Here at the Cud we've been overwhelmed by the mail still coming in regarding our August article Oxycontin: America's Hidden Drug Epidemic. Here are just three of the many letters received that we wanted to share with you:

13/9/05

This is one of the best articles about the OxyContin travesty in the U.S. I have read in a long while.

However, I would like to make one important point: The volume of chronic, NON-CANCER pain patients truly needing OxyContin or other opioids long-term, has been persistently over-stated by certain so-called "pain experts" and Purdue Pharma [which is how this company fraudulently bloated its sales of OxyContin to make absurd profits]. Millions of pain patients who never needed this drug became "hooked" and dependent on it in order "to feel normal and to function", and now these prescription drug addicts or "chemical copers" [who get a continued legitimate supply from their physicians] are part of the army of chronic pain patients [added to those needy patients with severe pain from cancer and those with pain from other types of intractable tissue disease or damage] who are now "fighting like mad" against any restrictions which will threaten their supply. As a example, these "opioid pushers" have stated that opioids should be used much more often to treat the 25 million people with arthritis, whereas, in reality, the percent of patients with arthritis who truly need these drugs is less than 5%, mostly in patients with painful end-stage osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis who have not responded to other therapies and are not candidates for surgery.

Beneficial non-narcotic therapies are often downplayed in favor of opioids by these "white coat" drug pushers, many of whom are also paid consultants for Purdue and other opioid companies, some of which like Purdue have also hired former FDA officials for big salaries.

Thanks again for a great article.

Stephen G. Gelfand, MD, FACP
Rheumatologist, USA

16/9/05

Thanks for the excellent portrayal of the truth about Oxycontin. It has led to an epidemic of new drug use across the country that is leaving families devastated....

My tie to this problem began in 2003, when I received a call at work that my 72 year old mother had been brutally murdered, and my younger sister was in surgery for injuries to her neck, chest and arms from an attack by her ex boyfriend who had broken into my mother's home to steal prescription drugs. He was picked up shortly after the murder with several pill bottles in his car prescribed to my sister, who was suffering from addiction.

Following my mother's funeral and my sister's release from hospital for her near fatal injuries she chose to stay with a friend. A month later her addiction had worsened and she checked into rehab. She only stayed a few days and left. I called her 'primary care doctor' and told his staff not to prescribe drugs to her, as she was addicted. I also called the police and they held her until we could get her to another rehab clinic and an officer also talked to my sister's medical staff about her situation. She stayed in the second rehab clinic for about forty days and was released. While waiting for a half-way house, which had a long waiting list, she arranged for a man she'd met in treatment to drive her back to her hometown of Orange, Texas. On the way she called her doctor and he arranged for her to receive a prescription from a pharmacy. She then stopped by her friend's home for a few hours. The next morning she was found dead.

The report said she died from an accidental overdose of Oxycondone. This was the ONLY drug found in her system at that time.

I began to try and get my sister's medical records and pharmacy profiles, which was another problem. In Texas, only a spouse, parent or child can obtain these records, and with the recent passage of tort reform, attorneys are rarely interested in such cases. I finally received an affidavit of heirship and was allowed to get her medical records from her family doctor and pain management doctor. I also received pharmacy profiles from four pharmacies. There was one pharmacy in Orange that refused to give me her records. I sent them the affidavit of heirship and they had their lawyer send me a letter stating that in order for me to get these records, I had to appear in person with proper ID to get the copies I had requested. My only living sister and I drove five hours from Austin to Orange, Texas to do this.

When we arrived we were told by pharmacy staff that they did not have the records, and that the owner of the pharmacy, who was absent at the time of our visit, had those records in her possession. We drove to the attorney's office's that sent us the letter, but being a Friday afternoon his office was closed. We left several messages that to this day have not been returned. We later returned to the pharmacy, where we were told the owner would not be back until Monday. Fed up with these delays we informed the pharmacy that we could not make this trip back and decided to just sit and wait. The pharmacist then called the police and we were informed that if we did not leave we would be charged for criminal trespassing' After refusing to leave, further police were called, and though reluctant to arrest us we were told that if we did not leave the pharmacy premises they would be forced to act. It was obviously a very distressing incident'

I filed complaints with the medical examiners office against the two doctors that had prescribed drugs to my sister. The pain management doctor left town and nothing was done to him. Our complaint against the family doctor resulted in receipt of a letter stating that the situation had not been deemed reasonable for investigation, however he did lose his license on the grounds of "over prescribing to a known drug abuser for sexual favors." This was not from my complaint but from another lady that had lost a daughter to addiction. The doctor retired with a party and was praised for his good work for the community. He was 82 years old.

