The Opioid Crisis in America

Summary

Down to Business English

Episode: The Opioid Crisis in America

Hosts: Skip Montreux & Samantha Vega
Date: December 15, 2017

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the origins and ramifications of the opioid crisis in the United States, with a particular focus on Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, often described as the driving force behind the widespread addiction to opioid-based painkillers like OxyContin. The hosts discuss how the crisis took hold, dissect the business strategies employed by pharmaceutical companies, and bring to light the economic and social impact of the epidemic. The episode is framed as a learning opportunity for business English vocabulary and cultural insight.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Opioid Crisis: Definition and Scope

• The Sackler Game:
  Samantha introduces a word association game linking famous names (e.g., Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos) to their businesses, leading to the lesser-known Sackler family, founders of Purdue Pharma — the company behind OxyContin.

  “The Sacklers are the founders of Purdue Pharma, the company behind OxyContin, the painkiller, which many people say is behind the opioid crisis sweeping across America at the moment.” — Samantha (02:02)

• Scale of the Crisis:

  • Donald Trump recently declared the crisis a national public health emergency.
  • “Something like 100 people a day die from opioid overdoses in the United States. That’s over 35,000 people a year.” — Samantha (02:18)
  • Estimated 2.5 million Americans are addicted to opioids. (04:48)

• Economic Impact:

  • “The impact on the US economy was $500 billion in 2015. That’s roughly 3% of the American economic output.” — Samantha (05:05)

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2. History of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family

• Background:

  • The Sacklers — three brothers (Arthur, Mortimer, Raymond), all psychiatrists.
  • Arthur Sackler pioneered medical advertising—first to market drugs in print to doctors.

  “Arthur, the oldest brother, also happened to be a pioneer in the field of medical advertising and marketing.” — Samantha (06:31)

• Development of Painkillers:

  • Purdue shifted from a minor player to a major one in 1972 with the development of MS Contin, a time-released morphine drug for terminal cancer pain.
  • “It quickly became the golden standard of pain medication.” — Samantha (08:34)

• Transition to OxyContin:

  • Patent expiration on MS Contin forced Purdue to innovate for market expansion.
  • Raymond's son, Richard Sackler, led the development of OxyContin in the late 1990s, utilizing oxycodone (already in common drugs like Percocet) but in much higher, more addictive doses.

  “But unlike Percocet, the dosage of oxycodone used in OxyContin was much, much higher and therefore much more addictive.” — Samantha (10:56)

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3. Business Practices and Marketing Strategies

• Aggressive Marketing:

  • Purdue marketed OxyContin for a much broader set of pain conditions, encouraging physicians to prescribe it for common pain, not just severe illnesses.
  • Sales tactics included wining and dining doctors, offering paid speaking engagements, and targeting not only doctors but pharmacists and distributors.

  “…they targeted all kinds of doctors, general practitioners, nurses, dentists, and medical residents. They would fly them to weekend seminars, which were nothing more than golf trips under the guise of medical seminars, and basically bribe them…” — Samantha (12:01)

• Regulatory Manipulation and Lobbying:

  • Purdue donated to politicians and lobbied government bodies (13:06), setting up organizations to further promote opioid use.

• Legal Consequences:

  • In 2007, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to criminal misbranding of OxyContin and was fined $600 million — a negligible sum compared to profits.

  “They pled guilty to that in a court of law?” — Skip
  “They did, and they were fined $600 million. But even with that hefty penalty, they were still making a mint on OxyContin.” — Samantha (11:27)

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4. Current Situation and Future Outlook

• Public and Legal Repercussions:

  • Increasing lawsuits from families; comparisons to Big Tobacco lawsuits 20 years prior.

  “Experts say that the industry could be facing a similar fate to what Big tobacco went through 20 years ago. Paying through the nose in wrongful death settlements and being slapped with heavy government regulations.” — Samantha (13:52)

• The Sacklers’ Legacy:

  • Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler have passed away; Richard Sackler is in his 70s and not involved in daily operations. The family remains extremely wealthy ($14–15 billion range).

