Pubdate: Fri, 16 Feb 2001
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Section: Metro, Pg B08
Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer

ABUSE REPORTS BRING MEETING ON PAINKILLER

Manufacturer Wants Education On Drug's Risks

Virginia Attorney General Mark L. Earley (R) has requested a meeting with 
officials from the drug company that makes OxyContin, a narcotic painkiller 
that authorities say has touched off an epidemic of abuse across southwest 
Virginia and is making its way to metropolitan Washington.

In requesting the meeting with executives at Purdue Pharma L.P. -- the 
Stamford, Conn., drugmaker -- Earley is seeking assurances that the company 
is working to deter illegal sales and is educating the public about dangers.

Officials in several states have said abuse of OxyContin, which is often 
used to ease the suffering of terminally ill cancer patients, has soared to 
dangerous levels.

In southwest Virginia, there have been reports of almost 30 fatal 
overdoses, and police in Northern Virginia are investigating about a dozen 
OxyContin overdoses. A Purdue Pharma spokesman said yesterday that the 
company is investigating those reports and believes them to be inaccurate.

Purdue Pharma executives yesterday agreed to meet with Earley and hope to 
work with law enforcement agencies to educate the public about the 
painkiller while ensuring that patients who need OxyContin have access to 
it. Purdue Pharma initiated meetings with U.S. attorneys in Virginia and 
Maine last year after learning of the abuse.

"Our product is being abused, and we've taken on a responsibility to try to 
prevent that abuse," said James W. Heins, a company spokesman. "Education 
will be a key to resolving the situation, as will working with law 
enforcement to help curb the illicit traffic of these controlled substances."

Heins said recent publicity about the abuse has already had an adverse 
effect on patients using OxyContin. Some doctors are refusing to issue 
refills, pharmacists are becoming hesitant to stock the drug, and some 
patients have reported being treated like criminals when they fill 
prescriptions.

Earley, who is seeking his party's nomination for governor, wrote to the 
company Wednesday. In the letter, obtained by The Washington Post 
yesterday, Earley wrote that the "widespread illegal sale of OxyContin has 
created an epidemic of addiction and a surge in criminal behavior" in Virginia.

According to the letter, prosecutors in Tazewell County have charged more 
than 150 people with OxyContin-related felonies in the past 18 months, 
including thefts, burglaries and shoplifting. A recent study, cited in the 
letter, found that one in 10 seventh-graders in Lee County has tried the 
drug, while one in five 12th-graders has.

David Botkins, a spokesman for Earley's office, compared the rash of crime 
and addiction to past trends involving crack and heroin.

"But what makes this more complicated is that you've got a legal drug that 
can be prescribed for appropriate medical uses that is falling into the 
hands of those who would illegally distribute it," Botkins said. "The 
ability to clearly target the bad guy in this situation is much more complex."
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