With respect, Marianne.......

I am glad that the executives who mislead doctors are being held accountable for their crimes. I would have thought they could have made plenty of money just marketing it as more consisent relief for those who require continuos pain medication. That said, I have been surprised to see it prescribed many times for short term or intermittent therapy, which I believe is a misuse of the drug.

However, I am not convinced that they are directly liable for an "epidemic" amount of deaths. How many of the deaths occured because misinformed patients accidentally crushed or chewed the medication ? How many of the deaths were people who criminally obtained the medication and/or deliberately crushed it to get high ?

If I use a gun to deliberately injure myself or someone else, it's not Smith and Wesson's fault.

I have a problem with the way that OxyContin is portrayed in the media...... as "all evil " like heroin. It absolutely has some theraputic uses for many patients. I'm concerned that all of the negative publicity will make it more difficult for many deserving chronic pain patients to find relief, while all of the abusers just move on to another drug