Rick Mountcastle  is not only an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia and a Retired Federal Prosecutor, he is a bonafide hero.  Rick, along with his partner, Randy Ramseyer, led the investigation and prosecution of Purdue Pharma, as well as its CEO, General Counsel, and Chief Medical Officer, in an unprecedented case, that, at the inception of the opioid crisis, held the opioid manufacturer and its top executives criminally and civilly responsible for falsely marketing OxyContin.  This case was at the center of Beth Macy's best-selling book, "Dopesick," and the the riveting, IMPORTANT, Hulu miniseries  of the same name that  premiered in October 2021. Rick is beautifully  portrayed  by Peter Sarsgaard.

I binged all eight episodes of "Dopesick" which was eyeopening and absolutely horrifying. Showrunner/Executive Producer, Danny Strong,  did an amazing job putting faces on the opioid crisis, as well as the crusaders who relentlessly pursued "Big Pharma".  (One being our guest, Rick Mountcastle.)

I was already blown away by Rick and Randy's passionate pursuit in taking down Purdue Pharma, but I literally gasped out loud when it was revealed in the last episode that they were going to go after Abbott Laboratories for falsely marketing Depаkote, a drug that is meant to treat epilepsy, and tаrgeting nursing homes to treat agitation associated with Alzheimer's and dementia.

Depakote is the drug responsible for rendering my otherwise healthy mother non ambulatory and incontinent in a matter of seven days.

Rick led the investigation and prosecution of Abbott Labs which resulted in criminal and civil penalties totaling $1.5 Billion (at the time the largest pharmaceutical settlement involving a single drug in U.S. history).

I had to thank him.  I did and asked if he might share what he had learned while investigating Abbott. Turns out Abbott Labs are not the only pharma targeting the under-staffed and over-worked nursing homes.

Listen or watch this episode and TAKE NOTES.

And HUGE thanks  to my special guest co-host, Trish Humenansky-Laub , Founder of Comfort in Their Journey LLC, guiding: Alzheimer's 🐞 Dignified Care 🐞 End of Life Author•Consultant•Speaker. xoxox

And if you are interested in joining me in a coalition to get the states to regulate Skilled Nursing Homes by requiring a specific minimum level of staffing, you can DM ME.

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