West Virginia chosen for project to stop OxyContin abuse  
Posted by ajones -- June 10, 2001
Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi, West Virginia and three other states have been chosen for a federal prescription monitoring pilot program aimed at stopping abuse of the painkiller OxyContin, officials said.
The Drug Enforcement Administration approached the State Board of Pharmacy about the computerized reporting system on June 1, said board executive director Buck Stevens. Stevens said pharmacies would only participate on a voluntary basis.
''We have not been asked officially and the board's directors have not given official approval,'' Stevens said. ''But the DEA is moving aggressively on this OxyContin issue. They want to create a model project for the country.''
Florida, Ohio and Virginia were also chosen to participate in the DEA project, which is in the preliminary stages.
Nationally, 16 states have prescription monitoring systems, but only two, Kentucky and Utah, are computerized.
In Mississippi, six residents have died from OxyContin overdoses since Nov. 28. The drug is usually prescribed for cancer patients or those who suffer from chronic pain. It is designed to be swallowed whole. Abusers cripple the protective coating by chewing, snorting and injection.
Twenty West Virginia deaths last year had ties to oxycodone, the sole ingredient in OxyContin, according to autopsy reports and an investigation by the state medical examiner's office.
The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics has ample Medicaid data to document an explosion of OxyContin prescriptions, said Tim Rutledge, the agent in charge of MBN's diversion investigation.
''What we don't know is how much insurance companies spend on OxyContin. And how much cash is paid out for it. This will give us the total picture,'' Rutledge said.
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