800LB Heroin Spoon Left In Front Of Pharma Drugmaker's Office
I very much like this artist’s middle finger to some shiesty pharmaceutical folks, but before getting into his personal reason behind it, some quick backstory (because I have the annoying trait of making every blog more intensive than it needs to be):
In the early ’90s the first wave of the opioid crisis came crashing down on the states and flooded us with an epidemic of addiction. Obviously this coincided with a sharp uptick in opioid medication prescriptions (like OxyContin, Vicodin, etc.) as pharmaceutical companies pushed them at doctors & assured users that the risk of addiction was extremely low.
In reality, taking these meds at too high of a dose or for too long increases the risk of addiction, and the likelihood of getting hooked spikes dramatically after just five days. These pharma companies are well aware (and there’s irrefutable proof they’ve known since the ’90s) but that hasn’t stopped them from pushing the drugs & making countless million$$$.
The second wave hit in the 2000s when restrictions on opioid medications increased, making it more difficult to get the pills. Desperate people then switched to the next best thing they could get, heroin.
Deaths due to heroin-related overdose increased by 286% from 2002 to 2013, and approximately 80% of heroin users admitted to misusing prescription opioids before turning to heroin.
Since then it’s only gotten worse; It’s hard to find anyone these days who isn’t connected to it or effected by it somehow. One of those people is artist Domenic Esposito of Westwood, MA whose own brother struggled with heroin addiction that started with opioid use, and he’s found a creative way to bring attention to those who have profited off the pain.
From Fox61:
An artist has moved his giant sculpture of a burnt spoon to a Rhode Island drugmaker’s office to protest the opioid crisis.
The Providence Journal reports that 48-year-old Domenic Esposito, of Westwood, Massachusetts, and a partner placed the nearly 11-foot-long, 800-pound (3-meter-long, 360-kilogram) spoon at the front gates of Rhodes Pharmaceuticals in Coventry on Thursday.
Esposito, whose brother has struggled with addiction, says his sculpture is about “exposing this web of influence that big pharma has had on us.”
Esposito has previously taken the spoon to Purdue Pharma’s Stamford, Connecticut, headquarters and to the Massachusetts Statehouse as a gift to state Attorney General Maura Healey.
Here he is with his brother:
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This story especially caught my attention because of the mention of Purdue Pharma. I’d read an article about them on the subway the other day & one of the lines made me do that do that ‘pardon?’ gif guy face:
“Eight people in a single family made the choices that caused much of the opioid epidemic.”
Purdue Pharma, the pill mill that pretty much led the way for this whole disaster… masterminded by 8 family members. My family doesn’t even do Christmas presents anymore but these guys are going around thick as thieves starting epidemics together. Wholesome.
They’re now facing lawsuits over OxyContin in 35+ states. From WBUR:
The latest suit comes from Massachusetts, where the state’s attorney general, Maura Healey, alleges — through emails and company documents — that members of the Sackler family personally and directly pushed sales reps to mislead doctors, steer patients to higher dosages, and pocket profits in the billions. That complaint was released in full, unredacted, late last week.
You can read the official, full report HERE on Mass.gov and I highly recommend you do. It’s eye opening & infuriating to see what this family & company placed above the welfare of fellow human beings as they ruined thousands & thousands of lives.
Anyways, happy Friday everyone! Heyyyyo – Just keepin’ things light!
And shout out to people like Domenic Esposito who isn’t letting companies like Purdue & Rhodes Pharmaceuticals slide through quietly. Side note, Domenic, in the off chance you read this – small FYI that I’m in the market for a giant ice cream spoon.