OXYCONTIN MAKER TRIES SAFEGUARD

ROANOKE, Va. -- A senior medical official for drugmaker Purdue Pharma LP
said Thursday the company is experimenting with a chemical safeguard to
combat abuse of its potent painkiller OxyContin.

Dr. J. David Haddox told a state task force on drug abuse that Purdue
Pharma has been working to reformulate OxyContin with naloxone, which is
used in Talwin NX and other painkillers.

"This idea has sort of been on the shelf for a while," Haddox said.

Since it was introduced in 1995, OxyContin has been blamed for more than
100 deaths nationwide, and addicts or street suppliers have robbed
pharmacies to get at the drug.

Purdue, based in Stamford, Conn., has been criticized by the Drug
Enforcement Administration and others for not being more aggressive in
reformulating its top-selling painkiller with naloxone when abuse became a
problem.

Naloxone, a narcotic antagonist, has been combined with other opiates since
the 1980s to deter intravenous abusers.

Purdue has said it decided against using naloxone because there were
concerns it could induce withdrawal or create a "ceiling" effect. Such a
drug would not increase in potency past a certain point, even if a patient
takes higher and higher doses.

On Thursday, Haddox contradicted earlier statements, saying a naloxone
reformulation was in the works, and in fact it could be available sooner
than another new formula Purdue announced earlier this month.

That pill, which Purdue dubbed a "smart pill" has yet to be named and would
not be available for at least three years. It would destroy its own
narcotic ingredients if crushed into a powder and snorted or injected --
the typical manner in which OxyContin currently is abused.

Haddox did not know if Purdue has applied for a patent on the reformulated
drug, or how much progress company scientists have had in developing the
naloxone formula. Other Purdue officials could not be reached Thursday for
comment.

At the task force meeting, law enforcement officials in some of Virginia's
hardest hit areas said OxyContin abuse is leveling off.

"Prices have gone up on the street," said Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons.
"We're seeing more Lortabs and Tylox and other prescription drugs now. Some
people just can't afford OxyContin."

The task force -- comprised of police, prosecutors, doctors, pharmacists
and lawmakers -- compiled a draft list of recommendations to further combat
prescription drug abuse. The list includes a prescription monitoring
program, distribution of tamper-resistant prescription pads to doctors and
fingerprinting kits to pharmacists.

While some parts of Virginia have had success combating OxyContin and
oxycodone abuse, Attorney General Randolph A. Beales said it remains a
challenge nationally.

"It's now going everywhere," said Beales, who recently attended a national
meeting on prescription drug abuse. "It's spreading into the Midwest and
the far West."