This episode of Swindled may contain graphic descriptions or audio recordings of disturbing events which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

34 million adults suffer from chronic pain.

50 million work days are lost each year due to chronic pain.

Chronic pain can lead to physiologic damage, emotional distress, functional impairments,

inability to participate in rehabilitation, and inability to work.

In this program, these and other patients, all of whom have suffered through years of varying degrees of chronic pain. Tell the story of their long, often frustrating, always painful search for

adequate treatment. Every story about America's opioid epidemic starts here. December

1995, when Purdue Pharma, a modest family-owned company based in

Stanford, Connecticut, won FDA approval for OxyContin, an extended release oxycodone pill,

designed to replace its aging flagship morphine-based product soon after its patent expired.

The active ingredient was not new. Oxyodone, derived from the same poppy

plant that produces opium for morphine, has been approved for medical use in the United States

since 1939. For decades, it was commonly combined with aspirin or acetaminophen and sold under

brand names like Percocet and Percodan to treat moderate to severe pain.

In its purest form, oxycodone was largely reserved for cancer patients and those in end-of-life care,

prescribed to block pain receptors and make one's final days more tolerable. At high doses, the

semi-synthetic opioid produces an intense sense of euphoria,

one for which most earthly pleasures simply cannot compare. That's why oxycodone is so

physically and psychologically addictive, experts say, and that's why for decades medical professionals

knew better than to prescribe it as a long-term treatment for pain, even though it was incredibly effective.

Purdue Pharma intended to challenge that consensus.

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