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A flurry of interesting news about the OxyContin patent challenge but this presented some different angles to consider. Hopefully the link works; I've excerpted the article for length. Read on, please.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/local/040113drugs.shtml
Generic OxyContin worries authorities
By DAVID HENCH, Portland Press Herald Writer
The prospect of a generic brand of OxyContin is welcome news to people with chronic pain, but some in law enforcement are concerned that abuse of the powerful painkiller will get worse.
A federal judge last week ruled that the patents held by the manufacturer of OxyContin are invalid, which opens the door for other drug companies to make it. That would likely lower the price of the effective and popular medication, which now can cost between $500 and $600 for a month's supply.
That is good news for legitimate users of OxyContin. But authorities worry that a drug that is already widely abused in Maine could become even more popular on the street.
"If the price is reduced because the source is able to get it cheaper and sell it cheaper, then there's going to be more widespread distribution to a wider customer base," said Sgt. Darrell Crandall, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency supervisor for Washington County, one of the areas where OxyContin addiction and abuse first took hold in Maine in 2000.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/local/040113drugs.shtml
Generic OxyContin worries authorities
By DAVID HENCH, Portland Press Herald Writer
The prospect of a generic brand of OxyContin is welcome news to people with chronic pain, but some in law enforcement are concerned that abuse of the powerful painkiller will get worse.
A federal judge last week ruled that the patents held by the manufacturer of OxyContin are invalid, which opens the door for other drug companies to make it. That would likely lower the price of the effective and popular medication, which now can cost between $500 and $600 for a month's supply.
That is good news for legitimate users of OxyContin. But authorities worry that a drug that is already widely abused in Maine could become even more popular on the street.
"If the price is reduced because the source is able to get it cheaper and sell it cheaper, then there's going to be more widespread distribution to a wider customer base," said Sgt. Darrell Crandall, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency supervisor for Washington County, one of the areas where OxyContin addiction and abuse first took hold in Maine in 2000.
--snipped here--
http://www.pressherald.com/news/local/040113drugs.shtml
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