Subject: Eli Lily Will Stop Making Drug Misused in Assisted Suicides
Source: Portland Oregonian; November 13, 2001

Eli Lily Will Stop Making Drug Misused in Assisted Suicides

Portland, OR -- Oregon doctor Peter Rasmussen, who supports assisted
suicide, is elated that a judge's order bought him time to get lethal
prescriptions to his qualified patients under Oregon's legal assisted
suicide law. The order blocks until Nov. 20 a federal attempt to halt
Oregon's law.

But Rasmussen may now not be able to obtain the drug to kill his patients.
Secobarbital, the short-acting sedative and drug of choice for assisted
suicide, is in short supply, and the future availability of the drug is
unclear.

And an alternative, a drinkable form of pentobarbital, lacks the track
record of secobarbital, prescribed to 66 of the 70 patients reported by
health officials to have been killed under Oregon's law.

"When you have something that works, you want to stay with it. It's just
one less worry," said Rasmussen, a Salem oncologist with two patients
awaiting the medication to take their lives. "I suppose we could put out
an all-points bulletin for any pharmacy who has any in stock they'd be
willing to transfer."

Assisted suicide advocates remain optimistic that enough secobarbital,
trade name Seconal, will be found, at least for now. But the shortage
creates one more complication to the assisted suicide crusader's plans.
That Oregon advocates can't exactly lobby the manufacturer to make more
secobarbital so dying patients can commit suicide is emblematic of life in
a maverick state with its one-of-a-kind law.

"It would be hard to imagine a manufacturer saying, 'Yeah, we're going to
ramp up production on something so that the Oregon Death With Dignity Act
can prevail.' Not a real good PR shot," said Tom Holt, executive director
of the Oregon State Pharmacists Association.

Indeed, Eli Lilly, manufacturer of Seconal, and Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals,
which has marketed and distributed the drug since 1998, emphasize that
Seconal is only promoted for its federally approved uses as a sedative and
a hypnotic to quell anxiety and promote sleep.

Eli Lilly has been unable to get the raw materials to make Seconal from
its supplier and so has not been manufacturing the drug for several
months, spokeswoman Kindra Strupp said. When Eli Lilly's contract with New
Jersey-based Ranbaxy runs out in January, Eli Lilly is getting out of the
Seconal-making business altogether, Strupp said.

"Eli Lilly is a very innovation-driven company," Strupp said. "We are very
interested in what's up and coming in the pipeline and meeting unmet
medical needs."

Ranbaxy may pick up the manufacturing of secobarbital in January. But the
company is first sizing up the demand.

"It will be dependent on the market requirements for this product, which
have been diminishing over time," said Chuck Caprariello, vice president
of business development for Ranbaxy. "That decision has not been made."

Secobarbital isn't exactly a marketer's dream product.

First, it's highly addictive. Called Reds, Red Bullets and Red Dolls on
the street, it's the kind of drug people used in the '60s and '70s to tune
in and drop out. Second, an overdose can be fatal. Third, the drug is
nearly 40 years old, and newer drugs with fewer risks are available.

And then the clincher: Secobarbital is not particularly profitable. It
retails for about 65 cents per 100-milligram pill compared with $5 for a
40-milligram pill of Prozac, one of Eli Lilly's top sellers.

Rasmussen wondered if the Bush administration's opposition to assisted
suicide had any impact on Eli Lilly's decision to stop making the drug.

But Eli Lilly's Strupp said Oregon's assisted suicide law and the federal
ruling have "no bearing" on the company's plans regarding the
manufacturing of Seconal. "It was strictly a business decision," Strupp
said.

Barbara Coombs Lee, president of the Compassion in Dying Federation, which
advocates patients killing themselves if they wish, said she buys that
answer. "My radar was way up. But I do not think it's any kind of a plot,"
Lee said. "I think it's a genuine shortage."

Lee's organization hustled to get lethal doses to six patients last
Tuesday before Ashcroft's ruling took effect, shutting down use of
Oregon's law for a day until a judge issued the temporary restraining
order. Although sufficient doses were found for them, it took some work.

"We had to coordinate among pharmacies. Many pharmacies . . . have none,"
Lee said.