Can You Say "Patent Monopoly?" When It Comes to the Opioid Crisis, the Washington Post Can't

This vocabulary problem is apparent in a lengthy (and interesting) piece on efforts by drug companies to push opiods in large part by denying their addictiveness. These companies would have had far less incentive to lie about the dangers of opiods if they were selling at generic prices from the day they were approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The incentive to mislead clinicians and the public about the safety and effectiveness of drugs is one of the main problems of using patent...