Pubdate: Mon, 12 Mar 2001
Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Copyright: 2001 Austin American-Statesman
Contact:  P. O. Box 670 Austin, Texas  78767
Fax: 512-445-3679
Website: http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/
Author: Roger Alford, Associated Press Writer

CONCERNS VOICED OVER OXYCONTIN DRUG

HAZARD, Ky. (AP) - Pharmacists call OxyContin a painkiller. Cindy Fugate 
disagrees, the pain still sharp after her mother's death from abusing the 
synthetic morphine.

"I catch myself wanting to talk to her, but I can't," the 16-year-old said. 
Her mother overdosed on OxyContin or Oxy, prescription pills that 
authorities say have become a drug of choice among addicts.

Norma Ratliff knows the pain too: Her son was shot to death by two men who 
rifled through his pockets looking for OxyContin. And Franklin McIntosh was 
jailed after robbing a bank to fund his Oxy addiction.

"Once they get hold of you, you do anything it takes to get more," said 
McIntosh, 46, a former motorcycle shop service manager.

In the past year, OxyContin overdoses have resulted in at least 59 deaths 
in Kentucky's mountain region, authorities said. In Virginia, 32 deaths 
have been connected to abuse of the drug.

Concern is being voiced in several states as more illicit drug users 
discover OxyContin, often used to treat cancer patients. Users grind up the 
tablets and snort the powder, or mix it with water and inject it like heroin.

The drug is more popular than cocaine or heroin because it produces a high 
that is more euphoric than other narcotics, said Kentucky prosecutor Joseph 
Famularo.

In addition to a spate of deaths, authorities report an accompanying 
increase in crime, such as robberies of pharmacies, residential burglaries 
and bank heists, as users steal to feed their addictions.

Kentucky police in February arrested more than 200 people in a single day 
on OxyContin-related charges.

Officials from five states and the federal government met with the drug's 
manufacturer, Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., earlier this month to 
discuss solutions to the problems.

"We want to do everything we can to make sure this medicine is used for 
patients for whom it is appropriate and that it is not given to those who 
don't need it or who would abuse it," said Dr. J. David Haddox, senior 
medical director for health policy at Purdue Pharma.

While the company maintains the drug is safe when used properly under a 
physician's supervision, it's planning programs to educate health care 
providers about prescription drug abuse, and inform doctors about 
tamper-resistant prescription pads.

Critics say the preventative measures don't go far enough. A Virginia 
physician is circulating a national petition to ban OxyContin, even though 
he recognizes the benefits for patients with chronic pain.

"By light years, the harm outweighs the benefits," said Dr. Art Van Zee of 
the St. Charles Community Health Clinic.

Van Zee has the support of relatives like Cindy Fugate, who was awoken by a 
2:30 a.m. phone call and told her mother had died.

"I just dropped the phone and started crying," said Fugate.

Her mother, Sandra Fugate Riddle, was at a roadside motel shooting up with 
friends when she died. Her family isn't sure how long she had been abusing 
the drug. But they say Riddle, once a caring single parent, had distanced 
herself as she became more deeply involved the underground drug community 
in the months before her death.

Cindy now lives with her aunt. Her 14- and 13-year-old brothers are wards 
of the state.

"I stay depressed," she said. "I just don't really think about much other 
than wanting her back."

Ratliff's 27-year-old son, Chad, was shooting OxyContin with two men when 
they got into an argument over a drug debt.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Graham said Chad Ratliff was shot in the head and his 
pockets were then pilfered for OxyContin.

Ratliff blames both the men and the drug for her son's death. "How many 
more people are going to have to die?" she asked.
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