After several complaints and numerous letters I finally had the pharmacy board write a letter of warning to my sister's primary pharmacy for dispensing hundreds of narcotics to her. This took me over a year and a half. And I STILL never got the profiles from them.

I did get my sister's medical records, however, which indicated that she receiving hundreds of drugs a month from her two doctors with little documentation to support the need to dispense such an amount to her. Most of my sister's drugs were provided by one pharmacy.

What I have pieced together from medical and other records is that in the last few months of her life this one particular pharmacy dispensed:

8-26-93 Soma 350mg #150
8/26 Xanax 2mg #90
8/18 Oxycontin 80 mg #90

7/25/03 Oxycontin 40mg #90
7/7 Xanax 2mg #90
7/7 Soma 350mg #150
7/2 Oxycontin 40 mg #120
7/2 Percocet 10/325 #60

6/23/03 Hydromorphine #30
6/21 Oxy IR 5mg #60
6/21 Oxycontin 40mg #60
6/20 Xanax 2mg #100
6/9 Soma 350mg #150

5/23/03 Xanax 2mg #100
5/13 Xanax 2mg #90
5/13 Soma 350mg #150
5/9/03 Oxycontin 40mg #120
5/9 Percocet 10/325 #60
5/9 Xanax 2mg #90

All this and I still have not received the requested records from her other pharmacy.

I have now filed a HIPPA complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services, but have not received reply as of yet.

I contacted a couple of attorneys that refused the case due to the high cost of filling a suit of this nature' and that it was not worth investing their time and money into a case that would potentially yield a small claim.

Respectfully,
Darlene Taylor
Austin, Texas

16/9/05

I lost my only son (18) due to this dangerous drug that should NOT be so easily available for experimenting teens to buy on the street'

Q: Why do I blame Purdue Pharma for the abuse of their drug?

A: The trail of addiction and death due to the Oxycontin epidemic was fueled by the over prescribing and easy street access to this powerful narcotic.

Instead of acknowledging the problem, Purdue denied it while aggressively marketing this powerful narcotic to general practitioners for moderate pain. They downplayed the risks and exaggerated the benefits, however they were not selling widgets but a powerful drug that sometimes causes death and addiction.

Here are just a few of the many examples of their corporate greed that have been documented'

* Sales Reps have come forward to reveal the aggressive marketing practices that Purdue trained them to use. "Targeting General Practitioners", telling them that less than 1% of patients get addicted and it is less abuseable. One Rep claims to have been fired for refusing to deal with 'pill mill' doctors.

* Purdue knew which doctors were writing enormous amounts of Oxycontin scripts but never offered this data to law enforcement even after all the death reports were coming in.

* In 2001 alone, Purdue spent 200 million dollars in advertising well after several reported deaths.

* Many of the death and addiction stories are from patients who never should have been prescribed Oxycontin.

* Purdue claimed they were shocked that people were crushing Oxycontin even though there is proof they were warned that this had happened to their other time-released drug MSContin.

* A Clinical Researcher for Purdue Pharma alleges in a lawsuit filed against the company that he informed Purdue of a design flaw in the drug's timed-release coating. He claims that he was told not to alert Purdue's in-house Drug Regulators or those of the government, and shortly thereafter he was terminated.

* Purdue Pharma approached the FDA for Oxycontin's approval with the claim that their "research" indicated that less than 1% of those using the drug would develop an addiction. Recent media reports refute that claim, contending that Purdue Pharma had evidence that the addiction rate would be much higher.

* Many Elected and Law Enforcement Officials who once fought the Oxycontin epidemic have since been hired by Purdue Pharma. They now tout Oxycontin's "safety and effectiveness", as paid employees of the company.

* "Cutting a deal" with then Florida State Attorney General Bob Butterworth on his last day in office, who accepted a 2 million dollar donation for a prescription monitoring program which was engineered by his best friend who Purdue had hired as a lobbyist to drop the state investigation into the companies marketing practices.

* The FDA warning letters to Purdue Pharma, concerning the "false and misleading" advertising in magazines and promotional handout materials.

* The recent ruling by a New York Federal Judge, indicating that Purdue Pharma misled government officials, in order to prevent other companies from marketing a generic form of Oxycontin.

* Attempting now to get a timed released Dilaudid pill 'Palladone' approved for moderate pain.

Many more examples of Purdue Pharma's corporate greed can be found at www.oxyabusekills.com.

Thanks,
Ed Bisch
RAPP - Relatives Against Purdue Pharma