Health Officials Unimpressed with New OxyContin Formula

A new, supposedly abuse-resistant version of OxyContin is getting tepid reviews from Massachusetts addiction experts and parents, the Brockton Enterprise reported April 23.

The latest version of OxyContin approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a time-released formula that drug maker Purdue Pharma said makes it harder for users to tamper with. Even the FDA, however, warned that the drug can still be abused, and other experts said that users may be able to heat the pills to get a higher dose even if the drug is now harder to cut, crush, chew, or dissolve.

“You are led to believe it is now going to be almost tamper-proof,” said state Sen. Steven Tolman, chair of the Massachsuetts OxyContin and Heroin Commission. “It either is or it isn’t. I hate to be negative but I didn’t get a lot of comfort with this.”

“It is a lot too little, too late,” added Tolman. “It is difficult to establish trust against a company that has created such destruction.”

“OxyContin should be taken off the market,” said Mary D’Eramo, a member of the Abington Anti-Drug Coalition and the parents group Learn to Cope. “There are other drugs out there. OxyContin hurts far more people and costs far more lives than it has ever saved.”