[Science Report]:OxyContin Warning


This is the VOA SpecialEnglish SCIENCE REPORT.

The federal government and manufacturers of the drug OxyContinhave increased warnings about its use. Directions on the containersof the pain-killing medicine are being changed. They now mustinclude a warning that the effects of OxyContin are like morphine,another drug that fights pain. The warning also must say thatmisusing the drug can kill. Law-enforcement officials say misuse ofOxyContin is linked to as many as one-hundred deaths.

The new warning labels also carry the message that only somepatients should take OxyContin. The drug is meant for peoplesuffering moderate to severe pain over extended periods. A doctormust write an order for this medicine.

Doctors say people can become physically dependent on OxyContin.People can suffer from withdrawal problems if they cannot get it.Drugstore owners report that people are stealing the drug from theirstores. Illegal drug dealers are selling OxyContin on the streets.

OxyContin pills contain the pain-killing substance oxycodone.OxyContin can release oxycodone over a twelve-hour period. Takencorrectly, an OxyContin pill is swallowed whole. However, anincreasing number of people are crushing OxyContin into powder. Theybreathe the powder in, or force it through the skin with a needle.These methods release the effects of the medicine at one time. Thisresults in a temporary feeling of happiness similar to the effect ofthe illegal drug, heroin.

The company Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Connecticut began sellingthe drug in Nineteen-Ninety-Six. Many doctors praise itseffectiveness in treating cancer, severe burns and other painfulconditions.

Yet protests against misuse of the drug are spreading. So islegal action against Purdue Pharma and a company it works with,Abbott Laboratories in Chicago. For example, West Virginia beganlegal cases against the two companies in June. The state accusesthem of helping cause misuse of the drug by using aggressive salesmethods.

A Purdue spokesman said the company has stopped selling OxyContinpills that contain large amounts of the drug. He said Purdue haswarned doctors about the drug in several ways. He also says thecompany has spent millions to dollars to research pain-killers thatcould not be easily misused.

This VOA Special English Science Report was written by JerilynWatson.

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