Pubdate: Sun, 01 Feb 2004
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2004 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Doris Bloodsworth
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/purdue+pharma
Note: Series " OxyContin Under Fire "
http://www.mapinc.org/source/orlando+sentinel

OXYCONTIN MAKER SAYS PATIENT IS NOT CREDIBLE

Ex-Cop Profiled In Articles Had Drug-Related Conviction

Purdue Pharma, maker of the painkiller OxyContin, says a past
drug-related conviction discredits the story of one of the pain
patients featured prominently in an October Orlando Sentinel series
titled "OxyContin Under Fire."

The five-day series told about problems of abuse, addiction and
overdose deaths tied to OxyContin, a powerful, controversial narcotic.
In addition, the series looked at the challenges of chronic-pain
patients, detoxification and the role of the government in approving
and monitoring powerful drugs.

As a companion story to the series, the Sentinel included a five-part
serial focusing on a Clearwater man, David Rokisky, 36, an ex-police
officer who said he became addicted after taking OxyContin that was
prescribed for minor back pain in October 2002. The Sentinel followed
him as he went through a medical procedure called rapid detox last
year to overcome his addiction.

But Purdue now says Rokisky's story is invalidated by a criminal
conviction on a drug conspiracy charge in December 1999, two years
after he left his job with the Albuquerque Police Department. The
company also cites other legal troubles Rokisky had in New Mexico,
including a forgery conviction arising from a divorce, disputes over
property, and unproven allegations about drug use that arose in an
undercover investigation of Rokisky by Albuquerque police and in a
family feud with in-laws.

Rokisky, whom the newspaper labeled an "accidental addict," continues
to insist he has never abused drugs.

A drug-screening test done before he underwent detox in June 2003
detected only the opiates that would be present in the system of any
OxyContin user, according to his doctor. Rokisky has offered to
release additional drug-screening results going back several years to
support his claim, but the Sentinel has not yet reviewed those.

Rokisky's legal troubles in New Mexico did not surface in a background
check performed by the newspaper prior to the stories'
publication.

Howard R. Udell, Purdue's executive vice president and chief legal
officer, wrote in a Dec. 15 letter to the Sentinel: "Mr. Rokisky is not
the model citizen who appears on the pages of the Sentinel and the true
nature of his character invalidates the conclusions drawn from the
fictional persona."

Elaine Kramer, managing editor of the Sentinel, said the Rokisky story
represented only one aspect of the newspaper's series and was intended
to put a human face on the OxyContin story.

"That point about Mr. Rokisky was not known to the Sentinel at the
time of publication, and therefore was not in the human-interest story
that ran as part of 'Oxycontin Under Fire,' " Kramer said. "Purdue
Pharma brought the omission to the paper's attention, we carefully
examined the allegation, and this article shows our determination to
clarify the record."

Purdue is a defendant in hundreds of lawsuits nationwide. A number of
plaintiffs and their attorneys said Purdue routinely investigates the
backgrounds of people criticizing or suing the company.

"We know that Purdue has sent investigators to homes of plaintiffs,
their families, ex-spouses, neighbors and co-workers," said Douglas
McNamara, with the Washington, D.C.-based firm Cohen, Milstein,
Hausfeld & Toll. "I know of at least one plaintiff who dismissed her
case."

'False allegations'

Purdue spokesman Jim Heins said, "Through voluntary interviews with
potential witnesses who are not parties to our suits, we often learn
the truth. Once their false allegations are exposed, many plaintiffs
give up their claims."

The bulk of the Sentinel's series in October focused on medical
examiners' reports documenting that in 2001 and 2002, more Florida
residents died from oxycodone, the active ingredient in OxyContin and
other painkillers, than from heroin.

The series also spotlighted case histories of drug abusers as well as
pain patients who became addicted to OxyContin.

"It is also important to point out the larger record on the series,"
the Sentinel's Kramer said. "Here are some of the changes that have
occurred since we published: Gov. Jeb Bush promised to press
legislators for a prescription-tracking system during the upcoming
legislative session. A U.S. congressional panel decided to hold
hearings to investigate the growing numbers of OxyContin overdoses,
with its first hearing in Orlando. Investigators from the General
Accounting Office reported findings that Purdue Pharma extensively
marketed OxyContin and made unsubstantiated claims about its potential
for addiction while downplaying its risks.

