7-point plan fights OxyContin abuse

RICHMOND, Va. – Law enforcement officials from four states and the federal government met with the manufacturer of the painkiller OxyContin for about two hours Thursday to address the growing abuse of the drug.

The meeting, called by Virginia Attorney General Mark L. Earley after abuse of OxyContin resulted in at least 32 overdose deaths in the state, ended with Earley and Connecticut-based drug maker Purdue Pharma announcing a seven-point plan to fight drug abuse in the state.

The drug, a synthetic morphine used to treat moderate to severe pain in cancer patients and others, has become the illicit drug of choice in some areas, including Maine, with users grinding up tablets and snorting the powder or mixing the powder with water and injecting it. The effects are said to be like those produced by heroin.

“This particular drug is a wonder drug when used appropriately,” Earley said. “But when in the wrong hands, it is an agent of death and an agent of addiction.”

In the plan, Purdue Pharma will produce a series of educational programs for health care providers about prescription drug abuse and the appropriate use of OxyContin; produce another educational series targeted at teachers, students and parents; produce and distribute tamper-resistant prescription pads for areas of southwest Virginia where abuse is thought to be rampant; and spend $100,000 to pay for a study of prescription monitoring programs in Virginia.

Earley’s office also agreed to establish a task force made up of the medical community and law enforcement officials to study prescription drug abuse; ordered Virginia’s computer crimes strike force to investigate the illegal sale and distribution of drugs over the Internet; and announced creation by the National Association of Attorneys General of a group to focus on drug abuse nationwide.

Officials from West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Kentucky also attended the meeting, along with officials from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Representatives from Tennessee, Indiana and Pennsylvania were invited but did not attend.

OxyContin abuse, so far, has mostly been concentrated in small areas, officials said, although they said they are uncertain why that is the case. But with growing coverage of its abuse, Earley and others said it is reasonable to expect the abuse to grow.

“Any time you have a drug that appears to be replacing other drugs on the street as the drug of choice, you can anticipate that it will spread unless action is taken,” he said.

Earley and Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. both praised Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma for its quick response to their concerns and those of other state officials.

“It’s a balance,” said Purdue Pharma’s senior medical director of health policy, Dr. J. David Haddox. “This drug does have an abuse potential, as do all strong pain medications. And it has an absolutely essential role as well.

“We have to teach doctors and pharmacists and nurses to walk that line to get the right patient the right medication for the right reason.”

Curran said he also has concerns that abuse of the drug will make some health care providers less inclined to prescribe it for fear their decision will be closely scrutinized.

“Where there is pain that can be relieved, we want it to be relieved,” Curran said.

Haddox said that while the negative publicity surrounding OxyContin was not desirable, the opportunity to address prescription drug abuse with physicians and educate others in the community was valuable.

“We’re seeing this as a real opportunity to get the message out,” Haddox said. “This drug has life-affirming and lifesaving properties in some people, and life-destroying properties in others.”