Atlanta and Vancouver, May 6, 2004 Arnold Weil, M.D., founder of the Non-Surgical Orthopaedic & Spine Center, is presenting new data at the 2nd Joint Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society and the Canadian Pain Society demonstrating that patients who were treated unsuccessfully with MS Contin® and OxyContin® found pain relief with Kadian, a sustained-release morphine sulfate. Kadian, approved to treat moderate-to-severe chronic pain, is designed with a unique polymer-coated pellet technology that avoids the initial release of morphine at the start of the dose and may reduce the "high" patients report experiencing with other oral pain-management therapies. The data also showed a broad range of significant improvements in physical and mental impairment for patients treated with the drug.

Dr. Weil is one of several researchers presenting data from the largest ever trial to examine the tolerability of a sustained-release opioid for the treatment of chronic, non-malignant pain.

"We have many patients who are not finding relief on current therapies, which can lead them to self-medicate. If they take more of the drug than instructed, a very dangerous situation can be created," said Dr. Weil. "In this study, we found that switching to the longer-acting opioid Kadian can improve pain relief, and in turn positively impact their overall quality of life, while actually reducing the number of times they need to take their medication. In light of the current national debate on abuse of prescription drugs for pain, we believe this data should impact the treatment of pain on the clinical level."

Some Patients Who Exceed Recommended Doses of OxyContin or MS Contin Find Relief with Kadian

A subset population from this community-based, prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded endpoint trial included 205 patients previously and unsuccessfully treated with MS Contin (n=55) and OxyContin (n=150). These patients, who p
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Contact: Melyssa Weible
MWeible@healthstarpr.com
646-328-1457
HealthStar PR
6-May-2004

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