'HILLBILLY HEROIN' TARGET OF ALERT

OxyContin Blamed For 250 Deaths In Ontario

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

At the same time, Newfoundland's government is considering giving police
access to suspicious medical records and toughening its Medical Act to curb
the use of the narcotic that one Newfoundland police officer has called the
"nuclear bomb" of the drug trade.

Opium-based OxyContin was heralded as a wonder drug when it hit the market
almost 10 years ago because of its time-release properties and ability to
relieve serious, chronic pain that had eluded other treatments.

Its popularity soared, bringing in $1.3 billion U.S. for its maker,
Stamford-based Purdue Pharma in 2002. But, the prescription drug known as
"hillbilly heroin" for its use in the rural U.S., has hooked everyone from
black-market drug abusers to teens to celebrities, often with deadly
consequences. In the U.S., the Federal Drug Administration has linked
OxyContin to approximately 400 deaths.

In Ontario, chief coroner Dr. Barry McLellan said in the past five years
there were 300 deaths in which oxycodone, the opiate found in OxyContin and
the drug brand Percocet, was detected in the body.

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

Canada's chief coroners and medical examiners have been tracking OxyContin
overdoses for months. Recently they decided to prepare the national alert,
similar to past warnings about seatbelts, airbags and bike helmets.

Meanwhile, measures being considered in Newfoundland are among 50
recommendations of a task force's report on the prescription painkiller.

Current legislation allows the province to share medical information with
police "when the protection of the public is an issue," Health Minister
Elizabeth Marshall said.

That data would include evidence of "double doctoring," where patients
approach several physicians to get prescriptions for the drug.

Ms. Marshall has asked cabinet for the authority to provide information to
police about such things as prescribing patterns. There will be "stringent
criteria" governing the release of medical files, she said.

She said the right to privacy would be balanced with the public good.
Cabinet will also look at toughening laws.