Ekphrasis

Data visualization is one of the most powerful ways to communicate statistical information. As much as it can be ekphrastic when used appropriately, it can also be misleading when misused.

Published

February 11th, 2025

1 Ekphrasis

Ekphrasis is a vivid verbal description of, or meditation upon, a non-verbal work of art, real or imagined, usually a painting or sculpture (Baldick 2008)

2 The limits of ekphrasis

  • In some sense, data science activities are a form of art.
  • A good statistic and its visualization can convey a message and reveal a pattern more effectively than an endless stream of numbers and text.
  • In most ways, however, data science is very different from (at least surreal forms of) art.
  • It has to be grounded and faithful to the data it represents.
  • Unfortunately, governments, academics, and companies sometimes use more than recommended poetic freedom.

The Art of Living (Rene Magritte, 1967)

3 OxyContin

  • OxyContin is an opioid-based pain medicine introduced by Purdue Pharma in 1996.
  • Purdue Pharma aggressively marketed OxyContin and the use of opioids in the treatment of pain.
  • For example, Purdue Pharma spent $200 million in promotion activities for OxyContin in 2001.

4 Promotion of OxyContin

  • Van Zee (2009) studied the promotion of OxyContin and its public health implications.
  • Among other activities, Purdue Pharma organized more than 40 conferences for pain management in the US from 1996 to 2001.
  • More than 5000 physicians participated in the conferences.
  • Their expenses were covered by Purdue Pharma.

Promotion of OxyContin

  • Van Zee (2009) studied the promotion of OxyContin and its public health implications.
  • Other marketing activities used data science techniques to influence physicians’ prescribing behavior.
  • Physicians were profiled, and high- and low-prescribers were identified.
  • A bonus system designed to incentivize sales representatives to focus on high-prescribers was introduced.

5 Commercial Triumph

  • Purdue’s promotion was very successful.
  • OxyContin prescriptions for non-cancer-related pain rose from 670 thousand in 1997 to 6.2 million in 2002 (almost 10x).

6 Public Health Tragedy

  • However, opioids are known to have a series of serious side effects

    • such as “respiratory depression, sedation, constipation, and nausea; inconsistent improvement in functioning; opioid-induced hyperalgesia; adverse hormonal and immune effects of long-term opioid treatment; a high incidence of prescription opioid abuse behaviors;” (Van Zee 2009)

7 Misrepresenting the addiction risk

  • In addition, opioids are highly addictive.
  • And a common theme of Purdue’s promotion activities was to soft-pedal the addiction risk for the treatment of chronic non-cancer-related pain.

Misrepresenting the addiction risk

Misrepresenting the addiction risk

8 The consequences

  • The number of drug-overdose deaths from prescription and illicit opioids rose dramatically in the US from 1999 to 2020.
  • A series of lawsuits against Purdue Pharma followed.
  • In 2007, Purdue paid a $634.5 million fine for an OxyContin-related case.
  • It filed for bankruptcy in 2019.
  • In 2023, Purdue Pharma announced its rebranding as Knoa Pharma.

References

Baldick, Chris. 2008. “Ekphrasis.” In The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199208272.001.0001/acref-9780199208272-e-366.
Van Zee, Art. 2009. “The Promotion and Marketing of Oxycontin: Commercial Triumph, Public Health Tragedy.” American Journal of Public Health 99 (2): 221–27. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.131714.