt=\"OxyContin&lt;br&gt;FILE - This Feb. 19, 2013, file photo shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. Purdue University wants the public to know that it has no connection to a company blamed for helping drive the nation\u2019s opioid crisis. The university has spent years repeating that it has no affiliation to Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin. But university spokesman Tim Doty says the news that Purdue Pharma is negotiating a multibillion-dollar settlement to resolve lawsuits over the opioid crisis is a good time for the school to repeat that \u201cThat\u2019s not us.\u201d (AP Photo\/Toby Talbot, File)\" width=\"3000\" height=\"1800\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\u2018Ground zero of the opioid epidemic\u2019:<br \/>\nWest Virginia puts drug giants on trial<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div id=\"m_7181886464770426185sign-in-gate\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/may\/03\/us-opioid-crisis-west-virginia-drug-giants-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/may\/03\/us-opioid-crisis-west-virginia-drug-giants-trial&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639139298698000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2MyAyhabPNDcnlSFCm3gfE\">trial of pharmaceutical firms<\/a>\u00a0accused of illegally flooding West Virginia with opioids was told last week that senior staff at AmerisourceBergen, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/fortune500\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/fortune.com\/fortune500\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639139298698000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3K-AoYumPqZD-SNi9-rvnW\">10th-largest<\/a>\u00a0company in the US by revenue, routinely disparaged communities blighted by the worst drug epidemic in the country\u2019s history.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">One\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/20706634-pillbillies-email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/20706634-pillbillies-email&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639139298698000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3EbgtuC1dKIqZ9LQ9RYqkL\">email<\/a>\u00a0in 2011 included a rhyme built around \u201ca poor mountaineer\u201d named Jed who \u201cbarely kept his habit fed\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\">According to the verse, \u201cJed\u201d travels to Florida to buy \u201cHillbilly Heroin\u201d, the nickname for OxyContin, the drug manufactured by Purdue Pharma which kickstarted an epidemic that has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2018\/nov\/08\/the-making-of-an-opioid-epidemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2018\/nov\/08\/the-making-of-an-opioid-epidemic&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639139298698000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3iYC7bzC8vjmf48FH3ZK3o\">claimed more than 500,000 lives<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Florida was well known through the 2000s for lax regulation of pain clinics where doctors illegally prescribed and dispensed large amounts of opioids to those the verse calls a \u201cbevy of Pillbillies\u201d.<\/h3>\n<h3>Another rhyme described Kentucky as <strong>\u201cOxyContinville\u201d<\/strong> because of the high use of the drug in the poor rural east of the state.<\/h3>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/may\/16\/amerisourcebergen-pillbillies-emails-west-virginia-opioid-trial-\">https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/may\/16\/amerisourcebergen-pillbillies-emails-west-virginia-opioid-trial-<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Big pharma executives mocked \u2018pillbillies\u2019 in emails, West Virginia opioid trial hears This article is more than 6 months old Attorney: AmerisourceBergen executive showed \u2018contempt\u2019 Three companies in dock over crisis which has killed 500,000 by Chris McGreal The Guardian &hellip; 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