STAMFORD — An colossal spoon, stained by burnt heroin, was installed Friday morning outside of Purdue Pharma’s Tresser Boulevard headquarters by protesters hoping to draw attention to the pharmaceutical company’s role in the opioid epidemic.
The steel spoon, which weighed more than 500 pounds, was put up by local gallery-owner Fernando Alvarez, who was arrested an hour after the 8:30 a.m. installation and charged with obstructing free passage, according to police.
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Later in the morning the sculpture was lifted from the sidewalk by a bulldozer and trucked by public works to the police department’s Waterside evidence depot. source
In 2007, Purdue Pharma L.P. paid out one of the largest fines ever levied against a pharmaceutical firm for mislabeling its product OxyContin. Three executives were found guilty of criminal charges. Although the company has shifted its focus to abuse-deterrent formulations, Purdue continues to market and sell opioids, and continues to be involved in lawsuits around the opioid crisis, according to Wikipedia.