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"Besides aggressively targeting doctors and pharmacists who over-prescribe ----------------------------------------- the medication, the DEA urged Purdue to reformulate the drug to make it less
-- ----------------------------------------- easy to abuse. Purdue Pharma said government pressure had no part in its decision to suspend distribution of the 160-milligram tablets."-----------------------------------------
May 11, 2001 -----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------- STAMFORD, Connecticut (AP) -- The manufacturer of the prescription painkiller OxyContin has suspended shipments of its large-dose tablets of the drug, citing growing problems with drug abuse.
Purdue Pharma's decision comes a week after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced its strategy to combat rising abuse of the drug.
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For the full article-- ------------------
------------------ http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/05/11/abused.painkiller.ap/index.html <http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/05/11/abused.painkiller.ap/index.html>