at this point everyone knows oxycontin was marketed by Purdue Pharmaceuticals as a less-addictive substitute for morphine and heroin.
very early on in the discovery of morphine, there was some hope that it would be a less addictive alternative to opium.
these drugs are so powerful at relieving immense suffering that people desperately want a version with no downsides, and are willing to fool themselves about this. (that these various pharmaceutical companies were willing to encourage this wishful thinking is still despicable.) i expect it to happen again with some new type of painkiller in another generation.
at this point everyone knows oxycontin was marketed by Purdue Pharmaceuticals as a less-addictive substitute for morphine and heroin.
very early on in the discovery of morphine, there was some hope that it would be a less addictive alternative to opium.
these drugs are so powerful at relieving immense suffering that people desperately want a version with no downsides, and are willing to fool themselves about this. (that these various pharmaceutical companies were willing to encourage this wishful thinking is still despicable.) i expect it to happen again with some new type of painkiller in another generation.