How fentanyl became an American problem.

SS:

Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, was first synthesized in 1960 by Belgian chemist Dr. Paul Janssen. In 1961, his company, Janssen Pharmaceutica, was acquired by American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.

That move brought fentanyl under an American corporate umbrella, and with it, a dangerous precedent was set.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fentanyl for medical use in the 1960s and continued to approve increasingly potent formulations over the decades, including patches, lozenges, and injectable versions.
These approvals occurred despite early warning signs about the drug’s potency and high risk for abuse and overdose.
The FDA also allowed aggressive marketing tactics by pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharma, who minimized addiction risks while maximizing opioid distribution.
By the time the opioid crisis began spiraling, the groundwork had been laid, not overseas, but right here at home.

In 2019, Johnson & Johnson was found liable in an Oklahoma court for its role in the opioid crisis and ordered to pay $572 million for creating a public health crisis through deceptive marketing.
In 2022, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $5 billion as part of a historic $26 billion opioid settlement involving several major pharmaceutical companies, acknowledging its contribution to the epidemic’s devastation.

While today’s illicit fentanyl crisis often points fingers overseas, it’s essential to recognize that this epidemic is American-made. It began with American pharmaceutical companies, enabled by American regulators, and was unleashed on American communities.
Manufactured in America.
Marketed in America.
Destroying America.