Big Pharma execs mocked West Virginia, Kentucky as opioid overdoses soared: report Michael Ruiz
Pharmaceutical executives mocked Kentucky and West Virginia residents as Pillbillies and drug addicts as concerns in both states grew over the opioid epidemic, according to emails recently unveiled in court.
In one, they shared a song To the Tune of The Beverly Hillbillies, that included a line describing OC, the drug oxycodone, as Hillbilly Heroin.
The Mountain State Spotlight, a nonprofit West Virginia news outlet, reported that the emails were released by Cabell County Attorney Paull Farrell Jr. in federal court Thursday. They had been sent years ago, in 2011 and 2012, as opioid overdoses were skyrocketing.