Re: Guest Post - Oxy in China

1

Traditionally, they should give us Hong Kong.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 7:45 AM
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2

The bit that stuck out to me:

Tony Chen, a former OxyContin sales rep who spoke on condition that he be identified by his English name, for fear of retribution, said he loved GPM because the government backing got him high-level access at hospitals and helped drive sales.

"We didn't need to bribe," he said. "That's why I liked it."

That's right - the guanxi between Mundipharma/Purdue and the CCP was so strong the salesforce didn't need to spend their own money on bribery!


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 10:25 AM
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3

Me too. It's so thick with jaw-dropping shit I had trouble excerpting.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 10:29 AM
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4

It's been such a huge story for so long in the U.S., it's kind of amazing.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 10:36 AM
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5

When the crisis fully hits the fentanyl stage, at least they'll save on shipping.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 11:36 AM
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6

5 was my first thought...


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 1:00 PM
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7

I bet trucking Guangzhou-Southern Uplands costs more than shipping Guangzhou-North America.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 1:59 PM
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8

Dare to think, dare to act, dare to set up an opiate production lab on every hill and in every valley. What's the worst that can happen, they accidentally produce something less deadly?

More seriously, unless it says otherwise in the article which I'm far too lazy to read, I doubt it'll get to that phase because there's no inherent reason for the CCP to have the same over-corrective crackdown on prescribed opiates the US did.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 2:14 PM
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9

I was under the impression that the "prolonged release" Oxycodone was actually shown to be a scam; it in fact did not last as long as Purdue said it did, which meant a 12 hour dose actually lasted less than 9 hours, so patients' pain during that time moved them to "drug-seeking behavior" and higher doses.

On this topic, isn't it the case the most of the fentanyl in the US comes from China?


Posted by: DaveLMA | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 2:37 PM
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10

I think 9.2 was the whole point of ajay's earlier joke


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 3:01 PM
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11

9: You're probably thinking of this: https://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/
"The drugmaker Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin two decades ago with a bold marketing claim: One dose relieves pain for 12 hours, more than twice as long as generic medications.[...] But OxyContin's stunning success masked a fundamental problem: The drug wears off hours early in many people, a Los Angeles Times investigation found. OxyContin is a chemical cousin of heroin, and when it doesn't last, patients can experience excruciating symptoms of withdrawal, including an intense craving for the drug. [...] Purdue has known about the problem for decades. Even before OxyContin went on the market, clinical trials showed many patients weren't getting 12 hours of relief."


Posted by: Nathan Williams | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 6:00 PM
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10: There's only like four people on the whole island and you're confusing two of them.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 3-19 7:28 PM
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13

An important point following up my 2 is that entities like the medical association are mass organizations in the Communist sense, "transmission belts" between the vanguard party and the people, rather than representative institutions or, god help us, independent associations of professional people. (Remember that the engineering metaphor here is a line shaft in an 1890s mill with belts running down to drive each machine tool. Get t'band in t'nick lad!)


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 12- 4-19 3:07 AM
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14

Fortunately the vanguard/literati have received the dialectic/Mandate and therefore know what is best for the people.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 12- 4-19 3:13 AM
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15

Okay Bloomberg.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 12- 4-19 5:45 AM
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16

10. I didn't see dalriata's joke until after I posted my 9. It was a good joke.


Posted by: DaveLMA | Link to this comment | 12- 4-19 8:40 AM
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17

Well, we live in a post-Opium-Wars world. Opium won.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 8-19 5:05 AM
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