Oxycontin

Duration of action

Oral oxycodone has a half-life of 4.5 hours. The manufacturer of OxyContin (a controlled-release preparation of oxycodone), Purdue Pharma, claimed in its 1992 patent application that the duration of action of OxyContin is 12 hours in "90% of patients". Purdue has never performed any clinical studies in which OxyContin was given at more frequent intervals. In a separate filing, Purdue claimed that controlled-release oxycodone "provides pain relief in said patient for at least 12 hours after administration". However, in 2016, an investigation by the Los Angeles Times found that "the drug wears off hours early in many people", inducing symptoms of opiate withdrawal and intense cravings for OxyContin. One doctor, Lawrence Robbins, told journalists that over 70% of his patients would report that OxyContin would only provide 4–7 hours of relief. Doctors in the 1990s often would switch their patients to a dosing schedule of once every eight hours when patients complained that the duration of action for OxyContin was too short to be taken only twice a day.