DEA to House: Oxycontin Maker Partially Responsible for Drug Abuse and Deaths

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icDendicrug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Head Asa Hutchinson told a House Appropriations subcommittee recently that the "aggressive marketing practices" of Purdue Pharma contributes to the widespread and growing abuse of the prescription painkiller Oxycontin.

Oxycontin abuse is blamed for 117 deaths in 31 states in the past two years, and the DEA believes it is the likely cause in 179 other deaths, Hutchinson told the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee.

Oxycontin is a slow-release narcotic painkiller that is widely prescribed for patients suffering from moderate to severe chronic pain resulting from such problems as arthritis and …