Abuse of Drug OxyContin in FDA's: Prescription Drug Use and Abuse

The FDA published a article Prescription Drug Use and Abuse by Michelle meadows in the September-October 2001 issue of the FDA Consumer magazine. The section on OxyContin follows:

OxyContin (oxycodone), a controlled drug approved in 1995 to treat chronic, moderate-to-severe pain, has received considerable attention because of deaths and crimes associated with its abuse. (For more on the classes--or schedule--of drugs, see "Controlled Substances".) OxyContin is a morphine-like narcotic that contains a high dose of oxycodone. Manufactured by Purdue Pharma, Stamford, Conn., the drug was originally believed to pose a lower risk for abuse because it is a controlled-release drug designed to be taken orally and swallowed whole, says Deborah Leiderman, M.D., director of the Food and Drug Administration's controlled substance staff. The drug's active ingredient, oxycodone, is slowly released over a 12-hour period. "But the safety of the drug is based on taking the drug exactly as intended," she says.

Abusers sometimes disrupt the time-release formula of the drug to speed up absorption, often chewing the tablets, crushing them and snorting the powder, or dissolving them in water and injecting the drug to get a fast high. Abusers have also used OxyContin with other painkillers, alcohol, and marijuana. Several deaths have resulted, mostly in rural areas of the Eastern United States, especially in Virginia and West Virginia.

Other products containing oxycodone such as Percodan and Percocet have also been abused over the years. Abuse of opiates is not new; what's new is the recent surge in local epidemics of opiate abuse (see "Most Commonly Abused").

This article is almost 5 years old. OxyContin Abuse is becoming a real problem that we need to stop.

What is OxyContin?

OxyContin is a prescription painkiller that is also referred to by streetnames: Oxy, O.C. or killer.
OxyContin pills are Oxycodone HCl (HCl = Hydrochloric Acid) controlled-release tablets and are a narcotic drug that is approved by the FDA for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain.

The medication is a semisynthetic opioid analgesic whose active ingredient is oxycodone, which is also found in drugs like Percodan and Tylox. Painkillers such as Tylox are far less potent as they contain only 5mg of oxycodone and often require repeated doses to alleviate severe pain.

OxyContin contains between 10 and 160 milligrams of oxycodone in a timed-release tablet. This is as high as 80x as strong as other pain relief medication. Generally, a patient only requires 1 tablet every 12 hours.

Because of it's powerful effect, OxyContin is often prescribed for cancer patients or those with chronic, long-lasting back pain.

Stop Oxycontin Abuse!

This blog has been created to help inform people of the dangers of the drug Oxycontin.
Many people are dying from Oxycontin abuse and we want to help inform people of it's dangerous side-effects and how they can help prevent oxycontin abuse and how to help people recover or get through rehabilitation.