By now, just about everyone has heard about the abuse of a little pill called OxyContin. But another drug has been creeping stealthily into the region's small towns, mountain valleys and pastoral farms, and with little fanfare. It is methamphetamine -- a manmade super stimulant cooked up in illegal laboratories in homes, barns and garages. It leaves behind enough toxic waste to sicken neighbors and poison the environment for years. Users refer to it as crank, speed, meth, ice or crystal meth. [continues 1337 words]
The Bristol Virginia fire hall became an extension of the city's jail Thursday night when it served as the base of operations for the culmination of a drug sting dubbed "Operation Combined Effort." One by one, drug suspects were brought in, fingerprinted, photographed, processed and then taken to the jail. The seven-month investigation resulted in 60 charges against 32 people, according to Bristol Virginia Police Chief Bill Price. It was named for the cooperation between law enforcement agencies, including the BVPD, the city Sheriff's Office, the Bristol Tennessee Police Department, the Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Agency, the police chief said. [continues 534 words]
A series of programs -- many designed to assist young people -- are among the most visible signs of progress for the Weed and Seed program established last year in a Bristol Tennessee neighborhood. The program has helped put in place a new satellite location for the Boys and Girls Club and opened a community policing office inside Anderson Elementary School, according to police Maj. Mike Yaniero. A program coordinator has also been hired and a regular series of meetings aimed at getting feedback from the community has been scheduled, he added. [continues 797 words]
ABINGDON -- A federal judge sentenced a Lee County man Thursday to more than 36 years in prison for illegally dealing in the potent narcotic OxyContin. It is believed to be the stiffest sentence to date for a crime involving the drug, federal prosecutors said. "This is a victory for the community," U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee said after court. "Any time you take a dealer like this off the street Ö it's a major victory." Brownlee admitted the sentence was hefty, but said it was warranted because drugs and guns are a deadly combination. He said his office will continue to fight OxyContin abuse and its illegal distribution at every level. [continues 455 words]
ABINGDON -- A lawsuit against the makers of the popular and potent painkiller OxyContin will not go forward as a class action, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. As he made that ruling, U.S. District Judge James Jones conceded it could affect the legal rights of hundreds or even thousands of people who believed the lawsuit was protecting their interests. "There are persons whose interests are being litigated who are not present and are not represented by a lawyer," the judge said. "Their fate rides on that of others who are represented." [continues 533 words]
Several bills of interest to Southwest Virginia have been moving through the state General Assembly in recent weeks. Lawmakers in the House of Delegates and the Senate also have been getting ready for crossover day on Tuesday, the point in the legislative session at which bills approved in one house are sent to the other for review. One bill, submitted by Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, would create a statewide database to allow authorities to track possible abuse of prescription drugs such as the powerful painkiller OxyContin. [continues 347 words]
Curbing abuse of the powerful painkiller OxyContin is the aim of legislation introduced by a Southwest Virginia lawmaker. Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, said Thursday the bill was requested by the state's incoming attorney general, Jerry Kilgore, a Scott County native who is to be sworn in on Saturday. OxyContin is a potent time-release narcotic that's become popular among drug abusers who crush and snort it. Abuse of the drug has resulted in the overdose deaths of scores of people in Southwest Virginia, Kentucky and Northeast Tennessee. [continues 327 words]
Purdue Pharma will soon begin human testing of a reformulated version of its potent and controversial painkiller oxycontin, a drug company representative said monday in bristol. The company is testing additives that would take away the drug's heroin-like high when it is misused by abusers, who crush the pills and inject or snort it, said Dr. J. David Haddox, a Purdue spokesman. "We hope to have an entire line of abuse-resistant drugs," Haddox said. "We don't want abusers to dictate medical care for everyone else. That is my biggest concern." [continues 437 words]
The 44-year-old Libertarian Party candidate said his bid for election is aimed at promoting his party and publicizing the need for electoral reform. "I'm not satisfied with two major political parties, and a lot of other people aren't, either," Redpath said Friday during a visit to the Bristol Herald Courier. "We need to have a change in our election process." He proposes the implementation of "instant runoff voting," in which voters would rank all of the candidates in a race in order of preference. [continues 290 words]
