# OxyContin **OxyContin** is the brand name of a controlled-release oral formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride, manufactured by [[Purdue Pharma]] from its 1996 US launch through the present (now under the Knoa Pharma post-bankruptcy entity). It is the central product of the American opioid crisis: the drug whose 1996 launch, deceptive marketing, and post-1996 dose-escalation strategy initiated **Wave 1** of an epidemic that has killed more than 800,000 Americans (1999–2024). The molecule (oxycodone) is a century-old semi-synthetic opioid roughly twice as potent as morphine, derived from the opium-poppy alkaloid thebaine. The innovation in OxyContin was not the molecule but the **controlled-release coating** — the same technology Purdue had used in MS Contin (oral morphine sulfate, US launch 1984). The clinical promise was 12-hour pain relief without the peaks-and-troughs of immediate-release oxycodone, and (per Purdue's marketing) reduced addictive potential because the delayed release would prevent the rapid blood-level spike thought to drive euphoria-and-craving cycles. The marketing claim was not supported by clinical trials. The FDA-approved label included, at Purdue's request, the language "Delayed absorption as provided by OxyContin tablets, is believed to reduce the abuse liability of a drug" — without underlying evidence. The label was changed under FDA pressure in 2001. Street users had already discovered that crushing the controlled-release tablet defeated the time-release coating and produced an immediate, snortable or injectable dose of pure oxycodone — at quantities (the 80mg pill in particular) far exceeding any other oral opioid dose available. The 2010 reformulation (OxyContin OP) made the tablet harder to crush; street users substituted to heroin within months, initiating Wave 2 of the crisis. OxyContin remains FDA-approved and is, in narrow clinical contexts (end-of-life cancer pain), an appropriate medication. The legacy of the 1996–2010 marketing campaign — and Purdue's $35B+ in OxyContin revenue, the Sackler family's $11B+ in pre-bankruptcy wealth transfers, the 2007 and 2020 federal guilty pleas, the 2024 Supreme Court ruling in [[Harrington v. Purdue Pharma]], and the 2025 $7.4B settlement — is what the drug name signifies in American public discourse. ## See Also - [[Purdue Pharma]] — the manufacturer - [[Sackler Family]] — the owners - [[Opioid Crisis Timeline]] — the chronological story - [[Harrington v. Purdue Pharma]] — the 2024 SCOTUS ruling - [[Pseudoaddiction]] — the term used to justify dose escalation - [[McKinsey & Company]] — the consultancy that designed the post-2010 "turbocharge" sales strategy - [[War on Drugs Timeline]] — the parallel carceral story