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THE ROANOKE TIMES

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   The Food and Drug Administration has postponed a two-day hearing that was expected to focus on the prescription painkiller OxyContin.

    The Anesthetic and Life Support Drug Advisory Committee was scheduled to convene today in Rockville, Md., but the meeting was put off because of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., an FDA official said.

    A new date has not been scheduled.

    OxyContin, which has proven highly effective in treating moderate to severe pain, is also easily converted into a street drug with devastating effects in parts of Western Virginia, where at least 55 people have died of fatal overdoses from its active ingredient.

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