
Artist Nan Goldin​ takes on the billionaire family behind OxyContin - Hooke
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/22/nan-goldin-interview-us-opioid-epidemic-heroin-addict-oxycontin-sackler-family
======
kjgkjhfkjf
I don't think it is appropriate to blame doctors in the US for this. She was
initially prescribed the drug in Berlin. The article mentions that she was in
a high-risk group that should not be prescribed the drug, but it is likely
that the European doctor was legitimately unaware of that.

"When, back in New York, doctors refused to supply her any more, she turned to
the black market, and to cheaper hard street drugs whenever she ran out of
money."

I think this person should take responsibility for her own mistakes, rather
than trying to blame them on other people.

~~~
beat
I don't think you quite understand how drug addiction works. It's not a simple
matter of "take responsibility". Particularly since she didn't set out to be a
drug addict - she was prescribed a painkiller, and took it by prescription.
That has happened to rather a lot of people.

~~~
rubicon33
I hate this response. It's such a classic copout and one that attempts to
completely nullify any argument for personal responsibility. We just don't
"understand" how drug addiction works. Right.

How have some people come to believe that simply being prescribed these
medications and taking them as prescribed STRIPS the patient of mental faculty
to notice a problem, and renders them utterly dependent and hopeless? That's
just not the case, at all. There's plenty of information available to patients
about the risk of dependency and many choose to avoid it because, well, it
feels good.

I know some addicts. Those that are clean today are clean because (in addition
to many other proactive steps) they recognized that it WAS within their power
to stop. They admit and recognized that they ABUSED the medication willingly,
and despite sobriety being very difficult, is still a choice they can make.

~~~
maym86
It's not just a response or opinion. It's how addiction works. Read about it.

How do you feel about climate change?

~~~
subjectsigma
Please don't post such obvious bait on HN.

~~~
maym86
It was facetious to make a point. If the you are happy to ignore
evidence/science because you "hate that response" your argument isn't wort
much.

------
staunch
Many of us knew about the Home Loan Fraud the Prescription Drug Fraud for
years before it "exploded" and yet there didn't seem to be anything to do
about it.

The media and government proved their incompetence and corruption with the
ruined lives of millions.

I'm hopeful that the internet is changing this and the time between new
massive scams and their exposure shrinks so that fewer people are hurt. That's
the best we can hope for right now.

------
nostromo
Stop this insane vilification of opioids.

This is turning into another moral panic; yet another iteration of the never
ending war on drugs. We keep doing this: from prohibition of alcohol to
banning pot and psychedelics. It doesn't work.

Opioids are incredibly useful. Vilifying people for providing a pain-relieving
medication because they are sometimes misused is disgraceful.

~~~
dawhizkid
What an incredibly naive statement.

~~~
nostromo
How so?

I've used Oxycontin before. I used it for one week, as prescribed, and it
helped me recover from a painful medical issue. I'm grateful it was available
to me.

For the photographer profiled in this piece to take zero responsibility for
her predicament, particularly since she's struggled with opiod and other types
of addiction currently and in the past, is absurd.

She's in effect saying, "I abused this drug, so other people should be barred
from using it." I reject that full stop. Some people abuse alcohol, tobacco,
marijuana, etc., but that doesn't mean that it should be banned.

~~~
danso
The profiled photographer does not call for a ban on OxyContin, she argues
that they require much more regulation than they currently have. I don't see
how the fact that you are apparently one of the many people who don't get
easily addicted, and she is one of the many who _do_ , gives you the authority
to say that she took "zero responsibility. Not sure what relevance alcohol and
tobacco have in this. In America, both substances are heavily relugated, and
these regulations were ostensibly in response to fears about their threat to
health.

------
killjoywashere
Nan Goldin to the rescue! Brilliant! The Sacklers fancy themselves as
philanthropists for the arts. For an artist to bite the hand that feeds them
is usually suicide, but not for Nan. Nan's name is made. And heroin was a
constant backdrop. The Sacklers made her whether they wanted her or not.

------
anonymous43777
A profile of the Sackler family:

[https://forward.com/fast-forward/385375/the-jewish-family-
ma...](https://forward.com/fast-forward/385375/the-jewish-family-making-
billions-from-the-opioid-crisis/)

------
dumbfounder
Why don't doctors simply stop prescribing these drugs?

~~~
rdruxn
Because at the end of the day, they still work and truly do help a vast number
of people.

~~~
09bjb
"Really work" in this case meaning probable addiction and potential death in
exchange for a month or two of pain relief. If it "really worked" as
advertised (maximum of one dose needed per 12 hours) we wouldn't have this
problem at all. OxyContin's much-marketed delayed release mechanism is BS and
it's costing thousands of lives and livelihoods.

~~~
efitz
I had surgery in 2011 and was prescribed OxyContin for post-operative pain.

I was very satisfied with the therapy as I had very little post-operative
discomfort.

I took the medicine for several days, the prescription ran out, and I felt no
incentive to request a refill nor did I turn to street drugs.

I am truly sorry for people that struggle with addiction. I have family
members who struggle with that and I know the devastation that it causes.

However, I do not want the government to eliminate an effective class of
medications, either through banning them or through scaring doctors into not
using them.

~~~
tinymollusk
The problem, of course, is the misuse. Either by doctors who misprescribe
(chronic pain relief is a common use case for opioids, and probably an
exceptionally bad one), patients who misuse or abuse, and marketing companies
like Purdue who push for profit.

The question, to me, is this: where do we balance benefits/freedoms from
overall harm?

This is also the crux of many issues like alcohol abuse, gun rights, etc. Is
it more harmful for the government to intervene than to not attempt to
legislate away the source of the problem, at the cost of losing something
valued by people in the society?

------
JohnnyConatus
While the pharmaceutical companies deserve penalties, it's ridiculous that
someone with a pre-existing Valium addiction and a history of "hard drug"
addiction is blaming the pharmaceutical companies.

Nan, admit it, you like getting high.

