Pubdate: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 Source: Kingsport Times-News Copyright: 1998-2001 Kingsport Publishing Corporation Website: www.timesnews.net Contact: http://www.timesnews.net/index.cgi?CONTEXT=cat&BISKIT=4266578273&category=18 Address: P.O. Box 470, 701 Lynn Garden Drive, Kingsport, TN 37662 Phone: 423.246.8121 Author: Walter Littrell OXYCONTIN BECOMING DRUG OF CHOICE FOR ABUSE IN REGION JONESVILLE - Its manufacturer warns that Oxycontin, an opium-based product similar to morphine, may be habit forming and cause addiction. Oxycontin, the controlled-release form of oxycodone - Percocet - is a pain medication approved for moderate to severe pain for patients who have to be on pain medication for more than a few days. Oxycontin is quickly growing in popularity for drug users and addicts. But the narcotic's addictive properties are being exploited in just a few small pockets across the United States. "When you mention it in Knoxville or Roanoke, they don't know what you're talking about," said Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons. "But in Lee County, it's becoming one of our biggest problems - fast." Gregg Wood, a health care fraud investigator for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Roanoke, works drug cases from Lynchburg all the way west to Cumberland Gap. He agrees with Parsons. "It's not clear why it is the drug of choice. In Lynchburg, they've never heard of it, but it's a big problem in Southwest Virginia. We're seeing it real heavy in Roanoke, but the further west you go, the worse it gets. Then they have problems with it in areas like rural Maine, West Virginia and the Cincinnati area, but in other places it's unheard of," Wood said. Virginia State Police Trooper Eddie Quillen said a young male user told him he preferred the drug's euphoric effect to sex, and users will go to any lengths to obtain the pills or the money to get them. The tablets come in various strengths, Quillen said, and the street price corresponds to the number of milligrams in the pills. For example, the trooper said, the pills come in 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg strengths. A 10 mg tablet sells for $10, and an 80 mg tablet will bring $80. To obtain that kind of money, users will go to about any length, the sheriff said. He attributes any number of Lee County burglaries and thefts to the perpetrators' efforts to get money for OCs, as the drug is sometimes called. Wood said the painkiller is establishing its own underground economy. In the drug stores, the medicine sells for about 10 cents per milligram, making a 30-day supply - at two pills per day - of 40 mg tablets cost about $240. He said a person on Medicaid has a $1 co-payment for each doctor visit. The patient pays another $1 at the pharmacy and for a total of $2 has obtained $240 worth of medication. That patient can then sell those pills to users for $40 each and pocket a $2,398 profit. The drug finds its way to the street because some people with a legitimate need will sell some just to stretch their checks, said Wood. Others will keep some for themselves and sell a few on the street to buy more for themselves, while others will fake a back injury to obtain the drug solely for resale, Wood said. The drug's allure extends beyond the casual and addicted users though, the investigator said. "Often doctors will prescribe them for profit. A doctor is paid $50 to $100 for each patient seen, and some will just write a prescription to get paid. People with light pain have to be better scrutinized by doctors. It eats up a tremendous amount of our time investigating these cases," said Wood, who can quickly rattle off a list of Southwest Virginia doctors recently convicted or indicted on charges of illegally prescribing the drug. A lengthy investigation of street dealing led to the September arrests of about 50 alleged dealers in the New River Valley, he added. Wood said while his office concentrates on the fraud aspect on the part of doctors, most of the local crime brought on by efforts to find money to buy the drug on the street is left to local authorities. But, he said, the pill has added dramatically to the number of burglaries, robberies, pharmacy break-ins, and forgeries or alterations of prescriptions for the drug. Abusers of the medication do not take it orally, as do those who use it legitimately. Instead, they either crush the pills and "snort" them through their nose, or crush them, boil the powder and strain it through a cigarette filter, and inject the drug intravenously. Wood said when snorted, a waxy part of the fillers in the tablets will stick to the sinuses, and he has seen users that have had the backs of their noses actually eaten away. Others have crystals form in their lungs, and side effects of injections cause strokes. Many deaths in the region can be attributed to these damaging effects and to overdosing on the drug, he said. Abuse of the drug is now starting to get the attention of officials at Purdue Pharma L.P., which manufacturers the drug, said Wood, and they are exploring ways the company can help curb the abuse. "There are ways for doctors to do pain contracts with people who have legitimate pain. Those who use the drug should be tested for other drugs in their system, and when they are found to be illegally using drugs, they should be put out of the program. There ought to be something doctors can do to regulate behavior, but for some, it is a money-making opportunity. We all need to partner up to eliminate these problems," he said.