Nova Scotia, other Atlantic provinces cut funding of painkiller Oxycontin

HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia government will no longer fund the painkiller OxyContin and a new version of the drug under its prescription drug plan.

Health Minister Maureen MacDonald said Tuesday that Nova Scotia and the other three Atlantic provinces decided to stop funding the painkiller on the advice of a regional drug review committee.

The Health Department said the drug will be taken off the provincial formulary on March 1.

MacDonald said the move was part of several measures being examined to reduce the abuse of prescription painkillers.

"There isn't any one action that you can take that's going to give you the magic solution," said MacDonald.

"It's a complex issue and it requires a variety of measures."

MacDonald said cancer patients and those in palliative care who are already prescribed Oxycontin would continue to receive the drug.

The goal, she said, is to limit supplies of the painkiller at pharmacies.

"If it is not on the formularly then there will be less prescribing of this drug and there will be less of this drug available for street use," said MacDonald.

She said the decision was made last week, although Nova Scotia's announcement came after similar measures were announced in Ontario on Friday.

The maker of Oxycontin will stop manufacturing the drug in Canada at the end of the month and will replace it with OxyNeo.

The new tablet is hard to crush and forms a thick gel when added to liquid, which prevents addicts from extracting oxycodone for injection.