Bandits Rob Drugstores Seeking OxyContin
July 9, 2001
Armed bandits are holding up drugstores and small town pharmacies across the country, not in search of cash, but rather on a quest for the powerful painkiller, OxyContin. States such as Florida, Vermont, West Virginia, Virginia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Kentucky, California, and Pennsylvania have seen an alarming increase in such robberies.
OxyContin, manufactured by Purdue Pharma, is at the center of a heated debate concerning the company's aggressive marketing techniques. The drug, available in 10, 20, 40, 80, and until recently 160 milligrams, has been a blockbuster for the pharmaceutical giant. Doctors and patients alike praise OxyContin as a major improvement over conventional pain medications. However, the drug's active ingredient, oxycodone, is also prized on the black market because of its heroin-like high. On the street, OxyContin goes for about 1$ per milligram, making the theft and sale of the drug a lucrative line of work.
Many drugstore chains have stopped carrying OxyContin in an effort to remove themselves from a potential gunman's hit list. Kentucky leads the country in percentage of drugstores robbed by OxyContin bandits, with 5.5 percent of the state's 1,000 drugstores having been targeted.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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