State Will Stop Paying for Painkiller OxyContin
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Gov. Howard Dean said that Vermont will stop paying for OxyContin for certain welfare recipients because of the prescription painkiller’s growing link to crime and addiction.
“I would ask physicians to consider very carefully their use of this drug,” Dean said.
OxyContin is a federally approved pain reliever. When tablets are crushed and mixed with water, snorted or injected, they can give the user a high similar to that of heroin.
Since 1998, OxyContin and oxycodone, the narcotic’s active ingredient, have been linked to more than 100 deaths nationwide.
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