  “The Sackler children are all pursuing careers outside of the pharma industry, but the fact is, the family still owns Purdue and are extremely wealthy from it.” — Samantha (14:30)

• Host Reactions:

  • Skip expresses outrage:

    “That is kind of infuriating how a single family can profit, grossly profit from ruining thousands of people’s lives.” (14:40)

  • Samantha: “It does give you something to think about.” (14:49)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Why the Crisis Is Unique:

  “…the opioid crisis is a direct result of legal pharmaceuticals being marketed to the public like it was a car or a new brand of smartphone…” — Samantha (02:37)

• Connecting Big Pharma, Art, and Philanthropy:

  “Is this the same Sackler family that is so involved in the art scene? The ones who have donated millions of dollars to museums...?” — Skip (06:02)

• On Business Ethics (or Lack Thereof):

  “For Purdue to plead guilty to those charges, there must have been a mountain of evidence against them.” — Skip (11:38)

• Industry Comparison:

  “The industry could be facing a similar fate to what Big Tobacco went through 20 years ago…” — Samantha (13:52)

• The Vancouver Example:

  “US Authorities should look at how the city of Vancouver in Canada handles their drug problem… focusing on providing treatment rather than focusing on the crime.” — Skip (24:38)

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Important Timestamps & Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | |----------------|--------------------------------------------------| | 01:10 | Word association game, leading to Sackler family | | 02:02 | Introduction of Sackler family and OxyContin | | 04:04 | Brief history of opioid addiction in the US | | 05:05 | Economic costs of the opioid crisis | | 06:31 | Sackler family history and the start of Purdue | | 08:32 | Launch of MS Contin | | 09:08 | Transition to OxyContin | | 11:16 | Purdue pleads guilty to misbranding OxyContin | | 12:01 | Purdue’s sales tactics and marketing strategies | | 13:35 | Lawsuits and comparison to Big Tobacco | | 14:27 | Sackler family’s current status | | 15:29–22:51 | Vocabulary and idioms explanation | | 24:38 | Vancouver’s approach to drug addiction |

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Vocabulary & Language Focus (15:29–22:51)

The episode includes a dedicated vocabulary section:

• To make headway: To make progress.
• To shed light on: To clarify or explain.
• In the neighborhood of: Approximately.
• Pioneer: The first to do something (noun & verb).
• Flabbergasted: Very surprised or shocked.
• To pay through the nose: To pay a lot; to pay an exorbitant price.

Hosts provide sample sentences and business contexts for each idiom, retaining their conversational and light-hearted tone.

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Conclusion

This episode of Down to Business English offers a comprehensive and engaging exploration of the opioid crisis, revealing the complex interplay between pharmaceutical innovation, aggressive marketing, regulatory failure, and massive social costs. Skip and Samantha guide listeners through the background and impact of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, challenge listeners with pointed questions, and supply real business English expressions that are as impactful as the story itself. The episode is a rich resource for both language learners and those seeking to understand the darker side of business strategy.

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For more such discussions and to access audio scripts, visit: www.downtobusinessenglish.com

Transcript

[A]

Hi, everyone. Skip Montreux here. Can I ask you to do me a small favor? We are currently conducting a D2B listener survey. We'd like to know more about our listeners. Who are you, what are you interested in, and how do you feel about down to Business English in general? I promise it is a very short survey and would only take a few minutes of your time, but will help us out tremendously in bringing you better content. To help you improve your business English, just visit our website@downto businessenglish.com and click on the D2B listener survey link at the top of the page. Thank you very much. Now, on with the show.

[B]

From Tokyo, Japan, and Auckland, New Zealand, this is down to Business English with your hosts, Git Montreux and Samantha Vega.

[C]

Let's play a game, Skip.

[A]

Oh, I like games. What kind of game?

[C]

A word association game.

[A]

Okay, how does this work?

