DRUG LINKED TO HUNDREDS OF DEATHS

Use Of Painkiller OxyContin Growing Rapidly In Atlantic Provinces

Canada's chief coroners and medical examiners are preparing a national
alert on the abuse of a popular painkiller they say has contributed to
at least 250 overdose deaths in Ontario since 1998 and dozens
elsewhere in Canada.

In the past five years there were 300 deaths in Ontario in which
oxycodone, an opiate found in the brands OxyContin and Percocet, was
detected in the body, said the province's chief coroner, Dr. Barry
McLellan. Two hundred and fifty of the deaths were related "in part or
solely to oxycodone," and in the remaining 50, oxycodone was found but
other drugs were also involved.

"No part of Canada has been spared. It's really affecting the entire
country," Dr. McLellan said.

In Nova Scotia, there have been at least 20 deaths, about eight in New
Brunswick and six in Newfoundland, where OxyContin prescriptions
increased 400% between 2000 and 2003.

Canada's chief coroners have been tracking OxyContin overdoses for
months. At a recent meeting they decided to prepare a national alert,
likely this fall, similar to past warnings dealing with seat belts,
air bags and bicycle helmets.

"We consider it a significant number and a significant problem," said
Dr. McLellan. "The data we have shows the problem with the drug was
getting worse up to 2003, and there is no evidence it is getting better."

For black-market drug abusers, painkillers containing oxycodone are
cheaper and easier to obtain than heroin or cocaine, they're
pharmaceutically pure and they are just as dangerously addictive.
Oxycodone is a narcotic extracted from opium poppies, which are also
used to make heroin.

Last week, a 32-year-old Windsor, Ont., woman was sentenced to 12
months of house arrest after pleading guilty to fraudulently obtaining
almost 3,000 tablets containing oxycodone from 15 doctors in less than
a year. Penny Quinlan admitted she became addicted to the drug after
several surgeries.

Dr. McLellan suspects the main culprit in the overdose deaths is
OxyContin, a long-acting derivative introduced in Canada in 1997 by
Stamford, Conn.-based Purdue Pharma Inc. Its main purpose is pain
relief for cancer and palliative care patients.

On the street, where legally prescribed pills have become popular
among drug traffickers, it is known as "hillbilly heroin" or "oxy." In
1999, said Dr. McLellan, the number of oxycodone-related deaths in
Ontario numbered in the twenties. In 2003 there were 100 deaths, a
five-fold increase.

John Stewart, general manager of Purdue Pharma, said his company is
"very aware and concerned about the abuse of the drug in Canada and
the U.S. We are working closely with governments, doctors and
pharmacists to find ways to deal with the problem."

Working with officials in the Atlantic provinces, where abuse has been
particularly severe, Mr. Stewart said Purdue is offering information
and tools to help assess, treat, document and follow patients on opiates.

"The answer to abuse of prescription medications is greater education
and substance abuse treatment. The answer to diversion [illegal use of
a legal drug] is tough law enforcement, not restrictions on patients
and physicians who treat them," Mr. Stewart said.

He said there were 641,000 prescriptions issued for OxyContin in
Canada in 2003, a five-fold increase from 2000. He said Tylenol 3
remains the most prescribed drug in Canada at more than 4.5 million
prescriptions last year.

Dr. McLellan said he has been monitoring OxyContin abuse with his
Canadian and U.S. colleagues.

"They have a serious problem, especially in the northeastern states
with the long-acting drug (OxyContin), and we have similar concerns,"
he said. "We are trying to get a handle on the problem, and once we
have more information, and clearly understand the scope of the
problem, we want to make the public aware of the problems with OxyContin."

Dr. McLellan said they will issue a public safety message in the fall,
mainly through the country's media, by sending out press releases and
possibly holding full-scale news conferences.

A BRIEF HISTORY:

- - With as much as 10 times the active opiate ingredient as other
painkillers, OxyContin was marketed as a powerful relief with a
built-in safety measure: a time-release formula that allowed the
opiate to be delivered over a 12-hour period.

- - But shortly after its debut, teens in the United States discovered
they could disable the time-release mechanism by crushing the drug
into powder. When snorted, Oxy delivered a powerful morphine-like high.

- - In pockets of rural Maine, Pennsylvania and the Appalachian areas of
Virginia and Kentucky, many people who were disabled or chronically
ill suddenly found themselves with a highly marketable medicinal commodity.

- - Sold for a dollar a milligram -- US$40 for one 40-mg pill -- Oxy
became a quick and painless alternative income.

- - The Federal Drug Administration has linked Oxy to approximately 400
deaths.