THE COMPETITION

Another narcotic maker used similar sales strategy

Purdue isn't the only narcotic maker that sends sales reps out to call on
doctors.

Janssen Pharmaceutica, a unit of the big drug company Johnson & Johnson,
actively details Duragesic, a stick-on patch that puts a powerful painkiller
into the body through the skin. Duragesic was introduced in 1991, five years
before OxyContin.

Janssen's reps call on cancer doctors, pain specialists and "select" primary
care doctors, the company said in a statement. The size of Janssen's force
and other details weren't available.

Like Purdue, the company advertises in medical journals. But it goes
further, promoting the patches directly to the public through a Web site and
sometimes in other materials.

Janssen's Web site claims the patches, which last up to three days, are more
convenient than pills, even two-a-day pills. The site doesn't mention
OxyContin, but Purdue's product is the best-known two-a-day pain pill.

The company's statement characterized such material as "educational" and
said, "Janssen markets Duragesic in an appropriate and responsible manner."

Duragesic patches contain fentanyl, a narcotic that regulators rank with
morphine and oxycodone, the ingredient in OxyContin, for abuse potential.

Illegal drug users have found ways to extract the drug or manipulate the
patches to obtain a heroin-like high -- one technique involves heating them
with blow-dryers -- but reports of abuse are less common than for pills,
police officials say.

Janssen has sought to capitalize on publicity about pill abuse in past
promotions. One, which the company said it discontinued years ago, involved
giving OxyContin patients fliers that mentioned pill abuse when they picked
up their prescriptions at drugstores.

Another narcotic maker used similar sales strategy