OXYCONTIN BILL NOT LINKED TO CAMPAIGN, SPONSOR SAYS

Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin insisted Tuesday that his
introduction of a bill (SB617) that would effectively ban state
doctors from writing prescriptions for OxyContin has nothing to do
with his opponent in the May primary election.

Chafin's opponent in the 6th Senatorial District is Dr. Diane Shafer,
who has an orthopedic, occupational, and internal medicine practice
in Williamson.

Shafer won a 2000 state Supreme Court decision overturning the
revocation of her state medical license by the Board of Medicine in
1996 for allegedly filing fraudulent workers' compensation claims.

During a floor speech Tuesday, Chafin, D-Mingo, said abuse of
OxyContin, a narcotic painkiller, is destroying lives in rural West
Virginia and southwestern Virginia.

He accused unscrupulous doctors of profiting from OxyContin abuse,
and said there are lines of people waiting to get OxyContin
prescriptions at some doctor's offices in rural parts of the state.

Chafin said afterward that, other than Dr. Amando Acosta of
Williamson, who pleaded guilty last week to federal charges of
improperly prescribing OxyContin, he was not referring to any doctors
in particular.

As for Shafer, Chafin said, "Her history is pretty well documented in
the Gazette archives."

Under Chafin's bill, OxyContin would be changed from a Schedule II to
a Schedule I drug under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

The act, administrated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
classifies each drug in one of five categories, or schedules, based
on potential for abuse, with increasing restrictions on how drugs may
be prescribed or purchased for each schedule.

Schedule I is the most severe, for drugs with high potential for
abuse and no currently accepted medical use. With exceptions,
Schedule I drugs are illegal.

Schedule II includes drugs with high potential for abuse but with
currently accepted medical uses. Schedule II drugs may be prescribed,
but strict federal and state restrictions on their use can be imposed.

Chafin said attorneys had advised him that states have authority to
change the FDA controlled substance schedules to provide more strict
enforcement of the act.

"My understanding is a state can make any drug a Schedule I drug,
from OxyContin to aspirin," Chafin said.

Dr. Henry Taylor, commissioner for the state Bureau of Public Health,
said Tuesday said he while he agrees that the state needs to take
aggressive action on OxyContin abuse, he said he would be reluctant
to see an outright ban on a drug that has proven extremely effective
for patients when used properly.

"OxyContin and related narcotics are very useful in pain management,
particularly in end-of-life care," he said.

"We need to balance the benefits of pain management with the problems
caused by addiction and trafficking."