OXYCONTIN LINKED TO INCREASE IN PHARMACY ROBBERIES

An increasing number of armed robberies targeting pharmacies by criminals
seeking OxyContin has prompted one major chain to stop stocking the
medication, raising concerns about the availability of the painkiller for
those people who legitimately need it.

The Stop & Shop supermarket chain will no longer stock the drug at any of
its 226 pharmacies in southern New England, New York and New Jersey.

"The decision comes after the number of robberies in drug stores throughout
the region has continued to escalate," the company said in a prepared
statement. "Stop & Shop is committed to providing for the needs of our
customers, but not at the expense of the safety of our customers and
associates."

Kelly O'Connor, a spokeswoman for the grocery chain, said with a few days'
notice pharmacists will be able to fill OxyContin prescriptions through a
wholesaler, but will not keep the drug in stock.

As no prescription drug before it, OxyContin has generated a debate about
the causes of prescription drug abuse and how it can be prevented.

Abuse of OxyContin has become a major health issue, striking some rural
communities in Maine and West Virginia particularly hard. Produced in pill
form, it provides pain relief over many hours. It has been an effective
drug for cancer sufferers and others dealing with chronic pain. But when
crushed into a powder, then snorted, smoked or dissolved in water and
injected, it produces an effect that has been compared to the high produced
by heroin.

When abused in such fashion, OxyContin is extremely addictive and often
deadly, especially when used with alcohol or other drugs. A federal Drug
Enforcement Administration review of autopsy records, released last month,
concluded the drug may have played a role in as many as 464 drug overdose
deaths in the last two years. In Connecticut last year, OxyContin
contributed to 19 deaths, compared to 120 deaths caused by heroin, the
biggest killer drug. The state totals come from drug-death records supplied
by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The addictive nature of the drug has driven addicts needing it, or dealers
looking to sell it for $40 to $80 a pill on the streets, to rob pharmacies.
Federal crime statistics do not list pharmacies as a separate statistic,
but the trend is apparent to law enforcement agencies.

The first such armed robbery of a pharmacy in this region took place April
2, when a man stole a cache of narcotics from the Medicine Shoppe at 613
Broad St. in New London. Owner and pharmacist Henry Cormier, who was forced
to turn over the drugs at gunpoint, said the robber demanded narcotics in
general, not just OxyContin.

More OxyContin was stolen last week during a holdup of a pharmacy in
Madison, and police there are checking to see if there is a connection with
the New London incident. Despite the traumatic incident, Cormier said he
will continue to stock OxyContin and other drugs for the people who need
them. "The need overcomes the risk," he said. "There are people, especially
nursing home patients, who are in need of this drug."

Pharmacists contacted across the region said they, too, continue to stock
the drug, but none wanted their names or the names of their pharmacies used
in this report for fear of becoming the next robbery target.

"Of course you think about it," said one pharmacist. "And we've taken
additional security precautions in light of what's happening. But we're
here to serve people in need, and we can't stop doing that because of a few
idiots."

Dr. John J. Paggioli, a pain management specialist at the Backus Pain
Center in Norwich, said so far concerns about the abuse of OxyContin has
not prevented it from getting to those who need it. He said his office must
be sure to provide prescriptions several days ahead for those patients
using Stop & Shop pharmacies.

For Purdue Pharma of Stamford, which won approval for OxyContin in 1995,
the news surrounding the abuse of the drug has become a major public
relations problem. In congressional hearings, the company faced criticism
for not recognizing that large sales in some communities clearly
outstripped the health demand. Critics also contend aggressive marketing by
the company led to over-prescribing by doctors and put more OxyContin on
the street.

In recent months Purdue Pharma has launched its own campaign to turn the
focus from abuse of OxyContin in particular to the abuse of prescription
drugs in general, and ways to attack the problem. Timothy F. Brannon,
senior director of public affairs for the pharmaceutical company, said that
far more prescription drugs end up on the streets because of phony
prescriptions -- or "doctor shopping" -- than because of robberies. Doctor
shopping refers to patients who visit several doctors, getting
prescriptions from each, only to abuse the drugs or sell them illegally.

OxyContin produced $1.2 billion in sales in 2001, ranking it among the top
selling "blockbuster" drugs. The company recognizes that sales could be
hurt if doctors are reluctant to prescribe it or pharmacies, such as Stop &
Shop, refuse to stock it.

"We are concerned how decisions such as these put criminals in charge of
health policies," said Bannon. "The stated reason for (Stop & Shop) to do
this was fear of criminals. It should concern all of us as a society when
we sacrifice the needs of innocent victims of disease to the whims of
predators."

Dr. J. David Haddox, senior medical director of health policy at Pharma,
said simple changes -- such as being careful when writing prescriptions or
using tamper-resistant prescription pads -- could dramatically reduce
abuse. Alteration, forgery and counterfeiting of prescriptions account for
a substantial amount of drug diversion to the streets, he said.

By carefully writing prescriptions, doctors can deter criminals from
slipping in altered numbers to get more of a drug or a higher-strength
dose, he said. Pharma is also providing free to doctors prescription pads
that, because of special hidden markings, are difficult to counterfeit. The
company has distributed 10,400 pads in 30 states, Bannon said.

The company is also preparing an educational program called "Painfully
Obvious" that will be geared to middle school and high school students to
provide information about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs. School
programs now focus largely on illegal street drugs, Haddox said. A Pharma
TV commercial campaign, cautioning against the abuse of prescription drugs,
never mentions OxyContin.

During the past legislative session, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
campaigned for legislation to create a statewide prescription
drug-monitoring program. Pharmacists and doctors could use the database to
identify doctor-shopping patients. The proposal died in committee amidst
concerns such a program would be an invasion of privacy and could be used
to deny health insurance coverage.

Blumenthal contends safeguards could be designed to prevent abuse of the
information.