'OXY' FIGHT WON'T BE WON IN COURTROOM

OxyContin, a potent time-released narcotic painkiller, swept through
our region with the ferocity of a sudden storm five years ago.

Suddenly, there were dozens of overdose deaths, horror stories from
families torn apart by drug abuse and an accompanying surge in crime
as addicts struggled to fund their habits. By 2001, Southwest Virginia
and East Tennessee law enforcers were calling the problem an epidemic.

It was against that backdrop that a handful of local residents decided
to take the drug's maker, Purdue Pharma, to court.

The plaintiffs alleged the drug was an outright danger - more likely
to cause addiction than its less-potent narcotic cousins. They also
claimed Purdue had hyped the drug as a miracle cure for all sorts of
chronically painful conditions, while downplaying its risks.

Purdue, of course, denied it all, but took steps anyway to curb the
illegal street trade of its product and to warn doctors and patients
of the dangers of narcotic abuse. The company is still working on a
new formulation of the drug that will foil street users' efforts to
defeat its time-released coating by crushing it and snorting or
injecting it for a heroin-like high.

Now, the company has scored a victory in court. U.S. District Court
Judge James Jones dismissed the case against Purdue this week, ruling
the local residents had failed to prove OxyContin was the direct cause
of their problems. The ruling is similar to decisions in more than 65
OxyContin cases around the nation.

The three local men - a coal miner, a construction worker and a
factory worker - all suffered from back injuries and were prescribed
OxyContin after years of treatment with other drugs. According to the
judge, all were abusing those narcotics before they took OxyContin.

Testimony indicated the men were getting pain pills from multiple
doctors, a practice known as "doctor shopping." They admitted buying
pills on the street. And, they admitted using multiple pharmacies and
paying cash for prescriptions to avoid detection.

These are problems that won't be solved by suing a drugmaker and
seeking a big payout. In the past few years, OxyContin has gotten
harder to come by on the region's streets, but the abuse of
prescription painkillers hasn't waned. And, some police investigators
believe the scarcity of OxyContin may have fueled the rise in
methamphetamine use in our region.

Simply put, drug addicts are going to seek drugs and abuse them. We
can feel sympathy for their families, but we shouldn't let emotion
lead us to demonize one particular drug, which has done untold good
for others in our region, including those suffering from terminal cancer.

Potent painkillers will always be a double-edged sword. The potential
for abuse is there, but it is balanced by the relief brought by the
drugs' proper use.

Education, drug treatment programs and safeguards to prevent practices
like "doctor shopping" are the way to fight this battle, not slugging
it out in the courtroom.