[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 87 (Friday, June 13, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1245-E1246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CONCERN OVER ILLEGAL USE OF PAINKILLER OXYCONTIN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 12, 2003

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, today I want to bring attention to the illegal 
use and abuse of the powerful painkiller OxyContin that is destroying 
families and crippling communities, particularly in rural parts of the 
country. Southwest Virginia, western Kentucky and Maine have been hit 
particularly hard.
  OxyContin does serve a very real and useful purpose for people with 
chronic, debilitating pain or who are terminally ill. It is hailed as a 
miracle drug for terminally ill cancer patients. I know what it is like 
to see people suffer from cancer. Both my mother and father died of 
cancer.
  My concern is that this powerful painkiller has increasingly become a 
drug of choice for people who choose to abuse it; for people who have 
no legitimate need for this pain-killing drug. When taken properly, 
OxyContin is a wonder drug. But when it is ground up or chewed, the 
time release mechanism in the tablet is disabled, providing abusers 
with a heroin-like high.
  I am also concerned about how this drug has been allowed to be 
marketed. Clearly, OxyContin should be available for the terminally 
ill. It should also be available to those people who suffer with severe 
chronic pain. I do not believe it should be prescribed to treat 
moderate pain.
  Earlier this year I wrote to the Honorable Tommy Thompson, secretary 
of the Department of Health and Human Services, asking him to review 
the marketing of OxyContin and its classification for treatment of 
moderate to severe pain. Here is the text of the letter:

       Dear Secretary Thompson: in December 2001, the Commerce-
     Justice-State and the Judiciary appropriations subcommittee 
     held a hearing on the illegal diversion of the prescription 
     drug OxyContin, a pain-killing Schedule II narcotic 
     manufactured by Purdue Pharma L.P. One of the witnesses, the 
     father of a recovering OxyContin addict, told a gripping 
     story of the devastating impact the drug has had on his 
     family and his son, who was in his early 20s. He proudly told 
     the committee how his son had just finished rehab and had 
     kicked his addiction. Sadly, a few months after appearing 
     before the subcommittee, the son died as a result of abusing 
     the drug.
       When used properly, OxyContin is considered a wonder drug, 
     especially for terminally ill cancer patients. I know what it 
     is like to see people suffer from cancer. Both my mother and 
     father died of cancer. I can remember my mother constantly 
     asking the nurses for more morphine but being told she 
     couldn't have any more. My mother was in a great deal of 
     pain. OxyContin, if it had been available when she was dying, 
     probably would have made her a lot more comfortable at the 
     end.
       When used illegally, however, OxyContin destroys families 
     and communities. It also can lead to death. This powerful 
     painkiller has increasingly become a drug of choice for 
     people who choose to abuse it by chewing it or grinding it 
     up. By disabling the time release mechanism in OxyContin, 
     abusers get a heroin-like high.
       Initially, cases of abuse and illegal diversion occurred 
     primarily in poor, rural communities in Virginia, Kentucky, 
     West Virginia and Ohio. Abuse is no longer limited to 
     Appalachia. The drug has found its way to urban areas and 
     there are now reports of widespread abuse as far away as 
     Arizona. Florida, I am told, has been hit extremely hard.
       Several pharmacies in my congressional District have been 
     robbed at gun point in recent months for OxyContin. No money 
     was taken; the robbers only demanded the drug. Earlier this 
     month, a prominent defense lawyer in northern Virginia who 
     twice served as a local prosecutor in Prince William County 
     pleaded guilty to federal drug charges linked to a large-
     scale investigation into the illegal distribution of 
     OxyContin and other painkillers.
       Communities where the illegal drug has taken hold are being 
     completely destroyed. I am told there is one county in 
     southwest Virginia where no one isn't either using the drug, 
     knows someone using the drug or been the victim of a crime by 
     someone needing the drug.
       When a professional baseball player recently died after 
     taking the dietary supplement ephedra, your agency 
     immediately issued fact sheets regarding potential serious 
     risks of dietary supplements containing ephedra. You were 
     even quoted as cautioning all Americans about using dietary 
     supplements that contain ephedra.
       According to fact sheets produced by the FDA, two deaths, 
     four heart attacks, nine strokes and five psychiatric cases 
     involving ephedra have been reported. More than 240 people 
     have died from the abuse of OxyContin and countless numbers 
     of families and communities have been torn apart by this 
     drug.
       Your agency has done a good job educating the public about 
     the dangers of ephedra and other dietary supplements. I urge 
     you to initiate a similar public information campaign about 
     the dangers of abusing OxyContin.
       I have previously written to your department asking for a 
     review of the marketing of OxyContin and its classification 
     for treatment of moderate to severe pain. The Food and Drug 
     Administration did change the warning label on OxyContin but 
     more needs to be done. The drug should not be marketed to 
     treat moderate pain. I urge you to no longer allow OxyContin 
     to be prescribed for moderate pain.
       Too many people have died, too many families have suffered 
     and too many communities have been devastated by the improper 
     use of this drug.
           Sincerely,

