The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked pharmaceutical maker Purdue Pharma LP to pull all OxyContin advertisements printed in a widely read journal because they fail to properly warn readers of the medication's adverse side effects. The ads, which the FDA says "grossly misrepresent" the safety of OxyContin, appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association last fall and were aimed at physicians.

According to the FDA, Purdue failed to print on the main page of the ads that the painkiller may cause serious side effects and has the potential for abuse. The warnings were instead put in fine print on the following page, a violation of FDA drug advertising procedures. OxyContin, which produces a heroin-like sensation when crushed and snorted or injected, has been linked to dozens of overdose deaths.