Oxycodone

Fort Hope, Ontario, is one of a handful of communities in Canada where addiction to the powerful narcotic painkiller OxyContin runs rampant. An estimated 80 percent of working-age adults there abuse the prescription drug, and it’s stretching the resources of the community and leading the drastic increases in crime.

Today an FDA advisory panel meets with lawmakers to hammer out voluntary best practices for doctors who prescribe opiates. But in loosening restrictions for such cases, the FDA opened a window for wider prescriptions — and for abuse.