Pubdate: Fri, 04 Jan 2002
Source: Greenwich Time (CT)
Copyright: 2002, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc
Contact:  http://www.greenwichtime.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/697
Author: Vesna Jaksic
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186

EXPERTS: OXYCONTIN IS JUST LIKE ANY DRUG WHEN ABUSED

OxyContin, a locally produced prescription drug that has been linked to 
more than 100 deaths nationwide, is one of many medications that can be 
harmful if not taken properly, two chemical dependency specialists said 
yesterday.

The medication, prescribed for people with moderate to severe chronic pain, 
has received national attention because of the number of people who have 
abused it by chewing, injecting or snorting it to get a euphoric high.

OxyContin works by releasing its active ingredient, OxyCodone, over a 
12-hour period. People looking to get high crush the tablet into powder, 
speeding the release of the medication.

"If the substance-release mechanism is interfered with by not taking the 
drug according to directions, you suddenly have a burst of OxyCodone coming 
into your system in very high amounts, at times with unfortunate effects," 
said Dr. George Ubogy, an addiction specialist at the Addiction and 
Recovery Program at Greenwich Hospital.

Ubogy talked about the drug yesterday with John Sayers, the program's 
administrative director, during a half-hour radio broadcast. "The OxyContin 
Phenomenon," which aired in Greenwich and Westchester County, N.Y., was 
part of a weekly series of broadcasts sponsored by the hospital, each 
highlighting a different issue in the medical community.

Use of OxyContin increased after many health experts questioned the 
efficiency and aggressiveness of pain management in the country during the 
last decade, Ubogy said.

"A whole specialty of pain experts has sprung up in medicine, and there has 
been increased attention paid to whether hospitals and physicians are 
paying adequate attention to their patients' pain," he said.

The number of OxyContin prescriptions written rose from less than half a 
million in 1996 to approximately 5.8 million in 2000, according to the U.S. 
Drug Enforcement Administration.

The drug, produced by Stamford-based Purdue Pharma, is the most prescribed 
Schedule II narcotic in the country, according to the DEA. Schedule II 
drugs have the highest abuse potential among controlled substances approved 
for medical use.

As of Nov. 1, 117 of the 803 cases of OxyCodone deaths from 31 states were 
linked to OxyContin, according to the DEA. An additional 179 deaths were 
deemed to be "likely related."

In July, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal wrote a six- page 
letter to Purdue Pharma, requesting that it take steps to help prevent 
abuse of the drug, such as instituting certification programs for 
physicians before they can prescribe the drug, limiting the drug's 
availability to centralized pharmacies and devoting resources to 
rehabilitation programs.

Over the past couple of years, Purdue Pharma has provided tamper- resistant 
prescription pads, organized educational programs for health care 
professionals and, most recently, started a clinical study on 
abuse-resistant pain medications, said James Heins, a company spokesman.

While much of the publicity about the drug has focused on its abuse, some 
physicians stressed its success as a painkiller.

"A lot of people do well with the medication," said Dr. Cassandra Tribble, 
director of the Sackler Center for Pain Management at Greenwich Hospital, 
who said she regularly prescribes the drug for cancer and chronic pain 
patients. "It has allowed some people with chronic pain to function, to go 
to work, to function within their families and within their homes."

Sayers said the drug has a "unique image" because of its popularity as a 
painkiller across the country and the amount of media attention. But, he 
added, OxyContin is no different from other drugs when it comes to abuse.

"It's a lot different using medication for pain management or using 
medication for euphoria," he said. "Anything can be abused."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart