The only sure thing about luck is that it will change. ~Wilson Mizner
Federal health officials say a new version of OxyContin that is designed to be harder to abuse offers some improvements over the original pill.
Purdue Pharma LP has touted the new pill’s plastic-like coating, which is designed to make the drug harder to crush and snort or inject.
Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration said that the drug’s resistance to abuse is “limited,” but “may provide an advantage over the currently available OxyContin.”
A panel of advisers to the FDA said last year that the manufacturer needed to do more testing to demonstrate the drug’s tamper resistance. The FDA will ask the same panel this week whether the drug should be approved based on new data submitted by the drug company. Purdue Pharma LP is based in Stamford, Connecticut.
OxyContin was the nation’s top-selling prescription painkiller with sales of more than $2 billion last year. It was thought of as a breakthrough treatment for severe chronic pain when it was introduced in 1996. It is a time-release version of oxycodone and was designed for use over a period of 12 hours to keep a steady amount of the drug in the bloodstreams of seriously ill patients.
However, OxyContin and similar drugs were quickly discovered by drug abusers. A heroin-like high was achieved by crushing the pills and snorting or injecting the entire dose.
A federal survey in 2007 found that 5.2 million people reported using prescription pain medications inappropriately.