Oxycontin in the News

Attached a link http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx to an interesting article titled "Stronger form of Oxycodone means more pain for the US" published in the Sun Sentinel on December 29th, 2011. In this commentary the author points out that "several drug companies are completing FDA trials to introduce a new, much stronger form of Oxycodone to the $10 billion opiate prescription drug market in 2013. Unlike the more than 400 opiate pain killers already on the market that blend the powerful narcotic with other medications, the new drug is solely composed of pure Oxycodone. It will be very potent, delivering up to 10 times more pain relief than present prescriptions." Whereas all of us are struggling to contain the prescription drug epidemic, pharmaceutical companies, driven by the profit motive, seem to have found a business opportunity to sell more powerful narcotics to the ever growing number of opioid dependent addicts. Therefore, I agree with the authors conclusion: "If tobacco companies are forced to contribute a portion of each sale of a cigarette pack to pay for the effort to curb tobacco use and the financial and medical consequences cause by American smoking cigarettes, why not the manufacturers of the most abused addictive prescriptive drug in the United States? It is time to make politically powerful drug companies responsible and accountable for their destructive products. They, not U.S. taxpayers, should have to bear the brunt of the financial and social burdens from rampant illegal misuse of Oxycodone." Looking forward to your comments. Happy New Year Yours Bernd