DEA quota causes painkiller shortage for legitimate uses

Oxycodone is in short supply in some Colorado pharmacies because of a quota imposed on the powerful painkiller, which is abused by both the sick and the slick.

Good-faith efforts to keep the pills from addicts and pushers are also keeping them from those who desperately need them, say some pharmacists.

"We have customers who bring in a prescription from a doctor every month . . . and now we can't fill them," said Dennis Mantas, owner of Wheat Ridge Pharmacy. "It's a big problem."

Jeannine Hawkins, 68, of Littleton, who takes oxycodone to deal with the pain of cancer treatments, nerve damage and knee surgery, used to be able to get a 30-day supply at a time.

This week, "the doctors today told her they could give her just a 10-day supply because of the shortage," her husband, Wayne, 69, said. He's worried that next time, there will be no pain pills available for his ailing wife.

The Drug Enforcement Administration limits the amount of oxycodone and Oxycontin (the leading brand name) manufacturers can produce, said Val Kalnins, executive director of the Colorado Pharmacists Society.

Each year, the DEA estimates how much Oxycontin is needed to meet the "legitimate medical, scientific, research and industrial needs of the United States," then sets the quota accordingly.

Oxycodone is an opioid, as is heroin, codeine, fentanyl and morphine. Too much inventory heightens the chance of its diversion to illegal uses, the DEA says.

But Mantas says the DEA must not have taken into account that the population is getting older, and that means more aches and pains and cancer treatments that need to be treated by Oxycontin and other pain medications.

A recall by drug maker Mallinckrodt and cutbacks by Ethex have exacerbated the shortage, which started about December, say pharmacists.

Oxycontin, also called "Oxy" or "hillbilly heroin," contains the active ingredient oxycodone and first was made in 1996. By 2001, its use had increased twentyfold.

Doctors are prescribing more pain medication, mostly because people legitimately need it, says Mantas.

Certainly, thieves try to steal from the supply, and there are some doctor shoppers who may get a 30-day supply three times for the same injury, say pharmacists. "But you know your regular customers, and you know their issues," Mantas said.

"We have customers who go to their doctor once a month, and stay right on time, right on task," he said. "We can't fill them. They try to switch to something else, but sometimes it's not covered by insurance.

"We're not going to fill prescriptions willy-nilly for anyone who walks in from the street. The DEA's intentions are good, but they're hitting the wrong end of it," Mantas said.

scanlon@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2897

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