A PAINFUL ABUSE

Addicts' Use Hurts Legitimate Patients, Too

A sad irony stems from the wide abuse of the painkiller OxyContin, a
powerful prescription medication that has earned the unfortunate moniker
"Hillbilly heroin" because of its growing use by addicts in Appalachia.

Not only can the narcotic kill those who abuse it, but its burgeoning
illegal use has made physicians wary of prescribing it, even to patients
with legitimate, debilitating pain problems.

A story in The Dispatch last week reported that people such as Sally
Royster, a Cincinnati-area resident whose chronic back pain leaves her
unable to walk, have been told that their doctors no longer will prescribe
the drug because it has come under too much scrutiny.

The drug is preferred over some other painkillers because, when used as
prescribed, it is released steadily over 12 hours and has fewer side
effects. Most strong pain medicines last only four hours.

Concern over its effects are valid: OxyContin and oxycodone, the drug's
active ingredient, have been linked to more than 100 deaths across the country.

Pharmacies have been robbed for the medication, which, when chewed, crushed
and snorted or injected, produces a heroin-like high.

As a result, some states have moved to limit either distribution of
OxyContin or the amount of the drug patients may receive without approval.

But at a time when the medical field is being criticized and asked to
better address peoples' need for pain management, cutting off access to
OxyContin for legitimate patients would be needlessly harsh.

As The Dispatch has noted, a Brown University study published recently in
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that more than 40
percent of patients in nursing homes nationwide who suffered moderate or
excruciating pain did not get treatment that brought them relief.

At the same time, advocates such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and
the American Pain Society have been urging doctors to do more to relieve
children's pain from injuries, illnesses and medical procedures.

Controls against abuse of OxyContin certainly ought to be considered, but
now is not the time to remove a proven weapon for fighting pain from those
who truly need it. Doing so would be a serious misfire in the war on drugs,
and yield unintended casualties among what amount to innocent -- and
suffering bystanders.