Side Effects of Oxycontin, Other Opioids Linked to Fractures, Death: Study

Older adults taking OxyContin and codeine may face a higher risk of bone fractures and death, according to the findings of a new study by U.S. researchers. 

The study was published on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, comparing the risks of a number of drugs designed to alleviate pain.

Researchers found that mortality was particularly elevated among older adults when given codeine and OxyContin, but they also found that patients suffered a higher number of cardiovascular events when given codeine. Patients prescribed all opioids were more likely to suffer bone fractures and some increased risk of death.

The researchers, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, looked at Medicare medical records for nearly 13,000 patients treated in Pennsylvania and New Jersey from January 1999 through December 2005 and compared a wide variety of painkillers, including opioids like OxyContin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like Advil and Motrin. They found that older adults given opioids faced a 68% increase in overall health risks, and an 87% increased risk of death when compared to those given NSAIDs.

OxyContin and codeine were the standouts among the opioids, with both drugs being associated with double the risk of death within 30 days of being prescribed when compared to other opioids, like hydrocodone.

The study did not find a causal link between the increased rates of death and bone fractures, however researchers concluded that the results of their study should “prompt caution and further study.”

OxyContin (0xycodone) is a form of the narcotic oxycodone that is designed to release the painkilling medication into the bloodstream gradually over a 12-hour period. Approved by the FDA in 1996, drug abusers quickly discovered that the pill could be crushed and snorted or inhaled for an instant high. Often referred to on the street as “Hillbilly Heroin” or “Killers,” the drug has been linked to hundreds of drug overdoses and deaths.

The pill is the best-selling prescription pain medication in the United States, with more than $2 billion in annual sales.

In 2007, Purdue Pharma executives plead guilty to criminal charges that they made false and misleading statements downplaying the addiction side effects of Oxycontin to doctors.