Pubdate: Wed, 15 Jun 2005
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

U.S. INVESTIGATES OXYCONTIN MAKER

The U.S. Attorney's Office In Roanoke Is Looking Into Purdue Pharma's
Marketing

ROANOKE -- Purdue Pharma, maker of the painkiller OxyContin, is the
focus of a federal investigation into the marketing of the
prescription drug, the company said.

"Purdue has total confidence in the honesty and integrity of its
officers and directors and is cooperating in that investigation,"
Purdue Pharma spokesman Tim Bannon told The Roanoke Times. "We are
aware of nothing that should reasonably lead to charges as a result of
this investigation."

Bannon said the company first learned of the investigation in December
2002.

The U.S. attorney's office in Roanoke would not comment Monday, citing
the office's policy of neither confirming nor denying a continuing
investigation.

The company's marketing practices have been criticized in the past.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of
Congress, released a report last year that noted that some company
sales representatives received large bonuses for targeting selected
doctors. The amount of bonuses the company rewarded to its sales force
grew from $1 million in 1996, the year OxyContin hit the market, to
$40 million in 2001, according to the report.

Purdue Pharma changed part of its policy regarding bonuses four years
ago after a meeting with federal authorities in Roanoke, the report
stated.

Last year, 37 people died from oxycodone overdoses in the western half
of Virginia, according to Dr. William Massello, assistant chief
medical examiner.

OxyContin was initially hailed as a breakthrough in the treatment of
severe chronic pain when it was introduced in 1996. The drug, however,
has become a problem in recent years after users discovered that
crushing the time-release tablets and snorting or injecting the powder
yields an immediate, heroin-like high.

Purdue Pharma, based in Stamford, Conn., has been named in hundreds of
lawsuits for its marketing of OxyContin, but many have been dismissed.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin