Purdue Pharmacuetical Settles Oxycotin Claims
"Purdue Pharma has agreed to pay $19.5 million to 26 states and Washington, D.C., to settle claims that the company promoted its painkiller OxyContin for off-label uses, the company announced on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 5/9). According to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and state Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Purdue also allegedly violated FDA rules by promoting OxyContin for use every eight hours, rather than the approved dosage of every 12 hours (Hathaway, Hartford Courant, 5/9).
The states allege that Purdue violated FDA rules by promoting the drug as the painkiller "to start with and the one to stay with" for a variety of pain, including from surgery and broken bones, even though the drug was approved by FDA for limited use in people who need long-term pain management. In addition, the states allege that Purdue tied the pay of its sales representatives to how much OxyContin doctors prescribed, while playing down the addictive properties of the drug (Jadhav, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 5/9). The cumulative effect of such practices has led to "misuse, diversion and abuse" of OxyContin by increasing the amount of the drug in circulation, according to Blumenthal."
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