[C]

I will tell you a name, and you tell me the company or product that first comes to mind.

[A]

Got it?

[C]

Okay. Ready?

[A]

Yep. I was born ready.

[C]

Good. Bill Gates.

[A]

Microsoft Windows.

[C]

Good. Tim Cook.

[A]

Tim Cook. Apple.

[C]

Two for two. Jeff Bezos.

[A]

Amazon. Easy, easy, easy.

[C]

Travis Kalanick.

[A]

Oh, Uber Nice.

[C]

Jack Ma.

[A]

Jack Ma. Alibaba. Okay, this is pretty easy.

[C]

The Sackler family.

[A]

Oh, the Sackler family.

[C]

Yes, the Sackler family. Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler. And Raymond's son, Richard.

[A]

Mmm, I think you've got me there. Those names don't ring a bell.

[C]

Well, you would not be alone in that regard.

[A]

So who are these Sacklers?

[C]

The Sacklers are the founders of Purdue Pharma, the company behind OxyContin, the painkiller, which many people say is behind the opioid crisis sweeping across America at the moment.

[A]

The drug crisis that Donald Trump has just recently declared a national public health emergency.

[C]

Yes. Something like 100 people a day die from opioid overdoses in the United states. That's over 35,000 people a year.

[A]

That is just terrible. But, you know, the US has been fighting a war on drugs for decades now, and they just don't seem to be making any headway.

[C]

Well, unlike the war on drugs, which is focused on illegal narcotics, the opioid crisis is a direct result of legal pharmaceuticals being marketed to the public like it was a car or a new brand of smartphone or something.

[A]

And the company behind these legal narcotics has been Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family.

[C]

That's right. They have literally made a fortune. We're talking billions of dollars off of basically addicting society to a very harmful substance. And it is quite amazing to me that no one knows who they are. In fact, I had never heard of them either until I started looking deeper into this story.

[A]

They are certainly not a household name,

[C]

and that is by design. So I thought today on D2B, we could help shed some light on the Sacklers and their connection to the opioid crisis and give them the attention they deserve.

[A]

Sounds good.

[C]

So let's do it. Let's get D2B down to business with the opioid crisis in America. Who are the Sacklers and how did they make their billions selling drugs?

[A]

Living here in Japan, I have been somewhat isolated from this so called opioid crisis in the U.S. of course, I have seen the headlines surrounding it, but I haven't really been following the story closely.

[C]

Let me fill you in. Over the past 20 years, the number of Americans addicted to opioid based pharmaceuticals has risen dramatically for reasons we will go into in a minute. Back in the 1990s, the US medical community started prescribing these highly addictive drugs not only to treat pain related to serious diseases like cancer, but also as a way to deal with more common types of pain.

[A]

What do you mean by common types of pain?

[C]

Like a bad back or a broken leg.

[A]

Okay, so as a patient recovered, let's say, from a bad back, they would find themselves addicted to a very powerful narcotic.

[C]

That's right.

[A]

And just exactly how many people are we talking about here?

[C]

Studies have shown that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 million people dependent on opioid based drugs.

[A]

Wow. And even though this crisis is primarily a health emergency, there must be a serious economic or financial aspect to it.

[C]

Absolutely. And that economic cost is astronomical. According to a report from the White House's Council of Economic Advisors, otherwise known as the CEA, the impact on the US economy was 500 billion in 2015. That's roughly 3% of the American economic output.

[A]

$500 billion. And what specifically is that figure tied to?

[C]

It takes into account the productivity the economy loses due to the number of people who die from drug abuse. There were 30,000 deaths caused by opioid drug overdoses in 2015.

[A]

It's never been pleasant putting a cost on human life, but yes, that is a significant loss of human resources. All right, how did things get to this point?

[C]

Good question. And the answer to that brings us to the Sackler family, the sole owners of Purdue Pharmaceuticals, based in Connecticut.

