OxyContin Maker Urged to Alter Practices August 9, 2001
News Summary
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called on the Stamford, Conn.-based Purdue Pharma to "completely overhaul and reform" its marketing and distribution of OxyContin, the Associated Press reported Aug. 6."Very bluntly, initiatives must move beyond cosmetic and symbolic steps to deal directly with alarming and growing diversion, abuse, fraud, robbery, and other law-breaking spawned by the present system of distribution," Blumenthal wrote in a letter to the company.
Blumenthal further urged the company to devote a portion of its profits to treatment and rehabilitation of those addicted to the painkiller.
OxyContin has been blamed for numerous overdoses and more than 100 deaths throughout the country. Those who misuse the drug crush the pill and snort or inject it to produce a quick, heroin-like high.
Officials at Purdue Pharma said they would meet with Blumenthal next week. While the company would not comment on Blumenthal's specific proposals, officials said they disagreed with the "tone and content" of the letter.
"He knows that Purdue Pharma is making substantive efforts to address the problem of prescription-drug abuse and to ensure that patients continue to have access to the best pain medications available," said a statement from Purdue Pharma. "We are concerned that the harsh tone of his letter will cause alarm among pain patients in Connecticut whose medical care would be compromised by some of the restrictive proposals he suggests."
COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE: