AMERICA'S PAINKILLER PANDEMIC

In recent years, scientists have made extraordinary strides in developing
potent painkillers for cancer patients and other sufferers. For millions
who never before could get adequate relief, the drugs have been a godsend.
But on Friday, reacting to an ever more severe drug abuse crisis that isn't
even part of most Americans' consciousness, a Connecticut pharmaceutical
maker halted shipments of a high-strength dosage of one powerful
painkiller, OxyContin.

That action followed by just days another remarkable step. Alarmed by the
rampant spread of painkiller abuse and a rising (though not adequately
calculated) death toll from overdoses, officials of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration launched their first-ever assault on the misuse
of a single brand-name drug: OxyContin.

Hysterical-sounding warnings about illicit drugs leave many Americans
rolling their eyes, as if they've just seen another screening of "Reefer
Madness." Oh, another dangerous drug du jour? But this nation's burgeoning
painkiller pandemic is a genuine reason for alarm, particularly for young
people and their parents. There is frustration, too, for smug tut-tutters
who like to stereotype drug abuse as something that happens in other
people's families: This is one criminal trend that doesn't begin to
discriminate by race or income.

One irony is that OxyContin, like some of the new painkillers, should be
less prone to abuse than Percodan and other well-known drugs. OxyContin's
12-hour time release formula should thwart those who want the tremendous
narcotic rush of its active ingredient, oxycodone, a synthetic morphine.

But never underestimate the ingenuity of a narcotics abuser. Users
circumvent the time release by grinding or dissolving tablets, then
snorting or injecting the drug. On the street, OxyContin and similar drugs
sell for a dollar a milligram, or $80 per pill for a typical dosage. The
allure of painkillers is so seductive that first-time abusers have been
flocking to them. Thus a second irony: a class of drugs that hugely
benefits millions of legal users by blocking pain signals from nerves to
the brain also produces a euphoria that enthralls millions of illicit users.

The frantic quest for money to buy more painkillers--often with stolen or
fraudulently obtained prescriptions--has led to regional crime waves in
Kentucky and several other states. Some users have robbed pharmacists to
get the drugs; one Maine-based pharmacy chain, citing concern that its
employees and customers would be victims of criminals hell-bent on stealing
OxyContin, has stopped stocking the drug. Newsweek recently reported that
users desperate for the new painkillers are showing up in emergency rooms
with feigned injuries--and even going to real estate open houses so they
can root through homeowners' medicine cabinets.

Purdue Pharma, which sold $1 billion worth of OxyContin in the U.S. last
year, says it is appalled at the widespread misuse of its drug. The company
is examining the geographic and demographic patterns of abuse to help law
enforcement predict where problems might arise--and intervene before they
do. The company also has stepped up its education of physicians, many of
whom may be unaware of OxyContin's illicit appeal; there is evidence that
some doctors prescribe the new painkillers when older, less powerful drugs
would suffice. Purdue's move to stop shipment of its 160-milligram tablets,
popular on the street, also may help.

The DEA is cracking down on pharmacists and doctors who illegally supply
high-strength painkillers. The agency wants Purdue to weigh reformulating
the drug, in the way that Rohypnol, the so-called date-rape drug, now
carries a blue dye that discolors drinks to which the pills have been added.

What's especially cruel about painkiller abuse is that it threatens to
frighten, or even stigmatize, patients whose can bear daily life only
through the use of these drugs. The FDA approval that certifies them as
safe for medical use also deludes abusers into thinking the drugs aren't as
harmful as illegal substances such as heroin.

The best remedy is much greater awareness among young people, their parents
and medical personnel. Americans can overcome this newly menacing scourge.
But not without a fight.