An often overlooked culprit in all of this is the licensed medical provider who wrote the prescription which is required for OxyContin. Regardless if these providers where subject to "relentless visits" by Purdue representatives, it was their pen that wrote that script. There are multiple drug reference handbooks that are industry standard that described the full effects and side effects of all current pharmacy medications. For any medical provider with the license to write prescriptions to claim they were unaware is grounds for malpractice. It is standard procedure to reference the medication including unique patient history.
I have 25+yrs in rural Alaska as a Advanced EMT and 12 of those as a Lead Flight medic. We saw a huge increase of OxyContin referenced in patient records during this period for pain that likely could have been managed well with physical therapy and over the counter Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen within dose.
Go after Purdue, but many providers are equally guilty.