Insurer To Purdue Pharma: We Won't Pay For OxyContin Anymore

The largest insurer in Tennessee has announced it will no longer cover prescriptions for what was once a blockbuster pain reliever. It's the latest insurance company to turn against OxyContin, whose maker, Purdue Pharma, faces dozens of lawsuits related to its high-pressure sales tactics around the country and contribution to the opioid crisis. Last fall, Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida both dropped coverage of the drug. Top officials at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee say newer abuse-deterrent opioids work better, and starting in January, the insurer covering 3.4 million Tennesseans will pay for those opioids made by other pharmaceutical companies instead. "We felt it was time to move to those products and remove Oxycontin from the formulary, which does still continue to have a higher street value," says Natalie Tate, the company's vice president of pharmacy. OxyContin was reformulated in 2010 to make the drug harder to misuse — but it's still possible to crush or