                                                Frank R. Wolf,

                                                         Chairman,
                                Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice,
                                           State and the Judiciary


[[Page E1246]]


  I also have written Mark McClellan, the commissioner of the Food and 
Drug Administration, six times since April 1 about this issue, 
imploring the FDA to take another look at for whom and for what this 
drug can be prescribed. I have yet to receive a response.
  The following is an excerpt from a news article that appeared in the 
Orlando Sentinel in February cuts right to the heart of the issue. The 
article was written by staff writer Doris Bloodsworth. It ran on 
February 21, 2003.
       Fort Lauderdale--The maker of the highly profitable 
     narcotic painkiller OxyContin has been aggressively marketing 
     the drug far beyond its original purpose to ease the 
     suffering of cancer patients, according to company documents 
     released Thursday.
       Purdue Pharma for several years has promoted the powerful 
     drug to treat less-threatening ailments, such as arthritis 
     and back pain, according to company marketing plans. Those 
     materials also discuss future marketing of the drug to 
     obstetricians and specialists in sports medicine.
       The company fought to keep the sensitive documents secret, 
     but a circuit judge in Broward County ordered them released 
     as a result of a suit by the Orlando Sentinel and the South 
     Florida Sun-Sentinel.
       Purdue officials say OxyContin is a highly effective 
     product and, when used properly, has a relatively low 
     addiction rate.
       Federal officials have admonished the company several times 
     for marketing the narcotic inappropriately. And a number of 
     class-action suits have been filed against Purdue in other 
     states.
       OxyContin, which has come under fire because of the number 
     of deaths linked to its abuse, was introduced in 1996 to help 
     cancer patients and others cope with chronic pain.
       But Purdue, based in Stamford, Conn., recognized early on 
     that non-cancer patients represented a larger and more 
     lucrative market and sought to expand the use of its time-
     release painkiller, according to the marketing plans. In a 
     marketing overview for 2002, the company noted that $2.1 
     billion in opiate sales were for non-cancer pain compared 
     with $396 million for cancer patients. The 1999 plans state 
     more than 70 percent of OxyContin prescriptions were written 
     for non-cancer pain.
       Purdue's most recent marketing plan states: ``In 2002 
     OxyContin Tablets will continue to be promoted for use in the 
     non-malignant pain market.'' The plan cited as examples back 
     pain, osteoarthritis, injury and trauma.
       Another goal was an attempt to ``broaden OxyContin Tablets' 
     usage in the management of pain due to various causes (e.g., 
     back pain, osteoarthritis, neuropathic pain, post-operative 
     pain).''

  This is only one of several news stories about OxyContin that have 
been appearing in papers across the country. My congressional district 
has not been immune from the damage inflicted by the illegal use and 
abuse of OxyContin. Several pharmacies in my district have been robbed 
at gunpoint for OxyContin. A former county prosecutor in my district 
has pled guilty to Federal drug charges as part of a large-scale 
investigation into the illegal distribution of OxyContin. Last month 
there was a murder in my district that is potentially linked to 
OxyContin. Sadly, the daughter of the man who was murdered died last 
week of a drug overdose. Press reports allude that OxyContin may have 
been involved in the overdose. Just last week The Post reported that 
two slayings in another part of my district are possibly linked to the 
trade of OxyContin.
  Families, communities and careers--particularly rural communities--in 
Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maine, Ohio and Pennsylvania are 
being devastated by the illegal use and abuse of OxyContin. Clearly, 
there is a problem. Some law enforcement officials I have talked to say 
the illegal use of this drug could be the next crack cocaine. A recent 
story in The New York Times said that ``no other drug in the last 20 
years has been abused more widely so soon after its introduction'' than 
OxyContin.
  My subcommittee on the Commerce-Justice-State and the Judiciary 
appropriations held a hearing last December on OxyContin and is pushing 
the DEA to develop an aggressive plan to combat the illegal use of the 
drug. The hearing was comprehensive. We heard from the DEA, the 
pharmaceutical company that manufactures OxyContin, representatives 
from the American Cancer Society and the parents of recovering addicts.
  My subcommittee also set aside a significant amount of money for the 
Justice Department for a grant program to help states develop a 
prescription drug monitoring system. Ideally, the program would be 
aimed at monitoring Schedule II drugs, not all prescription drugs.
  In the meantime, I urge the Department of Health and Human Services 
and the FDA to reexamine to whom this drug can be prescribed before it 
does any more harm. Failure to take action will result in more deaths.

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