OXYCONTIN MAKER PREPS AD CAMPAIGN

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The manufacturer of a powerful painkiller fast
gaining a reputation as a deadly recreational drug is starting an
advertising campaign to discourage illegal use of prescription drugs.

Beginning Monday, Purdue Pharma will run radio advertisements in Palm Beach
County, Fla., Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Charleston, W.Va.

The company, which makes the painkiller OxyContin, said it chose the Palm
Beach County area as one of the pilot sites because of its high rate of
prescription drug abuse.

In the first half of 2001, Palm Beach County had 54 overdose deaths
involving oxycodone - the active ingredient in OxyContin - or hydrocodone,
a similar chemical.

In the last three years, OxyContin and oxycodone have been blamed for more
than 100 fatal overdoses nationwide.

"Our drug is part of a very serious, very large, very complex problem,"
said Dr. Paul Goldenheim, an executive vice president with Purdue Pharma,
which is based in Stamford, Conn.

OxyContin is a slow-release narcotic painkiller widely prescribed for
victims of moderate to severe chronic pain. One pill is designed to last 12
hours, but those who abuse OxyContin usually crush the medicine, then snort
or inject it, producing a quick, heroin-like high.

The ads do not mention OxyContin or any drug by name. They say some of the
side effects of drug abuse include embarrassment, loss of self-respect and
social isolation.

The company plans to contact school officials about using posters and other
classroom materials in the campaign. The text of one poster reads: "Picking
your nose at lunch does not count as dessert and spastic shaking caused by
abusing prescription drugs is creepy."