GAO Report States Purdue Made Unsubstantiated Claims in Promo Video

A report recently issued by the General Accounting Office (GAO) concluded that OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma made unsubstantiated claims about the prescription pain reliever's potential for abuse in a 1998 promotional video issued to doctors.

photo-1The congressional investigators stated in the Jan. 22 report that a doctor in the video claimed that less than one percent of people who take OxyContin as well as other opioid analgesics such as Percocet, Percodan and Tylox become addicted.

After viewing a second video submitted to the FDA in 2001, the agency stated that Purdue made unsubstantiated claims regarding OxyContin's effect on patients' quality …