OXYCONTIN ABUSE SPURS ROBBERIES ACROSS THE STATE

Although the manufacturer of OxyContin has agreed to hefty fines for
lying about the drug's addictive properties, law enforcement
officials in Wisconsin and elsewhere are left dealing with a rash of
pharmacy robberies by people apparently desperate for the drug.

The city of Waukesha alone has had four pharmacy robberies in recent
months. Also, police in Germantown, Hartland, Plymouth and West Allis
are each investigating recent pharmacy robberies.

Authorities can't link the robberies with any common thread other
than that the robbers were looking for OxyContin or its generic
equivalent oxycodone.

Waukesha County's Addiction Resource Council is also dealing with a
surge of clients using oxycodone. The organization reports that abuse
of marijuana has leveled off, and that after alcohol, OxyContin and
other opiates continue to be the fastest growing drug of choice, said
Claudia Roska, council executive director.

For 10% of the center's clients - 61 people - heroin or oxycodone is
the secondary drug of choice, according to statistics from the
council released in December. That is up from less than 1% of all
clients just four years ago.

OxyContin abuse is a growing problem because many users have enough
money and access to medical care to get it prescribed initially,
starting them on the road to problems, she said. Abusers are not
buying OxyContin pills on the street, she said, calling the drug a
good pain medication but one easily abused.

Addiction to such prescribed medication doesn't carry the stigma that
addiction to an illegal drug has, she added.

"The general public knows very little about the medication," Roska
said of oxycodone. People have likely heard of the drug, but they
don't know about the possible bad effects, she said.

Oxycodone has been over-prescribed and is more addictive than
previously thought, Roska said. Many who become dependent do not fit
the public image of a drug addict, generally having a good income,
health insurance and families.

In response to the growing problem of oxycodone addiction, the
Addiction Resource Council is kicking off an anti-drug campaign in
August for Waukesha County, Roska said.

Drug Executives Convicted

In May, the drug maker Purdue Pharma L.P. agreed to pay $19.5 million
to 26 states - including Wisconsin - and the District of Columbia to
settle complaints that the drug maker encouraged physicians to
over-prescribe OxyContin. Wisconsin's share of the settlement is
$719,500, according to state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

State attorneys general complained that the Stamford, Conn.-based
company urged doctors to prescribe OxyContin every eight hours
instead of the 12-hour dose approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Purdue denied that it had been pushing inappropriate dosing.

Also in May, the maker of OxyContin and three of its current and
former executives pleaded guilty to misleading the public about the
drug's risk of addiction, a federal prosecutor and the company said.

Purdue Pharma L.P., its president, top lawyer and former chief
medical officer will pay $634.5 million in fines for claiming the
drug was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain
medications, according to U.S. Attorney John Brownlee.

Among other things, the settlement requires Purdue to abide by
warnings on a packaging insert, stop marketing the drug for use in
ways other than approved by the FDA and improve internal controls.
One of those changes includes the development of an RX Patrol and its Web site.

Company Offers A Reward

Aaron Graham, vice president of corporate security at Purdue Pharma,
said the Web site is a means to collect and analyze information about
pharmacy thefts. Law enforcement and pharmacists can use the database
on the Web site to see what other crimes have occurred in their area.

There have been more than 3,000 incidents of pharmacy crimes,
including robbery, burglary and theft, in the United States since RX
Patrol started tracking them in 2003, he said.

The RX Patrol also has joined with local Crimestoppers to offer
rewards up to $1,000 for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction
of people who rob pharmacies. Since its partnership with the local
reward program in 2006, 33 people have been arrested, Graham said.