WITNESSES TELL LAWMAKERS ABOUT OXYCONTIN ABUSE

House Committee Investigates Impact Of Potent Painkiller

WASHINGTON -- A wave of prescription drug abuse battered Southern West
Virginia. Drug sweeps picked up people selling their pain pills to addicts
hooked on the rush derived from the narcotic.

That was the mid-1980s, and Richard Hall of the West Virginia State Police
was dealing with a drug called Tylox, a less-potent cousin of another
prescription drug, OxyContin.

OxyContin "is actually the second wave," Hall, now a captain and commander
of the troop that covers Southern West Virginia, told members of a House
committee Tuesday. "It's worse than it ever was back then. It's worse than
any drug we've ever attacked, and it's not over yet."

Concerned that OxyContin abuse has reached epidemic levels in Appalachia
and other poor, rural areas and worried that the trend might be reaching
American cities, a group of lawmakers held a hearing into how a drug once
touted as a pain-killing wonder has ended up as the hottest drug on the
streets.

Since it went on the market in 1996, OxyContin prescriptions have risen to
5.8 million, making it the most-prescribed of its class of drugs. Deaths
from abuse of the drug also have increased. The Drug Enforcement Agency
reports that nearly 300 deaths nationwide are likely related to OxyContin
overdoses.

DEA head Asa Hutchinson told the committee that aggressive marketing by the
drug's manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, may have played a role in later abuse.
"I don't believe we've ever seen as aggressive a marketing campaign,"
Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said the company has taken some steps to address the agency's
concerns.

Rolly Sullivan, head of addiction programs at West Virginia University
School of Medicine, said the drug should only have been marketed as a
medication to deal with the most severe pain. Other drugs are on the market
to deal with mild or moderate pain. Still, Sullivan -- who in August 2000
filled all 10 beds in his clinic with OxyContin addicts -- said addicts
probably would have found the drug anyway.

Paul Goldenheim, a top executive at Purdue Pharma, said the company had
marketed the drug appropriately. OxyContin was never promoted to consumers,
he said. The problem is that the drug is being misused.

In Southern West Virginia, OxyContin "exploded" on the street, Hall said.
Police, even cooperating on a state, local and federal level, don't have
the resources to tackle the full scope of the problem, he said.

"If a tire can be recalled, why shouldn't this be?" he asked. "I'm not sure
it shouldn't be."

Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., sits on the House Appropriations subcommittee
that oversees the departments of commerce, justice and state. He said
lawmakers also should consider examining the way the criminal justice
system deals with OxyContin addicts and other drug abusers. He said
Congress should explore ways to place addicts in mandatory treatment,
rather than locking them in jail.

Mollohan said he also would "vote right now" to prohibit the drug from
being dispensed for moderate pain.

Writer Karin Fischer can be reached at (202) 662-8732.