The police chief in the opioid-stricken New Hampshire hometown of the FDA official who reviewed Oxycontin positively wants to show him the damage the decision to legalize the drug has done even in rural America.
Chief Paul Smith only found out via that Curtis Wright was retiring and living in Littleton.
Although Smith didn’t know Wright was in his town, he did know who he was and his reputation for bringing the drug to market.
“I don’t know Curtis Wright,” the boss told . “But if I had the opportunity to speak to him, I would give him the opportunity to come over and see what the epidemic has done to get people addicted to these opiates.”
“I would tell him, let’s get a ride.” Let’s look at the implications. Why don’t we check out the homeless camp and let’s check out some other places. Why not go to the Serenity Center (a rehabilitation facility) and see how the epidemic is affecting us?
Wright joined Purdue Pharma a year after retiring from the FDA, where he paved the way for the legalization of Purdue’s top-selling OxyContin
Chief Paul Smith wants to show Curtis Wright the impact of his push to legalize OxyContin on his hometown
Former FDA official Curtis Wright, whose role in the opioid epidemic is being put under scrutiny thanks to the Netflix show Painkillers, is now retired living in Littleton, New Hampshire
Smith wants Wright to see the underbelly of quaint Littleton, where his squad must spend countless hours busting up drug dealers and making sure addicts get help
We announced on Saturday that Wright — who faces new scrutiny thanks to Netflix drama Painkiller — was quietly with his wife, Linda, in a 2,500-square-foot hideaway cabin on the outskirts of Littleton, a border town of 6,000 to Vermont, lives.
When asked about his performance on Painkiller, Wright, 73, barked, “Go away.” “I don’t speak to the press.”
Wright is the former senior FDA official who brought OxyContin through the legalization process in 1995 after it initially fought against it.
He then left government service and took a high-paying job at Purdue Pharma, the company that makes the drug.
His role in the opioid epidemic sweeping the country is detailed in the hit new Netflix series Painkiller.
But Chief Smith, 55, has a lot to say to Wright. He would tell him that OxyContin laid the foundation for the heroin epidemic and the increased use of fentanyl.
And he’d like to show him how the city’s police resources are tied up now as they focus on arresting dealers and moving addicts to treatment centers.
“Three hundred thousand people have died,” he said, citing the number of deaths in the US from prescription opioid overdoses since OxyContin was launched.
“We’re on the receiving end.” It’s hit the town of Littleton very, very hard. In 2017, there were ten overdose deaths in Littleton, a town of 6,000 people. “We had more overdose deaths per capita than Manchester, the largest city in New Hampshire.”
He said one reason is that his town is on a major corridor where I-93 runs through Littleton and I-91 runs nearby. These two freeways allow easy access to Boston and Montreal
Littleton is on a major corridor with easy access to Boston, where the fentanyl crisis has been hard hit. Addicts shoot up in front of everyone on Atkinson Street in the Massachusetts capital
The opioid crisis has spread nationwide. Here, users openly smoke drugs on the sidewalk of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, where overdose deaths have skyrocketed
Smith’s Littleton home is modest but sits on 13 acres with great views of New Hampshire and neighboring Vermont
Wright lives in the 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom home he and his wife, Linda, bought in 2017 for $380,000
According to a 2019 US News and World Report survey, New Hampshire has been hit harder than any other state by the opioid epidemic except for West Virginia. The source said there had been 27.2 deaths per 100,000 people over a five-year period.
Smith told he watched Painkiller last weekend. “That’s just really weird.” I had no idea he lived nearby.”
Smith isn’t the only person in town who would like to speak to Wright. So is recovering addict Caitlyn Hilliard, 33, who works at the Serenity Center.
“I’d really like to know why he allowed OxyContin after giving it up for so long,” she told .
“Was it worth the impact it had on the lives of so many people, so many people of my generation, who lost so many friends to opiate addiction?” Now would he go back and make the same decision, even though he knew where that decision went would have led?’
“It’s kind of shocking that he lives here,” Hilliard said.
“But it makes sense that someone like him would come here to hide and fly under the radar without anyone noticing.”
“Honestly, it’s crazy that he’s here,” she told . “I watched three episodes of Painkiller and it made me angry, really angry.” I’ve lived with what I’ve been through in my life.
“My childhood wasn’t great, and I blame a lot of that on my mom being prescribed OxyContin,” she said.
“My mom was prescribed it in early 1998 when she broke her back and she took it for years until I was 14,” explained Hilliard. “So I watched what it did to her, and I’ve had some negative experiences with it myself.”
“The first time I did it, I vomited blood for hours.”
But another former addict, Jaimie D’Allesandro, doesn’t feel like talking to Wright. “Honestly, at this point in my life, in my recovery and in my faith in God, I might not care to even meet this man.”
Painkiller co-creator Noah Harpster plays Wright on the Netflix show. Portrayed as obese and socially awkward, he is manipulated by Purdue Pharma to pave the way for the legal sale of OxyContin
Painkiller isn’t the first time Wright’s role has been shown on television. Brian Keane played him on the 2001 Hulu series Dopesick
“I watched three episodes of Painkiller and it made me angry, really angry.” “I’ve lived with what I’ve been through in my life,” recovering addict Caitlyn Hilliard, 33, told
Jaimie D’Allesandro began buying OxyContin on the street and injecting it before turning to heroin. He has been in recovery for six years
“It’s not going to help anyone if I beat up the man and tell him my opinion that I think he’s a bitch.” It’s just going to mess with my inner spirit.’
D’Allesandro, 40, is now the regional manager for White Mountain’s Recovery Home. After a broken back, he became addicted to drugs.
After his doctor withdrew his prescription, D’Allesandro began buying OxyContin on the street and injecting it before switching to heroin. He has been in recovery for six years.
Through the show “Dopesick” he became familiar with Wright’s actions.
“The painkiller situation has had a direct impact on my life and my family’s life,” he told . “My father was prescribed OxyContin. He finally died in 2017 from complications of heroin withdrawal.
“The way OxyContin was marketed and presented and the way doctors presented it was negligent,” D’Allesandro continued.
He, too, had no idea Wright was a local and was shocked to hear about it.
“It’s interesting to know that this person lives right here in Littleton,” he said.
“My personal clear opinion is that everyone involved in this whole debacle was a bad piece of shit,” he responded.
“Big pharma don’t give a damn about people.” “It’s about the bottom line and what they deserve from a financial perspective.”