SYDNEY — Joey Ellsworth can’t help but wonder if his troublesome life would be a lot easier had he never been prescribed OxyContin to treat a chronic illness he’s lived with for nearly half his life.

When he was 22, Ellsworth was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine.

The pain was constant and he needed relief.

"I couldn’t walk," Ellsworth, a Glace Bay resident and recovering addict, said Thursday. "They started me out on Percocet."

The opiate put a dent in his daily episodes but Ellsworth realized he needed more. He visited a physician who increased his dosage of Percocet and introduced him to OxyContin.

It provided instant relief.

"Nobody warned me about any addiction. I think they called it habit-forming."

By the time he realized he was addicted, Ellsworth’s daily prescribed intake was four Percocets and three OxyContin pills at 20 milligrams each.

Ellsworth said he began to pop more OxyContin than he was prescribed. Before long, he was looking at the bottom of an empty container with no way to get a refill. He couldn’t ask his physician to increase his dosage because he didn’t want to risk losing his prescription.

"You don’t want to rock the boat because the boat might sink."

His next step was to turn to crime.

"I became a thief," he said. "I’m out there stealing meat and stuff like that to support my habit. Without it I’d be, well, sick is not the word. You start thinking about suicide. What am I doing to my family and myself? I’m no good to nobody. This is what you go through."

He was married at the time and father to three children. The marriage fell apart six years ago.

Ellsworth said he completely blamed himself for a long time, but he’s now pointing a finger at Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin. In May, some of the company’s top executives were fined $634.5 million for claiming the drug was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications.

When Ellsworth heard about the hefty fine, he was furious. "I thought, ‘you dirty bastards,’" he said.

Ellsworth said if the makers told the truth, maybe his life would be different. Maybe he wouldn’t be on parole right now. Maybe he would still be married instead of being separated from his wife.

"Instead of relying on painkillers, they might have tried something different on me and maybe helped my arthritis."

It’s those kind of uncertainties that Ray Wagner, of the Halifax law firm Wagners, hopes to explore in a potential class-action lawsuit against Purdue.

In an advertisement that ran in Friday’s edition of the Cape Breton Post, Wagner invited people who prescribed OxyContin and became addicted to the painkiller to contact the law firm.

Wagner said earlier this week that claimants could become part of the possible lawsuit that could go national.

Ellsworth said he’s interested and hopes to make contact with Wagner.

The journal would give credibility to a new business news channel that Murdoch's company, News Corp, plans to put on cable television later this year.

News Corp's bid is worth about 65 percent more than Dow Jones' recent market share. Many U.S. newspapers are losing readers and advertisers to online news sources.

The most recent study shows U.S. newspaper circulation falling more than two percent over the past six months.

Delta Air Lines, the third-largest U.S. carrier, emerged from bankruptcy protection Monday after "a successful and efficient 19-month restructuring."

"Through our restructuring we have successfully repaired our balance sheet, improved the customer experience, expanded our international route system and built a platform for future success," said Delta chief executive Gerald Grinstein in a statement.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved Delta's exit from bankruptcy on April 25, according to the statement.

Delta has a 2.5 billion-dollar exit financing package that will be used to repay the company's 2.1 billion-dollar credit used during the bankruptcy process.

The Atlanta-based carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2005. It lost 6.2 billion dollars in 2006 amid a 5.4-billion charge for reorganization.

In the first quarter of this year, Delta posted a loss of 130 million dollars, marking a big improvement from the net loss of 2.1 billion dollars recorded in the same period a year ago.

Under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a company is free from the threat of creditors' lawsuits while it reorganizes its finances. The debtor usually retains control of the business and its assets.

In November last year, US Airways, the nation's sixth-largest carrier, announced a merger proposal to Delta "under which both companies would combine upon Delta's emergence from bankruptcy."

However, Delta said it planned "to emerge from bankruptcy as an independent airline."

South Korea will enforce a law banning unauthorized transfers of technology that could have an adverse impact on the economy and national defense from Saturday, said the country's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy on Thursday.

A newly created industrial technology protection committee will designate sensitive technologies and monitor their cross-border movements, said the ministry.

Under the law, private companies, universities and laboratories that received state research and development funds will have to get authorization before they export technology.

Small and medium enterprises that do not have the resources to protect their technology could receive funds and security training from the government, the ministry added.

The ministry said the new law defines the illegal transfer of technology as a felony and allows the government to confiscate any profits from such transfers.

According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, local companies and the government spend roughly 24 trillion won (25.8 billion U.S. dollars) each year on various research and development projects. 

Chile, Brazil and Colombia are the most attractive countries for private infrastructure investment in Latin America, said a report published on Wednesday.

Chile topped the list with 5.43 points, for "an extremely auspicious atmosphere for private investment", according to the Comparative Analysis of Private Infrastructure Investment report.

Brazil followed with 4.4 points, Colombia 4.33, Peru 4.23, Mexico 4.04, Uruguay 4.02, El Salvador 3.97, Argentina 3.41, Venezuela 3.37, Bolivia 3.34 and the Dominican Republic 3.33.

The study, presented at the second World Economic Forum for Latin America, attracted more than 400 business, social and political leaders.

Economist Irene Mia, one of the report's authors, told a press conference that the study came to its conclusion after taking into consideration the macro-economic environment, the legal framework, political risks, access to information and financial market development in each country.

The report divided the nations into four groups: Brazil, Peru, Chile and Colombia were showing good development in all key values.

Mexico and El Salvador were attractive for investment with good financial markets, but had poor civil society-government relationships.

Uruguay and the Dominican Republic had acceptable investment environments but lacked the basic infrastructure which opened the door to more complex private-sector infrastructure.

The final group, including Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela, had poor investment conditions and needed to adopt extensive reforms.

Essar Global Ltd, India's leading industrial company, has signed an agreement to acquire Minnesota Steel LLC, a U.S.-based iron ore firm, local media reported Thursday.

According to Daily News Analysis published in Mumbai, the deal will cost Essar Global 80 million to 90 million dollars.

The Minnesota Steel LLC controls 1.4 billion tons of iron ore in the Mesabi Iron Range in northeast Minnesota in the United States.

"Our investment in Minnesota Steel is exciting as it gives us a cornerstone in the North American market. From this we will further expand our global steel business," said Shashi Ruia, Essar Global chairman.

Moreover, the deal marked the first step of Essar Global to setup steel making facility with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons and investment of 1.65 billion U.S. dollars.

The facility will include iron ore mining, ore processing, direct reduction and steel making on a single site.

"GM posted record sales in the first quarter driven by exceptionally strong demand in emerging markets," said John Middlebrook, GM vice president, Global Sales, Service and Marketing Operations.

"We saw more than 20 percent growth in the Asia/Pacific region and had 17 percent growth in the Latin America, Africa and Middle East region," he said.

In the Asia/Pacific region, GM sold a record of 388,000 vehicles. GM remained the top-selling automaker in China and sold 100,000 vehicles in a month for only the second time.

In the Latin America, Africa and Middle East region, GM sales reached an industry-best 269,000 vehicles, a record for the fist quarter and up 17 percent in volume compared with 2006. Sales in Brazil were up 12 percent for the quarter.