PURDUE PHARMA TRIES TO RIGHT WRONGS DONE BY OXYCONTIN

One of the biggest lessons recovery has taught me is to stand up and
take responsibility for my actions.

One of the 12 Steps, in fact, involves taking a personal inventory on
a regular basis, and when I'm wrong ``promptly admitting it.''

Which is why I have no problem talking about my history with drugs and
the accompany behaviors and actions that went along with them. They
were wrong, and a few were downright illegal. I'm not proud of those
mistakes, but today, I can say I made them and do what I can to make
amends.

Attending the Purdue Pharma press conference at the Hilton this week,
I couldn't help but wonder if the drug company's grant to the Blount
County Health Initiative to help establish a community program to keep
children off of drugs is the company's way of making amends.

Let me preface this column with the following statement: In no way do
I hold Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer and distributor of the drug
Oxycontin, responsible for rampant drug use in this country. First and
foremost, the addicts themselves (and I was certainly one of them) are
responsible for using drugs and carrying out those aforementioned
behaviors, including crimes and other misdeeds, to get them.

But drug companies like Purdue-Pharma didn't do enough to staunch the
flood of Oxycontin onto the market.

And why should it? According to various online sources, Oxycontin
accounted for $1.27 billion in sales in 2000-2001, making up 83
percent of the company's revenue during that time period.

A 2002 report by the U.S. government's substance abuse and mental
health monitoring agency reported that 1.9 million Americans ages 12
and older have or will use Oxycontin non-medically at least once in
their lifetime. At least 6.9 million prescriptions for Oxycontin were
written in 2000-2001.

Here's a few other facts: In a Jan. 17, 2003 letter to Purdue Pharma, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration admonished the company for underplaying
the addictive properties of Oxycontin: ``The combination in [your]
advertisements of suggesting such a broad use of this drug to treat pain
without disclosing the potential for abuse with this drug and the serious,
potentially fatal risks associated with its use is especially egregious and
alarming in its potential impact on the public health,'' the letter states.

A prominent Virginia physician, Dr. Art Van Zee, has fought Purdue
Pharma over Oxycontin for several years. In fact, he testified to
Congress and alleged that the company's ``overselling has contributed
to an Appalachian epidemic that includes rampant addiction, dozens of
fatal overdoses and rising crime rates.'' He also said the company
used prescription drug marketing data to pinpoint doctors who
prescribed the most Oxycontin, then dispatched its sales
representatives to offer those same physicians incentives and bonuses
that could double their annual salaries -- if they prescribed even
more of the narcotic painkiller.

In the latest report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, for the year 2002, there were 2.5 million
people who used prescription painkillers, including Oxycontin, for the
first time just for the purpose of getting high. More than half were
female, and more than half were ages 18 and older.

Despite these facts, Purdue Pharma representatives deny they've had a
role in the increasing abuse of prescription drugs in this country.
Clay Yeager, director of community partnerships for Purdue Pharma,
disagreed on Wednesday that the company has acted inappropriately when
it comes to marketing Oxycontin.

In fact, he said, no other prescription drug company in the United
States has done more to combat prescription drug abuse, and drug abuse
in general, than Purdue Pharma.

``I joined the company two years ago, and history has taught me that
with community issues, whether it's school violence or prescription
drug abuse, there are a couple of options,'' he said. ``One, you can
seek government solutions. Or, you can go into these communities and
work with the people closest to the problem. You can get a sense of
what's contributing to the problem, and you can understand what's
happening with the kids in these communities.

``Then you can begin to build programs to solve the problem. We're
doing more than any prescription drug company in the country in
assisting these communities and helping them address the problems with
their kids.''

The grant may be the company's way of making amends, but it has a long
way to go when it comes to taking responsibility for its actions.
Aggressively marketing Oxycontin with a team of sales representatives
and handing out money to fight drug abuse at the same time smacks of
hypocrisy.

Not that beggars can be choosers. Addiction won't be stopped by one
grant, just as it won't turn into the Apocalypse because of one drug
company. But every little bit of money to fight it helps.

So thanks, Purdue Pharma. We appreciate the grant, and I know the good
folks at the Blount County Health Initiative will put it to good use
- -- just as the physicians you target put your drugs to good use as
well.

Steve Wildsmith is a recovering addict and the Weekend editor for The
Daily Times. His entertainment column and stories appear each Friday
in the Weekend section, and his addiction and recovery column appears
each Monday in the HealthTimes section.