Salem-News.com Articles written by Marianne Skolek

Purdue Funded Doctors Suggest Increased Pain Meds for Babies

Report promoting wider use of pain medications specifically targeting kids is funded by the makers of Oxycontin.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - A meeting held by "a family foundation dedicated to reducing human suffering caused by pain......" was held in Washington, DC this past June 2009 -- Below is the link to the recommendations of this meeting.

The report is a fast read -- only about ten actual pages, and the link contains background information I find interesting -- for want of a better word.

OxyContin and Heroin Commission Report - State of Massachusetts

After months of testimony and preparation, the State of Massachusetts today issued their report on "Recommendations of the OxyContin and Heroin Commission"

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - The State of Massachusetts "is in the midst of a serious and dangerous epidemic. Prescription drug use is skyrocketing, opioid overdose deaths are steadily increasing and while support for these addiction treatment programs has increased, it is not sufficient to meet the needs of this growing problem."

You`re not addicted -- It`s Pseudo Addiction

There's a book very popular right now called "The Seven People You Meet in Heaven." I hope one day someone writes a book entitled "The People Who Will Be Found in Hell."

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - Pseudo-addiction is defined as an abnormal drug-related behavior making chronic pain patients look like addicts.

With the exception of one large-scale report as an abstract (McCarberg and Laskin, 2001) – no studies on pseudo addiction exist. Although the pseudo-addiction concept lacks significant scientific support – it has become widely accepted within the pain-physician community.

Purdue Pharma Backs Slandering Drug Crusader

Website - "Dads and Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers (DAMMADD) lists Sponsors -- Top of the List -- none other than Purdue Pharma.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - Yesterday Salem-News.com published an article about a self-described anti-drug crusader who began telephoning our advertisers claiming that we "promote drug use" because we cover medical marijuana related issues.

The truth of the matter is that Salem-News.com regularly covers drug abuse-related stories and that is what led to one slanderous phone message that we were able to trace back to an individual named Stephen Steiner.

Purdue Pharma Marketing to Physicians About Their `Attitudes`

It is an attack on professionalism.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - So now we have the Internet used as a marketing tool by Purdue Pharma posting something as ludicrous as physicians prescribe narcotics based on the attractiveness of their patients.

These are the same physicians Purdue Pharma only a few years ago was convincing that their blockbuster drug OxyContin was less addictive than other narcotics.

Frances Oldham Kelsey, PhD, MD An American Hero

Time to slow down and honor those who made a difference, before the big pharmaceutical companies had control.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - For those not familiar with the name Frances Oldham Kelsey, she became nationally famous in 1962 when she prevented the sedative drug Thalidomide from entering the United States. Thalidomide was found to have caused birth defects in 10,000 European children in the late 1950s and early 1960s. For preventing an American Thalidomide tragedy, Kelsey was awarded the government's highest civilian award, the President's Distinguished Federal Civilian Service Award.

Kelsey's civil service career began in August, 1960, when she became a medical officer for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). After one month on the job, Kelsey was asked to review what was expected to be a simple and routine marketing application for Thalidomide. Thalidomide, a sleep inducer, had been developed in West Germany in the 1950s, and was widely marketed in Europe; belief in its safety was so widespread that the drug was available without prescription.

A Wolf in Sheep`s Clothing

Though he backed down, our writer was threatened with "Witness Tampering" by a Kentucky deputy AG over exposing a $50k payment from an OxyContin manufacturer.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - The victims of OxyContin in every state in the country as well as Canada should be aware of an event that occurred recently in Kentucky.

An Open Letter to Victims of OxyContin

Battling criminally convicted pharmaceutical companies.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - In my years of exposing Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, for criminally marketing their drug, I have never been disappointed in their efforts to gain revenue in their promotion of the drug.

Losing a Loved One to Hillbilly Heroin - OxyContin -

I will work very hard to have OxyContin reclassified for severe pain and in the process make Purdue Pharma shudder. I do it for my daughter Jill and the scores of victims of OxyContin.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - For the past seven plus years I have been learning everything I can about Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and what I have learned has caused me to know the true meaning of the word evil.

You see seven years ago, I lost my only daughter - Jill at 29 years old. She had the misfortune of being prescribed OxyContin for a herniated disc.