CRACKDOWN ON ABUSE OF PAINKILLER URGED IN VA.

ABINGDON, Va., May 17 -- Virginia officials called today for stepped-up
efforts to prevent and punish illegal trafficking in OxyContin and for a
database to track prescriptions, as a statewide task force held its first
meeting about curbing abuse of the painkiller.

The meeting -- conducted in this small community just a few miles from the
Tennessee border -- underscored the effect of OxyContin abuse on rural
Southwest Virginia. Police and prosecutors said they have been overwhelmed
by the number of abusers, the related crime wave and the crowding at jails
where people are "packed in like cordwood."

Medical examiners announced today that the synthetic painkiller has been
linked to three more deaths in Southwest Virginia this year, bringing the
total to 42 in the region since 1997.

State Attorney General Mark L. Earley (R) assembled the task force because
of concerns that abuse of OxyContin in Appalachia is out of control and is
creeping across the state into suburban communities. Task force members,
who are charged with developing an attack plan by fall, said they are
primarily concerned with curbing OxyContin abuse while ensuring that
patients who rely on the medication are able to get it.

"This is a significant problem in Virginia," Earley said. "Solving it will
take a careful balancing act."

Testimony and discussion today included officials of small towns that are
overwhelmed by the problem. Dennis H. Lee, commonwealth's attorney in
Tazewell County, told the three dozen members of the group that crime in
his county has risen almost 30 percent in 18 months, mostly because of
OxyContin.

Gary Parsons, the sheriff in Lee County on the state's westernmost tip,
said law enforcement officials have a "hopeless and helpless feeling."

"For a small, rural area, it's taken away a way of life," Parsons said.
"It's taken away the innocence our community once had."

Purdue Pharma LP, of Stamford, Conn., the drug's manufacturer, announced
today that it has begun targeting 100 "high-risk" communities across the
nation for specific education and prevention efforts. J. David Haddox,
Purdue's senior medical director, told the task force that the company has
instructed sales representatives to discourage doctors in those communities
from prescribing the drug if they aren't confident of doing so correctly.

"If you can't do it right, don't prescribe OxyContin," Haddox said. "The
problem of drug abuse is a tragedy . . . but there is every bit as much of
a tragedy going on with untreated pain."

Haddox also said Purdue will provide new labels for OxyContin tablets that
are sold in other countries to discourage smuggling, and he emphasized that
the company is spending millions of dollars to develop an abuse-resistant
form of the pill.

The drug has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, as reports of
widespread abuse have surfaced from Maine to Alabama. OxyContin, which was
prescribed more than 6 million times last year, has become a popular
painkiller, used by cancer patients and chronic pain sufferers for
long-term relief. Legitimate patients have said that OxyContin is a miracle
drug that they can't live without.

Experts and law enforcement officials say the drug's popularity has driven
its abuse, as it is sold at pharmacies across the country. Abusers crush
the time-release tablets and snort or inject the drug for an instant high.
The drug's maker warns that the highest doses could be deadly for a
first-time user.

Task force members said they are particularly interested in education and
prevention efforts aimed at teenagers and young adults, and state police
said a prescription monitoring program is essential to combat fraud and
"doctor-shopping," which are common ways that addicts and dealers get their
hands on the pills.

"It's not the drug itself that is the problem," said Stephen Long, a
physician and pain specialist in Richmond. "When in the hands of abusers,
however, there's the potential for terrible abuse and terrible ramifications."

Prince William police Maj. Ron Sullins, the lone Northern Virginia
representative on the task force, said Prince William's recent problems
with OxyContin abuse show that law enforcement officials and legislators
need to rethink drug prevention efforts.

"There are always those people who abuse drugs," Sullins said. "Our role is
to try to keep that at an acceptable level and prevent as much as we can."