TAKING PAINS TO FIGHT ADDICTION

It travels in a high-security crucible most can only imagine -- protected
by armored cars and armed guards, and watched over by radio-frequency tags
and global positioning systems which can be monitored by satellite.

"It," of course, is OxyContin.

In an effort to combat abuse of the potent painkiller, Purdue Pharma, the
drug's manufacturer, has instituted tight controls on its production and
distribution, company officials told Daily News editors this week.

"We've had to come up on the learning curve," Purdue Director of Public
Affairs James Heins said.

With the abuse of prescription medications like OxyContin on the rise,
state and local officials will later this month hold a public hearing at
Framingham State College, an effort Heins applauded.

"We want to work with stakeholders," Heins said. "Be it law enforcement, be
it the medical community, be it legislators."

To get at the problem, the company today has a handful of law enforcement
liaisons, like retired Virginia State Trooper Landon Gibbs, on the payroll,
and has created or supports dozens of efforts to combat prescription drug
abuse.

Besides keeping tight reins on the production and distribution, Gibbs said,
the company has handed out thousands of tamper-resistant prescription pads
to Bay State doctors, but so far fewer than 300 are using them.

"If you got a prescription today, you can take it home and make 100 copies,
and take it to 100 pharmacies and get it filled," Gibbs said.

The new pads, which feature watermarks and heat-activated disappearing ink,
make it easier for pharmacists to spot fakes.

The company has also backed the creation of prescription monitoring plans,
which would allow police, doctors and pharmacists to combat "doctor
shopping" by logging prescriptions for certain drugs, which doctors wrote
them and who got the drugs.

Although a monitoring system was created in 1992 in Massachusetts, few
doctors or pharmacists know it exists, and the system is too cumbersome for
police to use.

"Ideally, it's something a pharmacist or physician can use. It's the best
tool that's available to stop doctor shopping today," Gibbs said. "(But)
there's no awareness about this."

The company also runs free-of-charge training sessions for both police and
doctors, training them to spot the signs of drug abuse, and even created a
program on prescription drug abuse specifically for teens, called
"Painfully Obvious."