Pubdate: Mon, 29 Apr 2002
Source: News-Times, The (CT)
Copyright: 2002 The News-Times
Contact:  http://www.newstimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/637
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin)

SUPERMARKET CHAIN PULLING OXYCONTIN FROM SHELVES

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) _ The Stop & Shop supermarket chain will no longer stock 
the painkiller Oxycontin because of an increasing number of robberies 
involving the drug.

"Stop & Shop is committed to providing the needs of our customers, but not 
at the expense of the safety of our customers and associates," the company 
said in a press release. A spokeswoman declined to comment further.

Stop & Shop has 226 pharmacies and 322 stores in Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York. The company said it 
would advise customers who are taking the drug of the new policy, and would 
continue to order Oxycontin from wholesalers for customers with 
prescriptions, though the individual deliveries may take several days to 
arrive.

Last month, Scarborough, Maine-based chain Hannaford Bros. Co. pulled 
Oxycontin from its pharmacies after a man robbed one of its Shop 'n Save 
stores of several tablets of OxyContin and Dilaudid, another addictive pain 
reliever.

James Heins, a spokesman for Purdue Pharma, which manufactures Oxycontin, 
said Stop & Shop and Hannaford Bros. are the only chains to implement such 
a policy. He said Purdue Pharma hoped to meet with Stop & Shop officials to 
negotiate a solution.

"We understand Stop & Shop's concerns about pharmacy and customer safety," 
Heins said. "But we're also very concerned about the well-being of patients 
who need this medication for pain. It's a situation where criminal activity 
is determining the medical care of patients with pain. We as a company are 
not going to tolerate that."
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