Several neighborhoods on the west side of Bristol Tennessee are being targeted for improvement through a five-year federal grant program, city officials said Monday. The city has received a $175,000 federal ``Weed and Seed'' grant designed to ``weed out crime and drugs'' and ``seed'' human services, Vice Mayor Trish Bane said during a Monday afternoon news conference. And the city will receive an additional $225,000 during each of the next four years through a program administered by the Department of Justice. [continues 297 words]
Officers hit the streets Tuesday night to arrest 33 people in the final stage of the Bristol Virginia Police Department's "Operation Rx" drug sting. "We have made undercover drug purchases from all these people ... in the last several months," Maj. Greg Baker said Tuesday afternoon. "They were indicted through a grand jury today. This will be their first inclination that they are in trouble." Forty city and state police officers paired up and were given arrest packets containing personal information on and photos of those they were assigned to pick up. Cruisers left the parking lot of a city elementary school at about 5:30 p.m. and returned one by one throughout the night -- either with the alleged drug offenders or with empty back seats. "We basically do it as a sweep-type operation. [continues 547 words]
To the editor: Anyone who follows OxyContin's destructive path throughout the country (more than 25 states are reporting problems) can't help but be alarmed. The only thing more alarming is the response of Purdue Pharma, the drug's manufacturer. Purdue has assembled a four-person public relations team to put out the fire. The team, led by Dr. David Haddox, senior medical director, is seeking to prove that the death toll from OxyContin overdoses isn't as high as reported. One can't help but wonder: What, in Dr. Haddox's view, would be an acceptable number of deaths? Purdue is on a mission to treat untreated or under-treated pain, certainly a worthwhile mission. But the company went into "overdrive" in pursuit of its goal and soon created even more pain, devastating pain, to individuals, families and entire communities. The company may not have been prepared for this, but it should have been. Had Purdue not over-promoted the benefits and utility of OxyContin, the results might have been very different. Recalling the drug and reformulating it to lessen its abuse potential would be the responsible thing to do. Alternative drugs for severe chronic pain are already on the market, as many medical professionals will attest. There are no alternatives once a life has been extinguished by the drug. Purdue is no stranger to warnings from the FDA. From 1993 to 1996, the company received repeated warnings from the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications, concerning its promotional materials for another of its drugs, MS Contin. A final warning letter in November 1996, written directly to Purdue's president, Raymond R. Sackler, MD, for the company repeatedly disseminating materials that contain unsupported claims that MS Contin is superior to other analgesics concludes, "Failure to respond to this letter may result in regulatory action, including seizure and//or injunction, without further notice." On May 11, 2000, the FDA released a letter from DDMAC which identified an advertisement for OxyContin by Purdue Pharma in the /{New England Journal of Medicine/} titled, "Proven Effective In Arthritis Pain." The letter warned that this ad was misleading as to the drug's effectiveness and did not properly disclose risk information. While profit maximization may be a legitimate corporate goal, there are ethical restraints that bind all corporations in a free society as to how that goal may be achieved. Among them is concern that the patient's health may not be unduly put at risk. Beth Davies St. Charles, Va. [end]
BLOUNTVILLE -- Sullivan County authorities and police across the Virginia line in neighboring Scott County have seized marijuana plants this week as summer eradication efforts hit high gear. In helicopters and on the ground, authorities are probing the rolling hills and valleys of the region for the illegal weed, which is cured and smoked like tobacco. By far, the most plants -- more than 3,800 of them worth an estimated $3 million -- were seized in Scott County, authorities said. "We had several choppers in the air," Scott County sheriff's Investigator Terry Sivert said of a joint effort among the Sheriff's Office, the Virginia State Police, the Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force and the Army National Guard. [continues 282 words]
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., is asking the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee to hold a hearing to address what he called an emerging crisis of OxyContin abuse. In a letter sent to Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the committee chairman, Warner said the seriousness of OxyContin abuse, and the important medical benefits of the painkiller when appropriately prescribed, are reasons the committee should undertake a careful review of the issues. "OxyContin is a profoundly addictive central-nervous-system depressant that was hailed as a miracle pain reliever for chronic pain or terminal illness suffers when it first became available in 1996," Warner said. "Clearly, though, the benefits that the drug provides to patients also make it a target for abuse." Forty-three known OxyContin-related deaths have occurred in Virginia, Warner said. [continues 194 words]
