Newspaper Page Text
6A
♦ SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2005
Tennessee officials ask why Pfizer waited
to release meth-blocking cold medicine
By BILL POOVEY
Associated Press Writer
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -
Tennessee officials are ask
ing why it took so long for
Pfizer Inc. to release an
alternative decongestant
without the ingredient used
to make meth.
Pseudoephedrine is an
active ingredient in Pfizer’s
Sudafed and Actifed,
Schering Plough’s Claritin-
D and other remedies, but it
can also be used to make
methamphetamine in home
made labs.
Pfizer’s alternative decon
gestant, Sudafed PE, con
tains phenylephrine, which
can’t be converted into
meth. It’s been in some
Pfizer products sold in
Europe since 2003, said
company spokeswoman
Erica Johnson.
Sudafed PE goes on sale in
the United States in
February, and the company
will promote it as an alter
native to pseudoephedrine
products associated with
illegal meth-making,
Johnson said.
“Original Sudafed will
still be available, but where
sales of pseudoephedrine are
restricted or placed behind
the counter,’ Sudafed PE
will provide consumers with
a convenient ‘on the shelf
decongestant,” Pfizer Vice
President Jay Kominsky
wrote in a letter to some
government and law
enforcement officials.
In Tennessee - where
meth abuse has taken root
and ravaged rural communi
ties - officials are asking
why it took so long.
MINISTRY
From page 1A
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of the total incidents with 39
cases and all but three were
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There were no murders or
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116TH
From page 6A
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“We have a lot of ques
tions about why this product
was not introduced sooner
in Tennessee and look for
ward to hearing the reasons
why,” said Will Pinkston, an
aide to Gov. Phil Bredesen.
Johnson declined to com
ment on the timing of
Sudafed PE’s arrival in
American stores.
Some officials said it’s
connected to a push to put
Sudafed and other tablets
with pseudoephedrine
behind pharmacy counters.
Oklahoma took that
approach and saw meth lab
seizures fall more than 80
percent in less than a year.
Bredesen has said he would
like a similar law in
Tennessee, which leads the
nation in meth lab seizures
and accounts for three-quar
ters of such busts in the
South.
Between October 2003
and August 2004, the U.S.
Drug Enforcement
Administration busted
about 1,200 clandestine
meth labs in the state, a
nearly 400 percent increase
from 2000. Also, Tennessee
removed an estimated 750
children from the custody of
meth abusers last year, up
from 2003.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Paul Laymon of
Chattanooga, who prose
cutes methamphetamine
abusers, said the timing of
Sudafed PE “raises a whole
host of questions as to why
the pharmaceutical compa
nies didn’t move on this
sooner.
“It seems fairly clear that
Sudafed as a brand is a cash
housed in.
Rea has lots of experience
in this area. She once head
ed an organization similar
to this in Pensacola, Fla.
“The goal is not only to
supply these women with
there were five rapes, five
sexual offenses, one arson
and 20 suicides or attempts.
There were 38 deaths
either natural or accidental
reported to the county in
2004.
Family violence cases
make up the second-largest
category of county crimes,
with 14 percent or 901 inci-
The 116th ACW will be
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near future and every mem
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cow for Pfizer,” Laymon
said. “I could understand
why they would want to pro
tect their flagship brand.
Are their decisions motivat
ed by profit? It would seem
pretty obvious that it is.”
Laymon said he hoped the
arrival of Sudafed PE does
not sway lawmakers from
restricting pseu
doephedrine.
“I would not like to see a
company like Pfizer say to a
state like Tennessee, ‘Don’t
pass this legislation because
we are going to take care of
this issue.’”
Tom Farmer, a Hamilton
County narcotics officer who
works with a regional meth
task force in East
Tennessee, said pharmaceu
tical companies have known
that pseudoephedrine was
being abused.
“I find it odd that all of a
sudden now they are going
to do this. I think it is great
but why are they trying to
do it now?”
A co-sponsor of
Oklahoma’s law, state Sen.
Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau,
said drug companies using
pseudoephedrine “told us
they were working on things
but they didn’t give us any
thing specific.”
Johnson said Pfizer failed
in an attempt to develop a
pseudoephedrine tablet that
would not allow people to
remove an oxygen molecule
to make methamphetamine.
“Once we realized the
locked formula was not
going to work, we developed
... Sudafed PE,” she said.
Johnson said she didn’t
know if other drug compa-
temporary lodging until
they can find a job and are
able to get out on their own,
but also to teach them life
skills,” Rea said.
To donate a home or a
monetary donation to the
dents. Over 97 percent of
those cases were cleared.
The single largest catego
ry is “miscellaneous,” with
2,888 cases or 45 percent of
the total cases. Clark
explained that this category
includes “harassing phone
calls, animal bites, traffic
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LOCAL
nies planned to release an
alternative to pseu
doephedrine.
“We hope that others cer
tainly will follow suit,” she
said.
Mary Frances Faraji, a
spokeswoman for Schering-
Plough Corp., said its
Claritin-D is among more
than 4,000 products that
contain pseudoephedrine.
She said the company oppos
es putting Claritin-D behind
pharmacy counters.
“We believe pseu
doephedrine is safe and
effective when used accord
ing to directions,” Faraji
said.
Faraji declined comment
about whether Schering-
Plough was developing an
alternative to pseu
doephedrine.
Gary Esterow, a
spokesman for McNeil
Consumer and Specialty
Pharmaceuticals and its
Tylenol and Motrin brands
that contain pseu
doephedrine, also declined
comment about new alter
natives or Pfizer’s Sudafed
PE.
He said McNeil was com
mitted to providing “safe
and effective medications.
We also believe it is impor
tant that consumers have
easy access to these medica
tions.”
Elizabeth Assey, a spokes
woman for Consumer
Healthcare Products
Association, a Washington
based industry group,
described as unfair any
questions about the pace of
Pfizer releasing Sudafed PE.
Houston County Interfaith
Jail/Prison Ministry contact
Jean Rea at (478) 987-3883.
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