Pubdate: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 Source: Eagle-Tribune, The (MA) Copyright: 2005 The Eagle-Tribune Contact: http://www.eagletribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/129 Author: Claude R. Marx Referenced: Index -- Special On Opiate Use (Eagle-Tribune) -- http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n042/a06.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) POLICING PRESCRIPTIONS BOSTON -- When children died after misusing their product and a prominent talk show host entered treatment because of his addiction to it and other painkillers, the manufacturers of OxyContin fell back on an age-old strategy: The best defense is a good offense. Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma has been doing an extensive advertising campaign, funding drug-awareness programs and sending people to speak at public events, all reinforcing the message that the product is generally safe and effective if used properly. Marketing and health-care policy experts say it is a risky, though necessary, approach for preserving the viability of a product that had $1.6 billion in worldwide sales last year. "They are very aggressive in protecting their right to market their product, and early on they felt it wasn't their responsibility to combat illegal uses of their product. They have focused on promoting the product as filling an important need, pain control. Their attitude has been, 'We are only doing this as a public service. We don't have to,'" said Steven Henson, a marketing professor at Western Carolina University in North Carolina. Just this week, company officials were in the Merrimack Valley speaking at a townwide meeting Thursday in North Andover, sponsored by Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, and meeting with newspaper editorial boards. The meeting and a recent series of articles by the Eagle-Tribune Publishing Co. have focused on the increased use of OxyContin and heroin in Essex County in recent years. Last year, there were at least 39 fatal drug overdoses in Essex County. Executives came from corporate headquarters in Stamford, Conn. They also hired a Boston-based public relations firm to establish better local contacts and have done similar things elsewhere. "We are trying a lot of ways to address the problem," said company spokesman C.R. Hogen. "We have had an approach of full engagement with all sectors of society, including community and law enforcement officials and health-care professionals." OxyContin is a synthetic opiate. The prescription pill, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1995, has been popular with those suffering from cancer and other illnesses that cause severe pain. Some people, primarily teenagers, have abused the drug by removing its time-release coating to get an immediate "rush" or "high." Adults, including conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, have become hooked on it and other painkillers when they have been trying to find ways to deal with pain. The need sometimes gets so severe that patients resort to "doctor shopping" and try to get prescriptions from several physicians. To combat this abuse, Purdue Pharma's outreach efforts have included a $35,000 grant to Massachusetts Department of Public Safety in 2002 to set up a tips line for people to call in information about pharmacy robberies. Also, the company provides $500,000 to help fund "Communities That Care" programs in 20 cities throughout the country, including Lynn. These are programs designed to help community leaders identify the risk factors that lead to substance abuse and other problem behaviors. They expect to award another 10 grants this year, including one in Massachusetts, Hogen said. The company ran about $2 million worth of public service advertisements on local television stations and newspapers in 15 media markets. It ran a $150,000 radio campaign, which often took a humorous approach. One such ad said: "It's hard to make new friends, especially if you are someone who frequently vomits." The company also has set up a Web site to educate people about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs: www.painfullyobvious.com. Jane Williamson, the program director of CAB Health and Recovery Services in Danvers, said advertising won't necessarily make an impact on teenagers' drug-abuse habits. "The kids are getting it out of their parents' medicine cabinets; they are not buying it because they see ads. They do it because it feels good to them. They don' realize how addicting it is until they are addicted," she said. The company's advertising and marketing response is appropriate, but they also need to improve the product, said Leonard Glantz, a professor of health law at Boston University's School of Public Health. "Manufacturers are required to foresee the wrongful use of a product. Once they know a product is being abused, they have an obligation to do something about it without changing the essence of a product. All opiates are addictive. What makes OxyContin effective is that is time-released. The problems come when the pill is crushed, and that's what the company needs to deal with," he said. Hogen said that they are working on a "smart pill" that when swallowed acts like a pain reliever, but when crushed its pain-relieving properties are disabled. He said he could not predict when Purdue Pharma would be ready to submit the drug to the Food and Drug Administration for approval. Purdue Pharma's public relations challenge is not unique these days. Last week, the drug manufacturer Eli Lilly & Co. launched an extensive newspaper advertising campaign throughout the country to counter a report in a British health journal linking the company's anti-depressant drug Prozac and increased risk of suicide attempts. Some industry critics, such as health-care policy scholar Myron Fottler, said the advertising campaigns are an insufficient response to a serious public-safety problem. "I'd be impressed if they'd withdraw the controversial product from the market and do more evaluation on their effects. But they are not there to impress me; they are there to sell their products," said Fottler, a professor of health services administration at the University of Central Florida in Tampa. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth