A new report is calling into question the safety of the prescription drug OxyContin.
The powerful painkiller has been on the market for 20 years. While it's not the only prescription painkiller, it is one of the biggest. It's made Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma $31 billion over the course of its lifetime.
But now, new questions about its effectiveness and safety have been thrust into the spotlight.
A war of words has been underway between the Los Angeles Times and Purdue Pharma after the Times claimed the pharmaceutical company falsely built up the drug's 12-hour pain relief claims and regimen. The newspaper says that's in part been behind issues of dependency and abuse tied to the drug.
Purdue Pharma has responded to the allegations, telling the Times, in part, "Scientific evidence amassed over more than 20 years, including more than a dozen controlled clinical studies, supports the FDA's approval of 12-hour dosing for OxyContin."
An analysis of FDA data from 2004-2015 ranked Oxycodone, the generic name for OxyContin, as one of the 50 Most Dangerous Drugs on the Market. See all 50 here.
Dr. Daniel Ruscyniak at IU Health and the Indiana Poison Center says doctors have known about issues tied to opioids and OxyContin for years and have adjusted their work already because of it.
"At least what we saw early on in a lot of the deaths was long-acting OxyContin," Rusyniak said. "I'm hoping we're prescribing these less and doing it with a little more thought, a little more regulation and just making sure the medicines we're giving aren't creating a problem."
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Rusyniak said for now, if you have sleep apnea and take OxyContin along with a benzodiazepine, you should be aware of the increased risks.
"You really need to go back and understand you're at significant risk," he said.
Click the map below to explore drug overdose data for all 92 counties in Indiana:
