MICA WANTS HEARING ON DRUGS TO GO BEYOND TALK

He Hopes The Winter Park Event Produces Solutions To Monitor The Use Of
Drugs Such As Oxycontin.

U.S. Rep. John Mica expects more Monday than discussions about the
growing problem of prescription-drug abuse. He hopes a congressional
hearing in Winter Park will lead to better ways of monitoring drugs
that can be abused, including the painkiller OxyContin.

The hearing begins at 9 a.m. at Winter Park City Hall, with speakers
including a father whose son died while taking OxyContin; a cancer
doctor whose patients benefit from pain medications; a pharmacist;
drug-company representatives; Florida drug officials; and others.

"We've tried to create a balanced approach for a fair hearing so we
can come up with some solutions on these issues," said Mica, R-Winter
Park.

Mica requested the hearing after learning about the rising number of
overdose deaths in Florida connected to oxycodone, the active
ingredient in OxyContin and other pain medications.

Overall, the gathering is meant to be an investigative, fact-finding
opportunity for legislators to examine prescription-drug abuse, said
Martin Green, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mark Souder's office. Souder
is chairman of the House anti-narcotics subcommittee that is convening
the hearing.

Green said legislators are sensitive of the need to prevent
prescription-drug abuse without hampering legitimate uses. Some
suggestions that could be explored are prescription-drug-tracking
systems and tighter controls over Internet pharmacies.

Dr. Chad Kollas with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando plans to talk
about the need for pain management in cancer patients.

Kollas said the patients often suffer with daily discomfort, and many
report that they get the best relief from opiate-based drugs.

"The challenge is to figure out how to keep these drugs available for
patients who need them while keeping them out of the hands of people
who would abuse them," Kollas said.

Although prescription-drug abuse involves many medications, OxyContin
has come under fire in recent years amid nationwide reports of abuse,
addiction and rising overdose deaths. An Orlando Sentinel
investigation last year found that the number of people dying from
oxycodone surpassed those who overdosed on heroin in Florida during
2001 and 2002.

Fred Pauzar, head of a Winter Park architecture firm, plans to speak
Monday about the need for better controls over prescription
medications. His 22-year-old son, Chris, died in November. He had been
prescribed OxyContin.

"I am deeply troubled by what I perceive to be an entire system that
has failed," Pauzar said.

"There are many good physicians out there, and we don't want to deny
them the proper tools to treat pain, but OxyContin is a prime example
of a drug that fits more in the category of abuse than on real care."