They obfuscated the risk of addiction throughout the 90’s. Medical literature describes the tolerance to addiction cycle in these drugs as early as the 50’s, it isn’t like it was unknown. When faced with the sharp rise in Opioid deaths post 2000 they convened a panel of experts in 2002, early enough to reign in the off label prescriptions, the panel of 10 experts they brought in had 8 members with significant financial ties to Purdue Pharmaceutical. It wouldn’t be until 2013 before any serious steps were taken, at which point there were enough pills on the market to give every adult in the United States a full bottle.

They were able to prescribe off-label, over produce, and flood both forward facing and black markets for over a decade before any meaningful action was taken. Yes, they absolutely work. They were just way more addictive than the FDA was willing to regulate, and often even recognize.