FDA Bans Generic Version of Purdue Pharma L.P.'s OxyContin

In a major policy move, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it would not approve generic versions of the powerful narcotic OxyContin, the painkiller that symbolized a decade-long epidemic of prescription drug abuse. The move represents a victory for OxyContin’s manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, which in 2010 introduced a formulation of the drug that was less prone to tampering. The original version of OxyContin, which was approved in late 1995, could be easily crushed, a step that released its entire narcotic payload at once rather than over time as intended. The new version turns into a jellylike mass when crushed.

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