Counting pages of regulations is a waste of time (and paper)

Jan 19, 2018
Politicians on both sides of the aisle will use page counts to demonstrate regulatory burden. It's not an exact science.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell points to a stack of papers representing what he said are the regulations associated with former President Barack Obama's health care reform as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in 2013.
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

A drugmaker used “The Wizard of Oz” to sell OxyContin

Dec 15, 2017
In an internal sales document, Purdue told sales reps to “follow the yellow brick road” and get doctors to prescribe the opioid.
Publicity photo from the 1939 adaptation for "The Wizard of Oz," which inspired a pharmaceutical sales document.
CBS via Wikimedia Commons

Purdue Pharma statement on The Uncertain Hour's OxyContin episode

Dec 13, 2017
Purdue Pharma spokesman Robert Josephson provided Marketplace with this statement in response to questions from The Uncertain Hour about OxyContin, the company, and its relationship with the FDA. The company’s responses are published in full below. Purdue Pharma L.P. Response December 12, 2017 1. Why did Purdue not do any clinical studies to back up the […]

FDA statement on The Uncertain Hour's OxyContin episode

Dec 13, 2017
FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum provided Marketplace with this statement in response to The Uncertain Hour’s investigation into the agency and Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin.  The goal when developing a drug label is to include the necessary information about a drug’s safety and efficacy so that trained physicians can use this information and their medical expertise […]

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How one sentence helped set off the opioid crisis

Dec 13, 2017
Recently unsealed documents shed light on how the maker of OxyContin seems to have relied more on focus groups than on scientific studies to create an aggressive and misleading marketing campaign that helped fuel the national opioid epidemic.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

You can write the government, but who's listening?

Nov 22, 2017
Bureaucrats are always looking for your comments on new rules. Here's how it works.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Chairman Tom Wheeler, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Michael O'Rielly watch as protesters are removed from the dais during a hearing at the Federal Communication Commission on Dec. 11, 2014. in Washington, D.C.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images