Painkiller report sheds light on big problem

Barbara Van Rooyan, Folsom, Calif.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the excellent series by Marshall Allen and Alex Richards on painkillers that appeared this week in the Las Vegas Sun.

My husband and I are visiting from Folsom, Calif., for a few days in an attempt to get through the days of July 4 through July 9. In 2004, our son Patrick Stewart took one OxyContin at a Fourth of July party. Friends tell us he had never taken one before and was told it was “like a muscle relaxant.” He had a few drinks and never woke up. He spent the next five days in the ICU at a San Diego hospital and was declared brain-dead July 9.

I never got to speak to him. No other drugs were in his system and only a small amount of alcohol.

Over the past four years my husband and I and many others affected adversely by painkillers have worked hard to bring the public, the medical community, government officials and agencies to understand the facts, figures and consequences so clearly outlined in your articles. I have read nearly every news article written on the subject in the past four years and none has presented as balanced or accurate a portrayal as you have.

In 2005, my husband and I submitted Citizen Petition 2005P-0076 to the Food and Drug Administration with requests that the indications for OxyContin be changed to (in simple terms) “use with severe pain only.” Several similar petitions have been submitted by the attorney general of Connecticut and by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. The FDA has ignored all of the petitions despite support and pressure by U.S. senators and representatives.

In 2006, I testified at a congressional hearing regarding prescription drug abuse, and several members of our “ad hoc” group have testified at FDA advisory committee hearings, pushing for change regarding the prescribing and dispensing of opioids.

It is my hope that you will continue to “speak out” on this topic because it will take a great deal more to effect any true change. We need media support to push the FDA to take action on our citizen petitions. The FDA has ignored us and members of Congress.

I believe our trip to your city and the timing of the Sun’s article are a tribute to my son Patrick and, of course, the many others who have tragically joined him.

Please continue your excellent contributions to this important battle.