“Compassion for Patients.” “We do What is Right.” No Purdue Pharma, you don’t!

When you hear the name Purdue Pharmaceuticals, what comes to mind? For many, the first thing is their participation in the opioid crisis that peaked in 2019 with over 70k deaths. Full disclosure, the purpose of this study is not to dig into scandals past, but to reflect on how they may have been avoided if a strong set of CoreVals™ were to be established and adhered to leading up to and during that time.   

As a quick refresher (since a decade-worth of news has occurred since 2019) Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin®, was found to have fueled the opioid crisis by participating in several unethical practices over two decades. Despite their knowledge of the severe addictiveness of the drug, and against the advice of key stakeholders, the billionaire owners continued to encourage higher prescription rates as well as partnerships that would generate goodwill toward the use of opioids as painkillers. If you are interested in a timeline of events, you can find a breakdown of the full saga here.

Now, knowing what we now know about the activities that took place internally at Purdue, let’s take a look at the Purpose Statement and Values listed on their website: 

Purpose Statement

Compassion for patients and excellence in science inspire our pursuit of new medicines. 

Integrity 

We do what is right.

Courage

We challenge convention and embrace change.

Innovation

We apply creative and agile thinking to generate solutions.

Collaboration

We work together to meet our commitments and goals.

Much like the CoreVals™ of the Boeing Corporation, Purdue’s Purpose Statement and Values (as written) read well and appear to be the right ones for the organization. They encourage hard work, ethical practices and accountability and also have a seemingly compassionate view of the patients receiving their products. But they weren't followed were they? Purdue Pharma did not adhere to or act in concert with these values. If they had, they would have avoided this mess and their name may have continued to live without the stain of shame. And who is to blame? Leadership of course. Leaders and in this case the owners of the company.

The main thing that jumps out to me, are the values of Integrity and Courage. These are extremely strong values, especially when it comes to the medical and pharmaceutical industries. As one of the biggest players in the industry, Purdue had a responsibility to operate based on what was ethically and medically responsible. While it is difficult to say what was happening day in and day out internally at Purdue, there were stakeholders - both on and off record- who were not aligned with the sales strategies behind Oxycontin®. 

That brings us to courage. One of the driving forces behind the process of developing CoreVals™ is to develop a set of deeds that also serve to hold all company stakeholders accountable. This includes employees across ranks - from administrators up to management and beyond. In the case of Purdue, the biggest offenders of their CoreVals™ were the very owners of the company. It was no doubt a risk for any of the stakeholders to speak up, but this is the entire reasoning behind publicly announcing and sharing your values. Another reason accountability is so important is because consistent leadership also builds trust, which is what makes companies thrive. Trust fosters innovation, accountability, and motivation to act for the greater good instead of personal gain. But, take out the accountability, and you also lose the trust. 

In the case of Purdue, the trust may have been long gone before it was deemed worthy to find the courage to make change. Once the stakeholders saw the lack of integrity and the absence of accountability in response, it may have been too late for the stakeholders to feel invested. The very first line of their Purpose Statement reads “Compassion for patients” so without that, can you blame the other stakeholders for feeling stuck in a system that seemed broken? Once the trust is lost & if accountability is nonexistent, there isn’t much more that can be done with the existing structure. 

It’s safe to say that Purdue Pharmaceuticals has been working hard to turn around their image in light of the 2019 revelations & the continuing opioid crisis. A simple visit to their website shows quite a bit of consumer-facing content addressing how they are working to combat these issues in the form of a company restructure, public policies, grants and other initiatives. Additionally they are honorably settling with many of the victims & their families as they work to redeem themselves as a pioneer in the pharmaceutical industry. 

These types of community efforts don’t have to be as a result of bad press. When a company has a strong set of CoreVals™ to empower their dialogues, leaders who lead with those values and use them to guide the decisions & actions of stakeholders, these initiatives can come naturally. If you are interested in discovering your business’ potential through the establishment of a strong corporate culture, email me to set up a consultation.