Foulkes Campaign’s Focus Groups Probe Her Ties to Opioid Epidemic and Sacklers

Foulkes Campaign’s Focus Groups Probe Her Ties to Opioid Epidemic and Sacklers

Democratic candidate for Governor Helena Foulkes' campaign has growing concerns about how Rhode Islanders see her ties to the opioid epidemic and specifically her role in the health crisis as it relates to her time as President of CVS and in her leadership of her family's center, The Dodd Center.

The Sackler family — the owners of Purdue Pharma — funded Foulkes' Center and Jonathan Sackler served on the board with Foulkes.

The Sacklers personally made billions from their company’s sale of OxyCodone. The Sackler family is presently negotiating a settlement estimated to be about $7.4 billion for their role in the epidemic. 

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

GoLocal has confirmed that Foulkes contracted for two focus groups held last week at the Portable Insights facility in Warwick.

One focus group was comprised of women, and the other of men.

And while the focus groups were being conducted, the members of the Foulkes campaign were behind a one-way glass watching the discussion of screened registered Democratic primary voters.

During the focus group, the moderator working for Foulkes’ campaign spent the first half of the focus group exploring the perceptions of voters on Governor Dan McKee and Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi.

The focus group moderator explored McKee’s record, failures, and there were discussions about the governor’s biggest weakness — his mismanagement of the Washington Bridge failure.

The moderator also explored perceptions of Shekarchi. Specifically, look at his role as speaker, his fundraising, and whether he is an “insider.”

The groups were shown video interviews of the two and asked about their performances.

 

Foulkes and Opioids

The second half of the focus group was an exploration of perceptions of Foulkes. She lost in the Democratic primary in 2022 to McKee by less than 4,000 votes.

A major series of investigative reports published by GoLocal unveiled the deep financial ties between the Sacklers and the Foulkes family.

SEE RELATED ARTICLES BELOW

Foulkes has significant exposure to the opioid issue. As a top executive and then President of CVS, the company's sales of opioids exploded. 

“One CVS store, located in Perry County, purchased over 6.8 million dosage units of oxycodone and hydrocodone from 2006 to 2014, which was enough opioids for every man, woman, and child in the county to have over 26 pills every year during the same period.  A CVS in Crittenden County bought over 2.8 million dosage units of the drugs, enough to supply everyone in the county with over 34 pills every year,” according to then Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron when he filed a lawsuit against CVS in 2021.

CVS has been sued by multiple states. CVS has paid billions to resolve the lawsuits. In addition, in December of 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice sued CVS for its role in the epidemic.

There is now a pending U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit that targets CVS. Foulkes was president for a number of those years; the government says the company violated multiple federal laws.

 

A GoLocal review published in January found that:

- CVS was hooked on the income from opioids.

- The money poured into the company.

- Foulkes' rise to power mirrors the growth of CVS. The opioid crisis was in full bloom.

“Deaths from prescription opioid overdoses have quadrupled from 1999 to 2011, as have opioid prescriptions, even though pain levels reported by Americans have not changed. By 2013, drug overdoses were the nation’s leading cause of deaths from injury,” cites the USDOJ in its lawsuit against CVS.

“CVS did next to nothing to reduce inappropriate dispensing, instead focusing on the Company’s profitability,” maintains the Justice Department.

Foulkes has made a number of misleading statements about her role in the opioid crisis.

Foulkes' campaign had no comment on the focus groups.