OXYCONTIN IS WONDERFUL WHEN USED CORRECTLY

AS A health care professional, I would be remiss if I didn't express my
views after following your reporting of OxyContin and the "crisis" that
surrounds its abuse.

OxyContin is a wonderful addition to the arsenal of legitimate pain
management, especially for the terminally ill. No cases of death attributed
to the oral administration in normally prescribed doses have been reported.

I believe the problems lie in the illegitimate prescribing and abuse of
OxyContin. These are the same age-old problems we have attempted to deal
with in the health care field. When there is a way to get "high," people
prone to that behavior will find it.

Withdrawing the product or tying the hands of the manufacturer will not
solve the issues. Public education is the only way to reduce the problems.

It seems strange to me that the initial problems arose in Southwest
Virginia and in rural Maine. Is it possible that health care professionals
in those areas need to be scrutinized closer? Could the board of health
professions be missing something?

I request that the editor of this newspaper review future OxyContin
articles, looking for public education rather than hysteria.

SARAH COLGAN, BEDFORD