"With those points in mind, the importance of our series speaks for
itself."

Records examined

After receiving Purdue's Dec. 15 letter, the newspaper examined New
Mexico police and court records and found some of Purdue's statements
about Rokisky to be inaccurate or incomplete.

Udell characterized Rokisky as a "criminal who both abused and
trafficked in illegal drugs," but neither of those allegations was
proved in the 1999 federal court case.

Udell stated that Rokisky had been convicted of drug trafficking.
Public records show that Rokisky was initially indicted on a charge of
drug trafficking, but that charge was later dropped. He pleaded guilty
in December 1999 to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In
April 2000 Rokisky was sentenced to six months of house arrest and
three years of probation, which included regular drug testing in a
substance abuse program.

Drug trafficking involves the actual handling and selling of drugs,
while conspiracy can reflect planning or having a more tangential
involvement in a drug deal.

That charge stemmed from a sting in April 1999 in which police and
court records say Rokisky introduced an undercover drug agent to a
woman who sold the agent cocaine. Rokisky was approached at a
fast-food restaurant by an undercover agent who asked for drugs.

"I said, 'I don't mess with that, but you can talk to so-and-so,' "
Rokisky recalled Thursday, referring to the woman who was later
convicted of conspiracy.

Rokisky said he later went to another restaurant, which he co-owned,
where the agent bought drugs from the woman.

Rokisky's co-defendant received a year of house arrest. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Larry Gomez in Albuquerque, who prosecuted the case, said
that he did not remember exact details but thought Rokisky's sentence
reflected the prosecution's agreement to Rokisky's claim that he had a
lesser role than the drug dealer.

Rokisky's attorney in the case has since died from
cancer.

Rokisky adamantly denies ever abusing drugs. He added that while he
was a police officer, a doctor prescribed steroids for an injury.

"I was a father at 19, I served in the military and I was a police
officer," Rokisky said. "I never abused drugs."

Rokisky, a former Army Airborne soldier and body builder, had been on
the Albuquerque police force from 1989 to 1997. His job included
stints as patrol officer, drug-education officer and undercover
investigator.

Charges dropped

Albuquerque police files indicate the investigation of Rokisky came
after border agents found steroids and Valium tablets in his car after
he and two passengers were stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border in June
1998. Rokisky said the drugs belonged to the passengers, and police
said the charges were dropped.

Around the same time, police and court records show that Rokisky was
going through a divorce and pleaded guilty to forgery after cashing
his police retirement check. Records show a friend signed the name of
Rokisky's ex-wife, who was entitled to part of the money. Today
Rokisky awaits sentencing. An April 2001 plea agreement suggested probation.

Rokisky moved to Florida in 1999, married and went to work for a
computer company. He said he became addicted to OxyContin and tried
unsuccessfully to detox himself as well as go through a traditional
detox procedure.

Records obtained by the Sentinel show he was screened for drugs during
an emergency-room visit in February 2003, in which he was suffering
from potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. That drug
screen showed only an anti-anxiety medication that had been
administered in the emergency room.

Dr. Rick Sponaugle, head of anesthesiology at the Helen Ellis Memorial
Hospital in Tarpon Springs, treated Rokisky for his OxyContin
addiction, including the rapid detox June 10, 2003.

"I don't do background searches on my patients, but he told me he was
in technology and had become addicted after being prescribed
OxyContin," Sponaugle said Wednesday.

Permission to share story

Rokisky gave Sponaugle and the Sentinel permission to share his
medical information and to tell his story. He said he hoped by sharing
his story that other OxyContin addicts would be encouraged to seek
help. He also shared his story on a Tampa-area radio and television
station.

Sponaugle, who said he detoxes more people from OxyContin than any
other substance, conducted a drug screen before Rokisky's
detoxification and said he remembers it showed only opiates, the class
of drugs that includes OxyContin.

After Rokisky finished his treatment, he went to work as an employee
of Sponaugle's, fielding patient calls and helping with the design of
Sponaugle's Florida Detox Web site. His employment ended in December.
Sponaugle said Rokisky had been a hard worker.

Rokisky said Friday he was frustrated and angry at Purdue's attempts
to discredit him.

"I would still do the [newspaper] series, though, because I know it
helped a lot of people," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin