Pubdate: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 Source: Roanoke Times (VA) Copyright: 2001 Roanoke Times Contact: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368 Author: Sarah Colgan Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?135 (Drug Education) OXYCONTIN IS WONDERFUL WHEN USED CORRECTLY AS A health care professional, I would be remiss if I didn't express my views after following your reporting of OxyContin and the "crisis" that surrounds its abuse. OxyContin is a wonderful addition to the arsenal of legitimate pain management, especially for the terminally ill. No cases of death attributed to the oral administration in normally prescribed doses have been reported. I believe the problems lie in the illegitimate prescribing and abuse of OxyContin. These are the same age-old problems we have attempted to deal with in the health care field. When there is a way to get "high," people prone to that behavior will find it. Withdrawing the product or tying the hands of the manufacturer will not solve the issues. Public education is the only way to reduce the problems. It seems strange to me that the initial problems arose in Southwest Virginia and in rural Maine. Is it possible that health care professionals in those areas need to be scrutinized closer? Could the board of health professions be missing something? I request that the editor of this newspaper review future OxyContin articles, looking for public education rather than hysteria. SARAH COLGAN, BEDFORD - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl