Purdue Pharma

(Newser) - The FDA has approved a new form of OxyContin that unites two unlikely bedfellows in an attempt to curb abuse, reports AP . The drug from Purdue Pharma is called Targiniq ER, and it combines oxycodone—the main painkilling ingredient in OxyContin, one that causes feelings of euphoria—with naloxene, which...

(Newser) - The maker of OxyContin has a database of doctors it suspects may be prescribing its pills to addicts and dealers—but it isn't sharing that info with cops, reports the LA Times . Purdue Pharma says it has alerted authorities to 154 suspicious prescribers, but that's only about 8%...

(Newser) - In a big victory for campaigners against prescription drug abuse—as well as for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma—the FDA has blocked generic drugmakers from making their own versions of the powerful painkiller. The ruling came on the day that Purdue's patent on the old, crushable, and widely abused...

(Newser) - The company that makes OxyContin pleaded guilty today to misleading the public about the effects of the potent painkiller. Purdue Pharma and three executives will pay $634.5 million in civil and criminal fines. Federal prosecutors accused the firm of "misbranding" the drug, marketing it as a less addictive...