It's good to hear that a two-day symposium this week that focused heavily on the legal and social effects of OxyContin abuse probably won't be the last. And it's equally good to hear that the next one, if it's held, will deal with treating and rehabilitating those already addicted. Certainly it's imperative to find ways of stemming the "epidemic" of OxyContin addiction, as it's being called. The narcotic painkiller, intended for those suffering severe, chronic pain, has been blamed for more than two dozen deaths in the region, a wave of drug-related crime and untold human suffering among those who abuse it. But it's no less important to find ways of helping those who have already fallen prey to OxyContin and other drugs. Whether you believe the problem lies with the powerful painkiller itself or with the people who use it, there must be ways to help them overcome the addiction. And until they've done so, the suffering won't be over for them or for others. [end]
ABINGDON -- A substance-abuse conference that focused heavily on the narcotic painkiller OxyContin wrapped up on Thursday, and officials said it likely will not be the last. Much of the two-day conference dealt with the legal and social effects of the abuse of the drug, a time-release formulation of OxyCodone that can be deadly when snorted or injected. It has been blamed for more than two dozen overdose deaths in the region and about 100 nationwide. A second conference on OxyContin abuse -- termed epidemic by local authorities -- likely will be held to consider treatment and rehabilitation, according to officials of the Virginia Department of Social Services. [continues 630 words]
ABINGDON -- Social workers said they found a 4-year-old Southwest Virginia girl earlier this year in a roach-infested trailer, her 20-year-old aunt dead in a bathtub of an OxyContin overdose. The girl's mother lay nearby, passed out from abuse of the same prescription painkiller. After the state removed the girl and put her in foster care, her mother agreed to rehabilitation. But she later died in rehab from an overdose of methadone and other drugs. Two young adults dead and a little girl in foster care. Welcome to the world of illegal OxyContin use as seen by area social workers. At least 32 people died last year in Southwest Virginia from illegal OxyContin use, Virginia State Police 1st Sgt. Landon Gibbs told a substance abuse conference Wednesday at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. State Police Special Agent Steve Matney said Tazewell County probably leads the region in illegal OxyContin trafficking and use, followed by Buchanan and Russell counties. But authorities said illegal OxyContin is available throughout the region, even in the form of high-potency pills the manufacturer no longer sells. "Over the past year and a half, we have seen a rise in the numbers of Child Protective Services complaints we are getting," said Mary Adams-Norris of the Virginia Department of Social Services. "We can directly relate them to substance abuse." She said social services reports have increased 30 percent to 40 percent in Southwest Virginia this year, with 40 percent to 50 percent of all cases related to substance abuse. Tom Fritz, director of the department's western region, said that was why the conference, funded by a federal grant, was organized. [continues 460 words]
ABINGDON -- After 16 hours of deliberations over three days, a federal jury found a Bland County physician guilty Tuesday of 266 counts of illegally prescribing narcotic painkillers, including OxyContin. Dr. Freeman Lowell Clark, 43, displayed no emotion as the judge read the verdicts, but his family and friends gasped in disbelief. After court adjourned, Clark calmly hugged his family and kissed his fiancee, Mary Sivert, before federal marshals led him from the courtroom. Clark could face up to 15 years in prison when sentenced later this year, prosecutors said. Defense attorneys argued against jailing Clark until sentencing, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer said federal bond law requires drug offenders to be held in custody. [continues 365 words]
BLUFF CITY -- Eight Tri-Cities residents face federal drug charges after being arrested under sealed indictments by agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency, authorities said. Four states are involved in the investigation, which still was ongoing Tuesday. DEA agents, working the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, Bluff City police and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, made the arrests during a series of raids that began June 28. "DEA Special Agent Brian Snedegar testified that several items including chemicals, glassware and tubing consistent with a methamphetamine lab were seized," said Eric Hurt, an assistant U.S. attorney in Abingdon. Those items were found inside a house at 308 Cedar St., Hurt said. A hazardous materials team was called in, and the house was sealed. [continues 427 words]
ABINGDON -- A federal jury began deliberating Friday afternoon in the case of a Bland County doctor accused of illegally prescribing narcotic painkillers hundreds of times to drug-addicted patients. The jury had been considering the evidence for less than two hours when U.S. District Judge James Jones adjourned court for the day and ordered the panel to return Monday morning. During the nearly two-week trial, Dr. Freeman Lowell Clark contended he was trying to ease his patients' chronic pain when he prescribed the narcotics, but prosecutors portrayed him as a well-dressed drug dealer. [continues 547 words]