[A]

Wait a minute. Is this the same Sackler family that is so involved in the art scene? The ones who have Donated millions of dollars to museums around the world, like the Louvre in Paris and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

[C]

Oh, you have heard of them?

[A]

Well, I. Yeah, I guess I have heard the name before, but I didn't know where their money came from, and in no way did I associate them with big pharma.

[C]

Well, that is precisely where they got their money.

[A]

Tell me about their history.

[C]

The Sackler family business got its start in the 1940s and 50s. There were three Sackler brothers, Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond. And they were all psychiatrists. Arthur, the oldest brother, also happened to be a pioneer in the field of medical advertising and marketing.

[A]

A pioneer in medical advertising?

[C]

Yes. He was the first to start advertising drugs in newspapers and magazines. Before that, drug sales were mostly made by the salespeople visiting doctors. The 50s are known as the golden age of the pharma industry because it was in this period that miracle drugs such as steroids, antihistamines and psychotropic drugs were developed. And advertising them in print was a great way to tell doctors about them.

[A]

I'm sorry, what do you mean by psychotropic drugs?

[C]

A psychotropic drug is any drug that affects a patient's mental state or mood.

[A]

Okay. Like Valium?

[C]

As a matter of fact, yes. Valium is a perfect example. It was none other than Arthur Sackler who was responsible for marketing valium in the 60s on the behalf of another pharma giant, Roche. It was his marketing strategy that helped Valium become the world's best selling pharmaceutical in history up until that time.

[A]

That is very interesting, but I'm a little confused. I thought you said the Sackler's company was Purdue Pharma. Why is Arthur working for Roche?

[C]

Arthur bought Purdue in 1952, but basically just handed control of the company over to his brothers while he pursued other things.

[A]

Ah, like marketing for Roche?

[C]

That and art collecting, which began his long association with so many of the world's museums.

[A]

So what about Purdue? What is their story?

[C]

Well, for the most part, Purdue was a fairly minor player in the pharma sector initially, but that all changed when they got into the pain relief business in 1972. They introduced a time released drug based on morphine that was used to help terminally ill cancer patients deal with pain.

[A]

And they were successful with that?

[C]

Yes, very successful. The drug was called Ms. Contin and it helped cancer patients suffering from immense pain sleep through the night. It quickly became the golden standard of pain medication.

[A]

Well, you need to give them credit for that. It must have helped hundreds of thousands of patients.

[C]

Absolutely, but they should have stopped there because Ms. Contin was the starting point of the problems we have today.

[A]

Okay, let's get into that. So we have a drug called Ms. Contin and another one called OxyContin. Those names sound awfully familiar.

[C]

Obviously they are related to each other. What happened was in the late 1990s, as the patent on Ms. Konton was set to expire, Purdue started looking for new applications other than terminal cancer that they could market Ms. Contin to.

[A]

Sure, if they could get approval for using it in other ways, they could not only expand their market, but also extend their time release patent.

[C]

That's right. Now, by this time in Purdue's history, the company was being run by Raymond's son, Richard Sackler. And he was the driving force behind their strategy to apply the patent time lapse delivery system of Ms. Content to a new drug.

[A]

So instead of only selling Ms. Contin to cancer patients, they wanted to target anyone with a migraine headache. Good for business, no doubt.

[C]

But there was a problem with Ms. Contin.

[A]

And what was that?

[C]

It contained morphine. And morphine had the stigma of being too strong and was too closely associated with having cancer.

[A]

That is what comes to mind when you think of morphine, isn't it? A narcotic used by drug addicts and cancer patients. I can see the marketing issues with that.

[C]

So instead of morphine, they opted to use a different generic painkiller also based on opium. And that was Oxycodone.

[A]

Oxycodone plus Mississippi. Thus the name oxycontin. Very clever, but at the same time very, very confusing.

[C]

It certainly is confusing. And that confusion was intentional.

[A]

Really?

[C]

Yes. You see, oxycodone was already being used as an active ingredient in other common painkillers such as Percocet.

