But the surest way to slow the overprescribing is to stop the rebates.

It has been argued that long-term use of hypnotics and overprescribing of these drugs represents an unjustifiable risk, especially to the elderly, and is harmful for the public health in general.

To the Editor: The Food and Drug Administration, with good intentions, has overreacted and opened the floodgates of fear and malpractice litigation ("Overprescribing Prompted Warning on Antidepressants," news article, March 24).

The doctors we investigate and prosecute commit criminal acts like writing fraudulent prescriptions to support their own substance abuse, exchanging prescriptions for sexual favors or monetary kickbacks, or gross overprescribing that results in grave harm to patients.

While the undertreatment of pain has led to lawsuits - recently, a California court issued a judgment against a Bay Area internist for undertreating a terminally ill patient's cancer pain - so has the overprescribing of OxyContin in cases of patient abuse.