ARRESTS HEIGHTEN BATTLE OVER PAINKILLER

In the first case of its kind in North Jersey, authorities have
accused two employees of the manufacturer of OxyContin of possessing
a cache of the powerful painkiller, which is becoming increasingly
popular on the black market because of its heroin-like effects.

Kevin Payne, 30, of West Paterson and Wayne Bullock, 35, of Paterson
work for PF Laboratories in Totowa, which is the manufacturing arm of
Purdue Pharma, the company that developed and patented OxyContin.

The arrests come as Purdue Pharma is battling several lawsuits
alleging that overprescription of OxyContin has led to crime,
addiction, and death.

"At this point, all I can say is that we cannot comment on an ongoing
investigation," said Jim Heins of Purdue Pharma, which is based in
Stamford, Conn. "I have to refer all questions to the Passaic County
Prosecutor's Office."

Senior Assistant Passaic County Prosecutor Salvatore Bellomo would
not say where authorities believe the men got the prescription drug,
citing an ongoing investigation. Payne had less than half an ounce
and Bullock had more than half an ounce, said Bellomo, who would not
say how many pills that was.

OxyContin is produced in pills ranging from 10 to 160 milligrams.
Half an ounce is about 14 grams, or 1,400 milligrams.

OxyContin contains the opiate derivative oxycodone, also found in the
painkillers Percocet and Percodan. It is reserved for patients with
chronic and severe pain.

Abuse of the painkiller first exploded in rural Maine and Appalachia
because of those regions' poor economies, a scarcity of cocaine and
heroin, and large populations of elderly people who use the drug to
relieve the pain of cancer, arthritis, and other illnesses.

"I wouldn't say it's the most available diverted drug now in this
state. There's a huge supply of heroin around here," said Ken Hess,
bureau chief for narcotics and organized crime for the New Jersey
State Police. "In your rural areas, you don't have the heroin
distribution retail networks."

OxyContin's warning label says the drug may be habit-forming, and
that those who are prescribed the drug develop a tolerance to it.

If taken properly, OxyContin is released slowly into the body,
delivering relief over a long period. Abusers, however, crush the
pills and inhale or inject the powder to get the same kind of
euphoric high brought on by heroin. OxyContin has been linked to at
least 120 overdose deaths nationwide.

Last year, Purdue Pharma suspended shipment of its highest-dosage tablets.

"Even though there have been few reports of diversion of the 160mg
tablets, Purdue is concerned about the possibility of illicit use of
tablets of such high strength," the company said in a statement after
the suspension.

Purdue Pharma is one of a number of drug companies founded by the
owners of the former Napp chemical plant in Lodi, which exploded in
1995, killing five workers. The company's Web site states that
OxyContin is its most successful product, with annual sales exceeding
$500 million.

Lawsuits in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia have been
filed against Purdue Pharma. Many of the suits claim the drug was
deceptively marketed and overprescribed, leading to death and
black-market crime. A New England supermarket chain announced
Wednesday that it would stop stocking OxyContin in its pharmacies
after armed robbers held up employees for some of the drug.

Despite the lawsuits, a Purdue Pharma spokesman told a Kentucky
newspaper this week that the company has no plans to pull OxyContin
from the legitimate market.

"We want the many thousands of patients in Kentucky receiving pain
relief from OxyContin tablets to rest assured that nothing in this
case, or in any other case, will cause us to abandon them or deter us
from making sure our drug is available to them," said Heins.

Heins said Purdue Pharma's promotion of OxyContin has been legal,
conservative, and responsible, and that the company has worked with
police and others to cut abuse of the drug.

Payne and Bullock were charged June 28 with possession of OxyContin
and possession with intent to distribute it.

Bellomo said he did not release the arrest information immediately
because it might have hurt the investigation.

"We have an active ongoing investigation. What is or is not going on
at [PF Laboratories], I'm not at liberty to talk about at this time,"
he said.

A representative of PF Laboratories did not return telephone calls
for comment Thursday.

Payne was being held on $25,000 bail Thursday in the Passaic County
Jail in Paterson. Bullock has been released, authorities said.
Although the arrests were the first of their kind in North Jersey,
there have been at least three other arrests related to OxyContin in
New Jersey over the past year.

In June, Union County officials arrested a Cranford man suspected of
possessing as many as 4,000 pills. Gloucester County authorities
arrested 14 people who allegedly forged prescriptions to get 8,000
tablets and submitted claims to insurers for reimbursement. And in
Ocean County, a nurse from Toms River was charged with stealing
11,000 pills over a 14-month period.

OxyContin sells on the street for up to $1 per milligram, authorities say.

Responding to the rise in OxyContin abuse, the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration in May announced a national strategy to combat the
problem. The agency said it will step up law enforcement efforts at
both the local and national levels to intercept illicit supplies of
the drug and to limit avenues used to illegally obtain the painkiller.

As part of this effort, the DEA has asked Purdue Pharma to allow only
physicians who regularly treat patients suffering from chronic pain
to write prescriptions for OxyContin. Many abusers of the drug obtain
it by posing as pain sufferers and conning unsuspecting physicians to
write a prescription.

The DEA's tactic has attracted criticism from some in the medical
community as well as patients, who complain about Draconian methods.
Some have argued that too few doctors in the United States specialize
in pain treatment to make the move effective without penalizing
legitimate users suffering medical ailments.

In New Jersey, the DEA's Newark office is planning a September
conference for law enforcement and public health officials from
southwestern New Jersey, an area adjacent to Philadelphia, where
OxyContin abuse has recently risen. The conference will focus on the
abuse of prescription drugs, including OxyContin, officials said.