OxyContin: A godsend for patients or new way to get high?

In a battle of lawsuits, class action files and petitions, the medical ramifications of a popular drug market commodity are now being contested.

And it's not marijuana.

The substance at the center of the storm is called OxyContin.

Known as "Oxys" or "OCs" by users, the drug is intended for the relief of severe pain. The pills are designed to be swallowed whole, but when users crush OxyContin - often snorting or injecting them - all 12 hours worth of oxycodone hydrochloride are released into the bloodstream at once, creating an intense high.

Although the drug has not yet made a significant presence on Grounds, OxyContin abuse is increasing nationwide.

Criticism of OxyContin has been rampant. The drug's manufacturer, Purdue Pharma L.P., is fielding complaints from litigants who believe strict limitations must be imposed on the drug, or even taken off the market altogether. Many pharmacies refuse to stock the drug following a surge of drugstore robberies. In Florida, Ohio, Maine, South Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia, limits have been placed on the number of pills that can be prescribed for people on Medicaid, the state-federal health program, so that doctors may not be able to increase dosages for patients who need stronger relief. In Virginia, a case of manslaughter has been brought against a doctor who prescribed the drug, and former Attorney General Mark L. Earley urged for increased OxyContin restriction during last fall's election.

"Many politicians have twisted this into a campaign issue," Purdue Spokeswoman Merle Spiegel said. "And most legal cases want money."

Spiegel said the filers of such lawsuits often confuse physical dependency with addiction.

"You will become physically dependent on OxyContin," she said. "You can become physically dependent on coffee. But addiction is a disease."

Abuse is widespread among young people - high school and college age, as might be expected. Many abusers mix OxyContin with other prescription drugs and alcohol, making for a lethal combination.

"The real danger is when it's mixed with other things, including alcohol," Spiegel said. "This combination is responsible for most of the deaths associated with the product, not OxyContin alone."

Proposed restrictions on OxyContin include limiting the drug's consumers to cancer patients, and its distribution to central pharmacies.

Spiegel said such policies do not take into account the other conditions relieved by OxyContins, including severe arthritis and back pain. She also said it is a disservice to patients if the drug is limited to a few select pharmacies per state.

"We are fighting this because it makes access harder for pain patients," she said. This is especially relevant for OxyContin consumers, who may struggle in traveling long distances because of their physical ailments, she added.

Currently, only patients with a written prescription from a doctor may obtain the drug. These prescriptions cannot be called in by the doctor, nor can the prescription exceed a month without being reissued.

"It's hard enough to get this drug," Spiegel said.

Rather than limit access to OxyContins, Purdue has developed alternative solutions for abuse. A tamper-resistant prescription pad program already exists in 22 states, including Virginia, that allows any doctor to order, at no cost, special prescription pads that cannot be tampered with - another way people have been diverting the medication. These pads utilize the same technology to guard against photocopying, erasing or bleaching them to change what was originally written on them. If people attempt such alterations, the word "void" appears on the pad, as with Travelers Checks or other secure documents. Ten thousand such pads already have been distributed to doctors around the country.

The company also is underwriting a study of prescription monitoring programs aimed at an effective method to prevent prescription fraud, funding public service announcements, and is developing new forms of analgesics that would be resistant to abuse, among other efforts.

While college students often take the illegal use of pharmaceutical drugs lightly, Dean of Students Penny Rue said she believes the problem cannot be overlooked.

"Abuse of prescription drugs is very dangerous," Rue said. "They're controlled for a reason."

While misuse of OxyContin has not appeared prevalent at the University, Rue said its exploitation parallels that of Ritalin, which has indeed been a problem on Grounds.

"If the issue comes to our attention, we will work with individual students," Rue added.

Third-year Engineering student Jenny Murrill, Chair of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team, said she is concerned by the perception that only certain hard drugs are considered unsafe.

"When you say 'drugs,' people automatically think of heroin or crack," Murrill said. "Anytime you put something in your body with the intention to escape, you lose control of your actions. There can be terrible consequences."

First-year medical student Adam Lackey, a former ADAPT officer, said he believes OxyContin is a drug that should be taken seriously.

"OxyContins are similar to morphine," Lackey said. "It's an opioid."

He added that students should understand OxyContin falls in the same category as hard drugs.

Despite the dangers of OxyContin when misused, Lackey said he believes the drug should remain on the market.

"It's a wonder drug. It would be a shame to say that you can't give it to anybody," he added.

In the Hartford Courant, Alen J. Salerian, a medical director of the Washington Psychiatric Center, said OxyContin limitations would be unfortunate.

"Ultimately, neither physicians nor drug companies are law enforcement agencies," Salerian said in the article. "Demanding that physicians or drug makers take over the job of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal, state and local police agencies is like demanding that car makers police roads to stop speeders, or that computer makers police cyberspace to stop computer crime."

He said when used properly, OxyContin is an extremely beneficial drug."For many of my own patients stricken with debilitating pain, OxyContin has been a godsend," Salerian added. "We shouldn't punish these pain victims any further. Depriving these long-suffering people of the medication they need would be a crime."

When push comes to shove, there is skepticism that restrictions ultimately would make a difference.

"OxyContin is basically the drug de jour when it comes to abuse," Spiegel said. "There were many preceding it, and many will follow."

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