VIRGINIA'S DEATH RATE LINKED TO OXYCODONE INCREASES 'ASTRONOMICALLY' WITHIN
YEAR

Deaths Linked To Both Abuse, Accidental Overdoses

The popular painkiller OxyContin was said to be a factor in about 90
percent of the oxycodone overdoses investigated by one medical examiner.

Eight months ago, when a state task force began to study prescription drug
abuse, 38 deaths in Western Virginia were linked to oxycodone, the
opium-based narcotic that makes OxyContin both an effective painkiller and
a devastating street drug.

Today , as the panel completes its work in Richmond, the number of fatal
overdoses is up to 67.

"It has just shot up astronomically," said Dr. William Massello, assistant
chief medical examiner. This year's count of 30 deaths could easily go
higher, as it usually takes about six weeks to complete toxicology tests
required for autopsy reports.

Massello said he suspected OxyContin was either the primary cause or a
contributing factor in about 90 percent of the oxycodone overdoses examined
by his office.

Although there have been some deaths in the Roanoke and New River valleys,
the majority of fatal overdoses have been in the coalfield region of far
Southwest Virginia.

Widespread abuse of OxyContin in that part of the state prompted former
Attorney General Mark Earley to assemble the task force in April. A report
due out today will call for legislation creating a statewide prescription
monitoring system. The computerized database could be used by police to
investigate people suspected of faking ailments to obtain the painkiller
from multiple doctors.

The panel is also expected to ask the General Assembly to enhance the
possible punishment for someone convicted of misusing OxyContin. Better
treatment options , including the use of drug courts, could also be on the
list of recommendations.

Purdue Pharma, the Connecticut-based company that makes OxyContin, supports
the prescription monitoring system as one way to keep law-breakers from
abusing its product.

When OxyContin abuse was first reported, both the company and law
enforcement officials said that most of the problem was caused by people
who crushed the pills and snorted or injected the powder, bypassing the
drug's time-release function to achieve an intense high similar to that of
heroin.

However, the latest autopsy figures show that snorting or injecting the
drug accounted for only about a third of the deaths, Massello said. The
rest of the overdoses involved people who took the pills orally, often
mixing them with other drugs and alcohol.

"A lot of people are prescribed the drug but they abuse it for recreational
purposes," Massello said. "Some people don't abuse it, but are very
reckless in the way they take it," either exceeding the dose ordered by a
doctor or mixing OxyContin with other substances.

While some people have used OxyContin to commit suicide, most of the
overdoses were accidental, Massello said.

If in fact many of the people who abuse OxyContin have valid prescriptions,
that would limit the effectiveness of a monitoring system.

Some people have claimed in lawsuits that they became addicted to OxyContin
as legitimate patients taking the drug the way a doctor instructed them -
something that Purdue Pharma disputes.

The company has also taken issue with the number of fatal overdoses
attributed to OxyContin. Blood tests performed during autopsies can only
detect the presence of oxycodone, which is also found in about 40 other
prescription drugs.

Purdue Pharma says that OxyContin should not be singled out for blame when
it is abused along with several other drugs.

"We've never said that abusing our drugs isn't dangerous, but the numbers
have been flying all over the place," company spokesman James Heins said.