DEA BACKS MEDICAL USE OF OXYCONTIN

The head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said yesterday
that law enforcement efforts to curb abuse of powerful pain
medications such as OxyContin should not interfere with the treatment
of legitimate patients.

DEA Director Asa Hutchinson joined almost two dozen health advocacy
organizations at the National Press Club to announce a balanced
approach toward regulation of the painkillers, an unprecedented move.

Hutchinson said that the agency will not slow its efforts to combat
illegal sales and abuse but that the nation should focus on education
about abuse. He said doctors unwittingly misprescribe the drugs or
illegally dole them out. "We want doctors to understand that they need
to use good judgment," Hutchinson said.

The announcement comes after months of wrangling over how to deal with
abuse of OxyContin, a powerful synthetic form of morphine that has
been linked to more than 40 deaths in southwest Virginia and more than
100 nationwide. Hutchinson said as many as nine of 10 new patients at
methadone clinics in rural Appalachia are addicted to OxyContin, which
they crush and snort or inject for a euphoric high.

But doctors and pain patients say that OxyContin is a godsend and that
preventing access to it would be detrimental to millions of patients
who need it.

"There is an epidemic of chronic pain in the United States," said
Russell Portenoy, chairman of pain medicine and palliative care at
Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. "We need to always hear
the voice of the patient."