[A]

Ah. So doctors would feel more comfortable prescribing a drug with oxycodone in it.

[C]

But unlike Percocet, the dosage of oxycodone used in OxyContin was much, much higher and therefore much more addictive.

[A]

Are you telling me that doctors, trained medical doctors, didn't know or weren't aware of that?

[C]

Apparently not.

[A]

I. I find that very hard to believe.

[C]

Well, Purdue admitted as much in 2007 when they pled guilty to criminal misbranding of OxyContin with the intent to defraud or mislead.

[A]

They pled guilty to that in a court of law?

[C]

They did, and they were fined $600 million. But even with that hefty penalty, they were still making a mint on oxycontin.

[A]

I am just flabbergasted. For Purdue to plead guilty to those charges, there must have been a mountain of evidence against them.

[C]

There was. Starting in 1996 when they first released OxyContin, they pursued several sales strategies in order to push their new drug that eventually led to this court case.

[A]

What kind of strategies?

[C]

For instance, they targeted all kinds of doctors, general practitioners, nurses, dentists, and medical residents. They would fly them to weekend seminars, which were nothing more than golf trips under the guise of medical seminars, and basically bribe them to make OxyContin part of their practice.

[A]

Basic wining and dining sales tactics, in

[C]

other words, which wasn't uncommon in the pharmaceutical industry. However, this was the first time this type of sales approach was used to market such a powerful drug.

[A]

I just can't believe doctors fell for that.

[C]

Well, not all of them did. But for the ones that held out, Purdue enticed them by offering them lucrative speaking engagements. These doctors could come and give a 15 minute speech at one of their events and get paid 500 bucks.

[A]

Yeah, well do half a dozen of those a year and you have a nice little pot of cash.

[C]

No doubt. But Purdue salespeople didn't just focus on doctors. They also targeted pharmacists and pharma distributors, offering payment schemes that basically boiled down to kickbacks.

[A]

Why on earth didn't the US Government get involved?

[C]

Purdue had that covered too. Not only did they donate to individual politicians in exchange for government support, they also set up and financially backed several organizations that lobbied the entire government to allow for wider use of oxycontin.

[A]

But today things are changing, aren't they? With all of these dramatic statistics about the number of people dying and suffering from serious addiction, you'd think Purdue can't continue these practices.

[C]

Well, there certainly is a lot of attention on the issue. And high profile deaths such as actor Heath Ledger and Prince, one of my all time personal favorite musicians, has really made the opioid crisis a hot topic. More and more families are bringing lawsuits against Purdue and other pharma companies. And experts say that the industry could be facing a similar fate to what Big tobacco went through 20 years ago. Paying through the nose in wrongful death settlements and being slapped with heavy government regulations.

[A]

Well, let's hope so. And the Sacklers, will they be facing the music?

[C]

Probably not. The patriarchs, Arthur, Raymond and Mortimer have all passed away. Richard is now in his mid-70s and not involved in day to day operations at Purdue. His estimated worth is in the 14 to 15 billion dollar range.

[A]

Incredible. And what about their descendants.

[C]

The Sackler children are all pursuing careers outside of the pharma industry, but the fact is, the family still owns Purdue and are extremely wealthy from it.

[A]

That is kind of infuriating how a single family can profit, grossly profit from ruining thousands of people's lives.

[C]

It does give you something to think about.

[A]

A little sickening, if you ask me.

[C]

Well, before you reach for a bottle of meds and deal with that, I think it's time for us to get D2V down to vocabulary.

[B]

Down to Business English Audio scripts are a great learning tool. Be sure to visit the D2B website and download your free audio script of today's podcast, DowntoBusinessEnglish.com that's www.downtobusinessenglish.com.

[A]

Let me dive right into vocabulary today with the expression to make headway. This phrase is synonymous with the verb noun combination to make progress. In the story, I commented that the US hasn't made any headway in the war against drugs. In other words, they haven't made any progress.

