STATE EASES RULES FOR OXYCONTIN FOR MEDICAID PATIENTS

COLUMBIA-(AP)-The state Department of Health and Human Services has dropped
its rule requiring doctors to get prior approval before prescribing
OxyContin for Medicaid patients. The drug is a powerful narcotic that can be
highly addictive. Under the old rule, only Medicaid patients with cancer,
sickle cell anemia or AIDS were automatically eligible. As of Thursday,
Medicaid patients do not need pre-clearance as long as prescriptions do not
exceed six tablets a day. Most patients take two a day.

Medicaid is a federal-state program that helps pay for health care for the
needy, aged, blind and disabled, and for low-income families with children.

The new guidelines that took effect Thursday are identical to those offered
by Columbia attorney Dwight Drake in an Aug. 20 letter that aimed to "avoid
litigation," The (Columbia) State reported.

Drake represents Purdue Pharma, the company that sells OxyContin and had
been fighting the state policy. The company hired Drake, a friend of Gov.
Jim Hodges and a former colleague of Health and Human Services director Bill
Prince, and Richard Quinn, a Republican political consultant, the newspaper
reported. Health and Human Services estimates it saved $500,000 per month
since the pre-clearance rule took effect in July.

Prince said in September he was under "significant political pressure" to
change the policy but said Thursday the decision was practical.

"I was not told by anybody to do anything or not to do anything," he said.

While prior-approval saved money and reduced potential for drug abuse, it's
time to see if the state has changed how doctors prescribe the drug, Prince
said.

Medicaid patients who had been taking OxyContin were prescribed less potent
painkillers. The department received only one or two complaints about the
old rule, proving not all patients needed such a strong drug, Prince said.

Prince said the prior-approval rule will be reinstated if there is a sharp
increase in OxyContin prescriptions. "If we go back to those prior levels of
utilization, that's going to be a signal to us that doctors are not
responsibly prescribing this drug," Prince said.