DRUG NEEDS LIMITS

To people crippled with pain, the drug OxyContin, manufactured by Purdue
Pharma of Stamford, is a wonder drug, offering effective relief for hours
at a time.

But like just about everything else that is good, OxyContin has a dark
side. This is because the time-release tablets can easily be ground up and
snorted, like cocaine, for an effective high, and thereby defeat the
gradual-release feature of this painkiller.

This has resulted in a homegrown drug epidemic that had hit rural Eastern
states, from Maine to Appalachia, particularly hard. Armed robberies of
drug stores and emergency rooms have become commonplace, particularly in
Kentucky, where 59 deaths have been attributed to OxyContin.

Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has correctly
targeted Purdue Pharma for carrying most of the blame for this epidemic,
and for being the best hope for halting the out-of-control misuse of the
product.

Purdue Pharma has raked in $1.24 billion in sales for OxyContin in a
12-month period beginning in May 2000, thanks to the 6.9 million
prescriptions written for the drug, Clearly, many of these prescriptions
were intended either directly or indirectly for the illegal market.

A quick check on the Internet makes it clear that just about anyone can get
the product without having to go through the trouble of getting a prescription.

Blumenthal is asking Purdue to immediately limit distribution of the drug,
and, farther down the road, to reformulate the pill so it cannot be so
easily used to achieve a high. He's also asking Purdue to allocate a
portion of the profits to drug addiction treatment and abuse prevention
efforts.

We were disappointed that Purdue has not properly responded to Blumenthal's
legitimate concerns, and instead accused the attorney general of using a
harsh tone.

Purdue is clearly wrong on this one. The wonder pain reliever is causing a
good deal of pain itself, and Purdue must be held partially accountable for
abuse of its drug.