I read the latest e-bulletin summary regarding pharmaceutical companies creating an addiction resistant version of a popular pain medication. The article [Pain Meds Reformulated to Prevent Addiction, 3/22/2007] stated:

"A recent meeting on prescription drug addiction organized by the National Institute on Drug Abuse included information on Remoxy, an abuse-resistant version of oxycodone being developed by Pain Therapeutics Inc. Remoxy is a gelatin version of the drug that, unlike OxyContin, can't be crushed and then snorted or injected. The drug is currently in late-stage clinical trials."

I thought the companies were trying to accomplish that with the transdermal patch version that was prescribed to my brother?

Although this gelatin idea may seem and appear wonderful, addicts will still "cook it down" and inject it anyway as that is what they presently do with the transdermal patches. My brother died two years ago from an overdose.

I do hope the pharmaceutical companies take this into consideration as they develop these new products. It would be a shame to have the appearance of helping the situation while only making it worse for those individuals addicted to what I understood to be an "end of life drug" (for those with terminal -and very painful- illnesses). When people are getting stronger medications because the present level of pain relieving drug is not enough, the focus should be on fixing the reason for the pain and not masking it further.

Veli-Martti Rautio
Pembroke, Ontario