[C]

So you can use this expression the next time your boss asks you if you're making any progress on the major project he or she had assigned you,

[A]

to which you could reply, I'd be making more headway if there was a completion bonus connected to it.

[C]

I'm not sure that that would be the best reply, but yes, you could say that. Skip, I know that you've been working on an update to the down to Business English website. Are you making any headway?

[A]

Great question, Samantha. I'm not making as much headway as I'd like, but I hope to release our new site sometime in the new year. Stay tuned.

[C]

I look forward to that.

[A]

What is our next word?

[C]

Next, I'd like to talk about another expression to shed light on something.

[A]

A very common phrase, but listeners may not catch its meaning right away.

[C]

Let me break it down a bit. The verb to shed means to cast or throw off. Think of your pet dog or cat shedding its fur all over your couch.

[A]

A shedding pet is a nightmare. Precisely why I have fish.

[C]

Well, in addition to pets, the sun also sheds light. And idiomatically, putting light on a situation helps you understand it better. So when you shed light on a topic or issue, you are giving an explanation so that people can understand it clearly. At the beginning of today's story, I said that I wanted to shed some light on the Sackler family's connection to the opioid crisis so that listeners can understand their involvement clearly.

[A]

As all our listeners are well aware. Studying a second language can be frustrating if you don't understand basic grammar rules, but if you have a good teacher, they can shed light on those rules.

[C]

A good teacher can also shed light on natural word choices and expressions.

[A]

And I hope D2B sheds some light on vocabulary and that our listeners are making headway expanding their range of words and phrases and listening comprehension skills.

[C]

I know from my days of studying Thai when I lived on Koh Samui, every little bit helps. So what's next?

[A]

Skip Next up is another expression to be in the neighborhood of something. This idiom is often used when you are talking about large numbers. It simply means that the specific number you are talking about is close to or around a certain amount.

[C]

In the story, I reported that the number of Americans dependent on opioids is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 million.

[A]

In other words, it could be 2,490,000 or maybe 2,505,000. Whatever the specific number is, it isn't important. All that matters is that the number is close to 2.5 million people. Listen to this business example, Samantha. Do you know how much our office spends on electricity every month?

[C]

No idea. But I bet it's pretty high in the summer months when we have the AC turned on all the way up.

[A]

You are right. In the summer, electrical costs are somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 a month.

[C]

That's pretty high. Not as much as I would have thought, but expensive nonetheless. What is the exact amount in August?

[A]

It was? $498.75 to be exact.

[C]

Nice example. Moving on, let's talk about the noun pioneer. A pioneer is the first person or group of people to do something. In the story I said that Arthur Sackler was a pioneer in the field of medical advertising and marketing. In other words, he was the first person to market pharmaceuticals through print advertising.

[A]

Now, you used pioneer as a noun, but it is also commonly used as a verb. For example, Elon Musk and his company SpaceX are pioneering the private space exploration industry.

[C]

Yes, SpaceX is a leader in the private sector exploration of space. Do you know who Vannevar Bush is?

[A]

Vannevar? No idea. Is he related to the Sacklers?

[C]

No. Vannevar Bush is considered one of the pioneers of the Internet.

[A]

Really? What did he do?

[C]

Let's put a link in the audio script to his Wikipedia page and everyone can read about him. But basically he was responsible for creating darpa, which led to arpanet, which, as I'm sure you are aware, was the forerunner of the Modern Internet.

[A]

I will definitely check out that Wikipedia page. But moving on, the next word today is the adjective to be flabbergasted.

[C]

Oh, yes, I remember you using flabbergasted.

[A]

It is memorable when someone uses it, isn't it? To be flabbergasted means to be very, very, very surprised. Overwhelmed with surprise, actually.

[C]

And in the story, when I told you that the 600 million dollar fine Purdue is had to pay was a small amount compared to how much they were profiting, you reacted by saying that you were flabbergasted.

[A]

I was and still am very, very surprised.

