Legislators Want to Limit OxyContin Use

By SAMIRA JAFARI

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Two Republican congressmen from Appalachia are asking the federal Food and Drug Administration to reclassify the powerful painkiller OxyContin so that only people in severe pain can be prescribed the drug.

Currently, the drug also can be prescribed to those in moderate pain.

U.S. Reps. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., and Frank Wolf, R-Va., cited recent admissions that OxyContin was highly addictive.

The May 16 letter to FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach pointed to OxyContin’s maker, Purdue Pharma L.P., and three of its current and former executives who recently pleaded guilty to misleading the public about the drug’s risk of addiction.

“The admission of guilt demands your immediate response by reclassifying this potent medication and sending a message to doctors on the potentially lethal aspects of this drug and its correct and appropriate employment,” the letter says.

OxyContin has been blamed for hundreds of deaths across the country in recent years, known as “hillbilly heroin” in states like Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

Rogers and Wolf have fought for tougher regulations over the drug for years, calling for a federal investigation into the drug manufacturer’s marketing practices in 2001.

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