OxyContin maker drops out of FDA meeting to review newer, abuse-deterrent tablet

The makers of the potent painkiller OxyContin have pulled out of a federal meeting scheduled for next week to review the company's harder-to-abuse version of the much-debated drug.

An executive for Purdue Pharma says the company wants more time to review and analyze its data. As a result, the company has withdrawn its application that was slated to be reviewed before a Food and Drug Administration committee next week.

FDA meetings are typically planned months in advance and cancellations are highly unusual.

OxyContin — which has long been associated with risks of addiction and overdose — is formulated to discourage patients from crushing the tablets for snorting or injection. Next week's meeting was intended to evaluate whether those features actually translate into reduced rates of abuse by chronic pain patients.