Purdue Spells "A-D-D-I-C-T-I-O-N"

On December 12, 1995, Purdue Pharma's drug named Oxycontin received FDA approval and thus changed the face of prescription drug abuse forever. Purdue Pharma had an ingenious idea - place oxycodone in a controlled release formulation that allowed the patient to take it just twice daily, as opposed to every 4-6 hours. Apparently the R&D team stopped thinking at this point... Controlled release formulations are neat little drugs - however they come with one serious drawback. It you chew, crush, or in any way damage the tablet, the "controlled release mechanism" is ruined. Without this mechanism, the entire dose of the drug will be released at once rather than over a twelve hour period. While Purdue Pharma's R&D team apparently did not pick up on this oversight, millions of drug seekers quickly did. Thus "Hillbilly Heroin" was born. Before you start feeling sorry for Purdue Pharma, allow me to explain how the R&D team could've side stepped this disaster if they wanted to... But first, some background pharmacology! (This is my heart and soul right here...) Oxycodone is a narcotic analgesic that interacts with opioid receptors inducing analgesia and sedation. Opioid receptors are also associated with other effects such as euphoria, nausea, and constipation, to name a few. Nalaxone is an opioid antagonist. When this drug enters the body, for lack of simpler terms, it stops the effects of the opioid receptor. Nalaxone is most often used in overdose situations. Also, when nalaxone is in the body, opioid drugs cannot bind to the opioid receptor thus rendering the user inable to achieve euphoria. Now back to how to fix the problem - all Purdue Pharma had to do was add nalaxone to the extended-release oxycodone formulation. This nalaxone would only be released if the tablet was crushed or chewed. Viola! Did they do that? No. So, this leaves many to believe that Purdue Pharma was not doing all it could to stop addiction. While they did not advocate the misuse of their drug, they also did not do anything to stop the abuse either. On September 24, 2004, Purdue Pharma received FDA approval for another narcotic analgesic product - Palladone. Palladone is an extended-release formulation of hydromorphone. Instead of being tablets, Palladone comes in a capsule formulation. The R&D team once again fell short of preventing abuse of their drug when they designed the Palldaone formulation. Now instead of having to waste all that energy crushing tablets, one can simply open their capsule and dump its contents onto the heating spoon. Another innovative, abuse inspiring product from Purdue Pharma. I can't wait to see what they come out with next!