False Doctors, Misleading Claims: While Purdue's pharmaceutical company is on its knees in the United States over a thousand-fold class action lawsuit, the Sackler owner family is pushing its business in China with the same dubious resources that have helped capture large market share in the US.
According to employee and document interviews, Chinese affiliate (subsidiary) Mundipharma is also promoting the OxyContin painkiller to Chinese doctors with the message that its time-delaying effect is less dependent than other opioids. This is exactly the same statement that a US court had declared wrong ten years ago. Nevertheless, Mundipharma has been touted the drug as safe for chronic pain - even with increasing dosage.
In addition, Mundipharma officials have been instructed to copy private medical records without consent, employees said - which violates Chinese law. Also, former officials said they sometimes disguised themselves with white coats as doctors to visit patients in hospitals.
Mundipharma responded to the allegations by announcing immediate investigation. The company did not elaborate on details, but referred to its company policy, which made sure that "our medicines are marketed responsibly and in accordance with China's stringent analgesic regulations."
In other countries, such as Italy and Australia, Mundipharma has questionably sold its bestseller Oxycontin. But the hope of the company lies especially in China, the most populous country in the world. There, the company wants to overtake its American sales by 2025.
While Purdue dismissed his entire opioid representative in the US last year, Mundipharma is constantly filling new positions in China.