Pubdate: Fri, 24 Aug 2001
Source: The Herald-Sun (NC)
Copyright: 2001 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: Chris Kahn (AP)

OXYCONTIN MAKER TRIES SAFEGUARD

ROANOKE, Va. -- A senior medical official for drugmaker Purdue Pharma LP 
said Thursday the company is experimenting with a chemical safeguard to 
combat abuse of its potent painkiller OxyContin.

Dr. J. David Haddox told a state task force on drug abuse that Purdue 
Pharma has been working to reformulate OxyContin with naloxone, which is 
used in Talwin NX and other painkillers.

"This idea has sort of been on the shelf for a while," Haddox said.

Since it was introduced in 1995, OxyContin has been blamed for more than 
100 deaths nationwide, and addicts or street suppliers have robbed 
pharmacies to get at the drug.

Purdue, based in Stamford, Conn., has been criticized by the Drug 
Enforcement Administration and others for not being more aggressive in 
reformulating its top-selling painkiller with naloxone when abuse became a 
problem.

Naloxone, a narcotic antagonist, has been combined with other opiates since 
the 1980s to deter intravenous abusers.

Purdue has said it decided against using naloxone because there were 
concerns it could induce withdrawal or create a "ceiling" effect. Such a 
drug would not increase in potency past a certain point, even if a patient 
takes higher and higher doses.

On Thursday, Haddox contradicted earlier statements, saying a naloxone 
reformulation was in the works, and in fact it could be available sooner 
than another new formula Purdue announced earlier this month.

That pill, which Purdue dubbed a "smart pill" has yet to be named and would 
not be available for at least three years. It would destroy its own 
narcotic ingredients if crushed into a powder and snorted or injected -- 
the typical manner in which OxyContin currently is abused.

Haddox did not know if Purdue has applied for a patent on the reformulated 
drug, or how much progress company scientists have had in developing the 
naloxone formula. Other Purdue officials could not be reached Thursday for 
comment.

At the task force meeting, law enforcement officials in some of Virginia's 
hardest hit areas said OxyContin abuse is leveling off.

"Prices have gone up on the street," said Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons. 
"We're seeing more Lortabs and Tylox and other prescription drugs now. Some 
people just can't afford OxyContin."

The task force -- comprised of police, prosecutors, doctors, pharmacists 
and lawmakers -- compiled a draft list of recommendations to further combat 
prescription drug abuse. The list includes a prescription monitoring 
program, distribution of tamper-resistant prescription pads to doctors and 
fingerprinting kits to pharmacists.

While some parts of Virginia have had success combating OxyContin and 
oxycodone abuse, Attorney General Randolph A. Beales said it remains a 
challenge nationally.

"It's now going everywhere," said Beales, who recently attended a national 
meeting on prescription drug abuse. "It's spreading into the Midwest and 
the far West."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom