OXYCONTIN MAKER WORKS AGAINST ABUSE

Advertising and anti-fraud prescription pads used in campaign

Responding to reports of prescription drug abuse in the Carolinas and along
the East Coast, OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma spends millions every
year on abuse prevention programs.

Some of the company's efforts in the Carolinas include:

- - Tamper-proof prescription pads for doctors. The company started
distributing the pads in the Carolinas in July 2001. So far, 874 doctors in
the Carolinas have received 11,040 pads.

The prescription pads have six unique security features, ranging from
special watermarks in paper that makes the word "VOID" appear when a
prescription is photocopied.

- - Ads on TV and in newspapers about the dangers of prescription drug abuse
and what Purdue is doing to combat abuse. The company has spent $6 million
nationwide on print and television ads.

Purdue officials say the ads are targeted in places where OxyContin abuse
has been reported, mainly on the East Coast. Purdue has been running ads in
Charlotte, Columbia and Raleigh-Durham since February.

- - A special anti-prescription drug abuse ad campaign aimed at teens will be
coming to South Carolina later this year. The "Painfully Obvious" campaign
takes a humorous tilt to alert teens to the problem of prescription drug
abuse.

- - A project called RADARS to research the rate of abuse of OxyContin and
five other prescription opioids. Purdue is spending $6 million a year on the
program. The goal is to study rates of abuse, addiction and diversion of
multiple prescription drugs, compared with how the drug is taken by
legitimate patients who need it.