[C]

In a business situation, this is a good adjective to use if you want to express shock, even disappointment in something. For example, maybe your boss calls you into their office and tells you that the company can't pay your winter bonus.

[A]

Oh dear, that is a nightmare scenario.

[C]

You can say that again. So your boss tells you that the bonus you were expecting will not be paid. You can look them in the eye and with a frown on your face say, I am flabbergasted. The company seems to be doing very well this year.

[A]

Do you think that would change their mind?

[C]

Probably not, but it will feel good

[A]

saying it, no doubt. Do we have another word?

[C]

Yes, we do. Finally, today is the idiom to pay through the nose. When you say you paid through the nose for something, you are communicating that it was very expensive.

[A]

Interesting. There sure are a lot of idioms in English that refer to body parts and relate to something being expensive to pay. An arm and a leg comes to mind.

[C]

That is interesting. I did a little research on this idiom and apparently it dates back to a time in medieval history when Norsemen controlled Ireland.

[A]

Norsemen, as in from Scandinavia?

[C]

Yes, as in Scandinavia. Men from the north, Norsemen. When they conquered Ireland, the Norse king imposed a tax on each household and anyone who didn't pay that tax had their nose cut off.

[A]

Ew. Thus, to pay through the nose.

[C]

In the story, I said that Purdue Pharma might go through the same thing Big Tobacco went through.

[A]

Through.

[C]

And pay through the nose in legal fights with families of drug addicts. In other words, they might pay a lot of money losing lawsuits.

[A]

Have you been following the big news coming out of the US Right now about Donald Trump's tax reforms?

[C]

A little, but I don't know all the details.

[A]

Well, Trump is really pushing Congress to pass a law that reduces the corporate tax rate down to 20%.

[C]

What is the current rate?

[A]

Something like 39%. When you combine federal and state taxes, that's high. It's why so many US Companies keep their money offshore. They don't want to pay through the nose in taxes when they bring that money home.

[C]

I guess not. Well, I hope President Trump is successful with this.

[A]

What? You are supporting Trump?

[C]

No, but with less tax revenue, the US Government will have less money to fund their incredibly large arms budget. Maybe, just maybe, there would be less fighting in the world.

[B]

Would you like to support down to Business English? Be sure to visit the DTOB page in itunes and subscribe to the show. While you are there, why don't you leave a rating and a comment? This will help DTOB reach more people wanting to improve their business English skills. Down to Business English Business News to improve your business English.

[A]

Thanks Samantha for that report on the Sackler family and their relationship to the opioid crisis in the us. You certainly did shed some light on what is going on.

[C]

My pleasure Skip. I just hope the US can get the situation under control. So many people's lives are being ruined.

[A]

US Authorities should look at how the city of Vancouver in Canada handles their drug problem.

[C]

That's right, they are a real pioneer in managing a very serious heroin epidemic, focusing on providing treatment rather than focusing on the crime.

[A]

And they have had a lot of success. But I'd be to forced flabbergasted if that kind of approach would make any headway in the us. It's too left wing for America.

[C]

Perhaps.

[A]

Anyway, thanks for downloading D2B today everyone. If you found today's episode helpful in your English studies, show your support by becoming a D2B member. All members get unlimited access to the entire library of down to Business English audio scripts and we will even email you audio scripts to new episodes as soon as they are released.

[C]

D2B memberships a great way to help us bring you more business news to help you improve your business English.

[A]

For more information on becoming a member, just visit our [e-mail] and click on the membership link at the top of the page. We sincerely appreciate the support. Thanks for listening everyone. See you next time.

[C]

Take care.

[B]

Have a comment or question about today's show? Don't be shy. Visit the D2B website or the Facebook page and post any comments or questions there. Skip Des or Samantha will be sure to leave a reply. Want to get even more down to Business English? Sign up for the D2B Newsletter and receive updates on some of the stories covered on down to business English. That's www.downtobusinessenglish.com down to business English Business news to improve your business English.