title: The OxyContin crisis: problematisation and responsibilisation strategies in addiction, pain, and general medicine journals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  OxyContin(®) (Purdue Pharma, L.P., Stamford, CT) is now widely regarded as a drug of abuse fueling a larger opioid health crisis. While coverage in the North American press about OxyContin overwhelmingly focused upon the problems of related crime and addiction/misuse and the perspectives of law enforcement officials and police, coverage in those fields of medicine most intimately concerned with OxyContin-pain medicine and addiction medicine-was more nuanced.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this article, we draw upon the constructivist social problems tradition and Hunt's theory of moral regulation in a qualitative analysis of 24 medical journal articles. We compare and contrast pain medicine and addiction medicine representations of the OxyContin problem, the agents responsible for it, and proposed solutions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While there are some significant differences, particularly concerning the nature of the problem and the agents responsible for it, both pain medicine and addiction medicine authors 'take responsibility' in ways that attempt to mitigate the potential appropriation of the issue by law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The responses of pain medicine and addiction medicine journal articles represent strategic moves to recapture lost credibility, to retain client populations and tools necessary to their jobs, and to claim a seat at the table in responding to the OxyContin crisis.
authors: Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University, 6135 University Avenue, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada. Electronic address: emma.whelan@dal.ca.
authors: Emma
authors: E
authors: Whelan
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Asbridge
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D010098:Oxycodone / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D010098:Oxycodone
keywords: Addiction medicine; Moral regulation; OxyContin; Pain medicine; Social problems