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The drug company that makes the powerful pain killer OxyContin is developing a formula to prevent abusers from getting a high, but the development is not coming fast enough for many, including Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert.
Last Tuesday at a press conference Pappert criticized Purdue Pharma of Connecticut, asking why the company has not fulfilled a commitment made three years ago to have the safer OxyContin available by 2004.
James Heins, spokesman for Purdue, said that the company had a new formula ready in 2002, but did not present it to the FDA because studies showed the changes reduced the effectiveness of the drug for legitimate users.
OxyContin uses a time-release formula to release medication in small increments to continuously ease pain. Abusers have found that crushing the drug circumvents the time-release properties, releasing the full effects of the drug immediately and providing a euphoric high. In 2001 Perdue said that it could add a "blocking agent" to the medication that would negate this effect if the drug was crushed, but would not interfere with the effectiveness if taken as prescribed.
"It''s three years later and where are we in the process?" Pappert asked. "If there is a viable way to reformulate the product to prevent people from overdosing, when are we going to see it?"
In 2002, an estimated 14.6 million people used prescription drugs illegally, an increase from 3.8 million in 2000.
Pappert questioned whether Purdue was stalling development to coincide with the expiration of the patent for OxyContin in 2013, when the new formula would qualify for its own patent.
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