{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/drug-maker-thwarted-plan-to-limit-oxycontin-prescriptions-at-dawn-of-opioid-epidemic", "Drug maker thwarted plan to limit OxyContin prescriptions at dawn of opioid epidemic", "2016-10-26", "2016", "2016-10", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Drug maker thwarted plan to limit OxyContin prescriptions at dawn of opioid epidemic\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tWednesday, October 26, 2016\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWELCH, W.Va. \u2014 The warning signs of what would become a deadly opioid epidemic emerged in early 2001. That\u2019s when officials of the state employee health plan in West Virginia noticed a surge in deaths attributed to oxycodone, the active ingredient in the painkiller OxyContin.\r\nThey quickly decided to do something about it: OxyContin prescriptions would require prior authorization. It was a way to ensure that only people who genuinely needed the painkiller could get it and that people abusing opioids could not.\r\nBut an investigation by STAT has found that Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, thwarted the state\u2019s plan by paying a middleman, known as a pharmacy benefits manager, to prevent insurers from limiting prescriptions of\u00a0 the drug.\r\nThe financial quid pro quo between the painkiller maker and the pharmacy benefits manager, Merck Medco, came to light in West Virginia court records unsealed by a state judge at the request of STAT, and in interviews with people familiar with the arrangement.\r\n\u201cWe were screaming at the wall,\u201d said Tom Susman, who headed the state\u2019s public employee insurance agency in the early 2000s and led the push to limit OxyContin prescribing in West Virginia.\r\n\u201cWe saw it coming,\u201d he said of the\u00a0opioid\u00a0epidemic, which today causes 28,000 overdose deaths a year in the United States. \u201cNow to see the aftermath is the most frustrating thing I have ever seen.\u201d\r\nContinue reading here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/drug-maker-thwarted-plan-to-limit-oxycontin-prescriptions-at-dawn-of-opioid-epidemic"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4946209266781807, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}