Pubdate: Fri, 18 May 2001
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin)

CRACKDOWN ON ABUSE OF PAINKILLER URGED IN VA.

ABINGDON, Va., May 17 -- Virginia officials called today for stepped-up 
efforts to prevent and punish illegal trafficking in OxyContin and for a 
database to track prescriptions, as a statewide task force held its first 
meeting about curbing abuse of the painkiller.

The meeting -- conducted in this small community just a few miles from the 
Tennessee border -- underscored the effect of OxyContin abuse on rural 
Southwest Virginia. Police and prosecutors said they have been overwhelmed 
by the number of abusers, the related crime wave and the crowding at jails 
where people are "packed in like cordwood."

Medical examiners announced today that the synthetic painkiller has been 
linked to three more deaths in Southwest Virginia this year, bringing the 
total to 42 in the region since 1997.

State Attorney General Mark L. Earley (R) assembled the task force because 
of concerns that abuse of OxyContin in Appalachia is out of control and is 
creeping across the state into suburban communities. Task force members, 
who are charged with developing an attack plan by fall, said they are 
primarily concerned with curbing OxyContin abuse while ensuring that 
patients who rely on the medication are able to get it.

"This is a significant problem in Virginia," Earley said. "Solving it will 
take a careful balancing act."

Testimony and discussion today included officials of small towns that are 
overwhelmed by the problem. Dennis H. Lee, commonwealth's attorney in 
Tazewell County, told the three dozen members of the group that crime in 
his county has risen almost 30 percent in 18 months, mostly because of 
OxyContin.

Gary Parsons, the sheriff in Lee County on the state's westernmost tip, 
said law enforcement officials have a "hopeless and helpless feeling."

"For a small, rural area, it's taken away a way of life," Parsons said. 
"It's taken away the innocence our community once had."

Purdue Pharma LP, of Stamford, Conn., the drug's manufacturer, announced 
today that it has begun targeting 100 "high-risk" communities across the 
nation for specific education and prevention efforts. J. David Haddox, 
Purdue's senior medical director, told the task force that the company has 
instructed sales representatives to discourage doctors in those communities 
from prescribing the drug if they aren't confident of doing so correctly.

"If you can't do it right, don't prescribe OxyContin," Haddox said. "The 
problem of drug abuse is a tragedy . . . but there is every bit as much of 
a tragedy going on with untreated pain."

Haddox also said Purdue will provide new labels for OxyContin tablets that 
are sold in other countries to discourage smuggling, and he emphasized that 
the company is spending millions of dollars to develop an abuse-resistant 
form of the pill.

The drug has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, as reports of 
widespread abuse have surfaced from Maine to Alabama. OxyContin, which was 
prescribed more than 6 million times last year, has become a popular 
painkiller, used by cancer patients and chronic pain sufferers for 
long-term relief. Legitimate patients have said that OxyContin is a miracle 
drug that they can't live without.

Experts and law enforcement officials say the drug's popularity has driven 
its abuse, as it is sold at pharmacies across the country. Abusers crush 
the time-release tablets and snort or inject the drug for an instant high. 
The drug's maker warns that the highest doses could be deadly for a 
first-time user.

Task force members said they are particularly interested in education and 
prevention efforts aimed at teenagers and young adults, and state police 
said a prescription monitoring program is essential to combat fraud and 
"doctor-shopping," which are common ways that addicts and dealers get their 
hands on the pills.

"It's not the drug itself that is the problem," said Stephen Long, a 
physician and pain specialist in Richmond. "When in the hands of abusers, 
however, there's the potential for terrible abuse and terrible ramifications."

Prince William police Maj. Ron Sullins, the lone Northern Virginia 
representative on the task force, said Prince William's recent problems 
with OxyContin abuse show that law enforcement officials and legislators 
need to rethink drug prevention efforts.

"There are always those people who abuse drugs," Sullins said. "Our role is 
to try to keep that at an acceptable level and prevent as much as we can."
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