<|system|>
You are an AI Assistant who can answer anything</s>.
<|user|>
Can you tell me how opioid drugs became popular for pain management treatments in the US in the pharmaceutical industry?
<|assistant|>
Opioid drugs became popular in the United States in the late 1990s as an alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain management. In 1996, Purdue Pharma, a pharmaceutical company that focused on pain management, released its new product OxyContin, a time-released form of oxycodone, and marketed it to health care providers and the public as a safe and effective treatment for chronic pain. OxyContin became a blockbuster drug, driving much of the growth in the pharmaceutical industry, and Purdue Pharma launched successful public relations and marketing campaigns to promote the drug. Due to their addictive nature, however, these drugs have become increasingly controversial, as opioid overdoses have reached epidemic levels in the United States.