Researchers from the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital have attempted to answer these questions. They studied more than 26,300 adults who reported using prescription opioids within the past month of a survey conducted November 2005 through December 2009. The adults in this study were ages 18 to 70, whose drug use was being tracked through a national monitoring system called the National Addictions Vigilance Intervention and Prevention Program.

The research team found that many abused opiates in conjunction with other prescription and/or illicit drugs, and that many of these adults were suffering from psychiatric conditions along with their substance abuse. Only 19% were using the drugs as prescribed.

Dr. Traci Green and her colleagues classified the adults using opiate drugs into four groups: those who use them as prescribed (19%); those who had prescriptions but were misusing the drugs (27%); medically healthy abusers (36%); and illicit users (18%). Over 80% were determined to be at risk for death by overdose, and an additional 18% were at risk for blood-borne infections such as HIV.

The research team also studied these adults in terms of age, race, ethnicity, concurrent drug use, onset and duration of drug abuse, route of administration, and comorbid psychiatric and medical problems. They reported that patient education and expanding prescription monitoring programs would have little effect in stopping or helping opioid abusers, many of whom do not receive regular care from the medical profession. Many of the opioid abusers have psychiatric and medical problems that are not being addressed in formal treatment programs.

“Our results add to a growing body of research indicating that prescription opiate products are being abused and misused in ways that call for more nuanced and public health-oriented post-marketing surveillance and risk management responses that have been proposed heretofore,” said Dr. Green, lead author of the study.

The study appears in the journal PLoS ONE.

Majority of Opioid Painkiller Abusers Do Not Receive Medical Treatment is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Oxycodone: The Father of All Codones

Oxycodone is an opiate that is legitimately prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain. In the body, the drug converts to morphine and affects the dopamine centers of the brain. When abused, oxycodone produces a sense of euphoria, followed by alternating periods of sleep and wakefulness.

Trade names for oxycodone include Percodan, Percocet and Tylox, as well as the controlled-release form, OxyContin, which is designed to provide up to 12 hours of pain relief. People who abuse OxyContin typically crush the tablets to eliminate the timed-release mechanism, and then swallow, snort or inject the powder.

Although oxycodone may initially be covered by insurance (typically following surgery, injury or an accident), once the cost is no longer covered, a single pill can cost $20 to $40 on the street. This leads some oxycodone abusers to harder, cheaper drugs like heroin. Over time, tolerance develops and the user needs larger doses just to feel normal.

Once addicted to oxycodone, users can be overpowered by intense drug cravings, stopping at nothing to get more of the drug. Those who abruptly stop using the drug may experience oxycodone withdrawal. Symptoms of withdrawal include vomiting, involuntary leg movements, irregular heartbeat, sweating, muscle cramps, bone and joint pain, insomnia, diarrhea, and anxiety.

Hydrocodone: Don’t Mess with Mama

Hydrocodone use has quadrupled in the past decade, making it one of the most abused prescription drugs in the U.S. Hydrocodone is a powerful narcotic painkiller that has been combined with aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen to produce a number of prescription drugs, including Vicodin, Lorcet and Lortab. Sometimes described as a “white collar” addiction, hydrocodone sells for $2 to $10 per pill on the street.

People who use hydrocodone without a prescription, take more than prescribed, request prescriptions from multiple doctors or require large doses to feel normal may be struggling with hydrocodone addiction. In addition to the risk of addiction, the other medications combined with hydrocodone (such as Tylenol) are dangerous in large doses.

Roxicodone: A Baby with a Bite

“Roxi” is a cute name for a powerfully addictive narcotic painkiller. The active ingredient, oxycodone hydrochloride, provides instant pain relief. Roxicodone can be taken orally but is often smoked or injected when abused. In addition to euphoria, roxicodone side effects can include respiratory problems, muscle aches, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, anxiety, itchy skin, blurred vision, and fatigue.

Most people who use oxycodone, hydrocodone or roxicodone will not become addicted – but for those that do, this family can bring dysfunction into every aspect of life. Prescription narcotics are leading the prescription drug abuse epidemic, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake. Armed with knowledge, you can protect yourself and keep the Codone family far away from yours.

Meet the ‘Codones’ is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The truth turned out to be more shocking. Dr. Stidham’s partner, Dr. Bradley Schwartz, had hired a hit man to murder him. Police said that Dr. Schwartz was jealous and angry with Dr. Stidham, who was leaving their practice and taking many patients with him. Dr. Stidham had testified about Dr. Schwartz’ addiction to Vicodin after his federal indictment on drug charges.

Dr. Schwartz is one of many physicians who have harmed themselves, their families, their colleagues and their patients because of untreated drug addictions. The rate of prescription drug abuse among doctors is five times higher than the national average, and some are practicing medicine while under the influence of drugs, usually painkillers. At any given time, between 10% to 15% of all physicians have substance abuse problems.

Some of their stories are truly horrific:

Dr. Brian West, a doctor struggling with substance abuse, botched the reconstruction breast surgery of a cancer patient so badly that she had to forego chemotherapy and other treatments, which in turn contributed to her death.

In 2007, a dermatologist addicted to hydrocodone did not stitch a nose properly on to a patient’s face, leaving it dangling after surgery.

In 2006, a St. Louis surgeon operating under the influence of drugs put a hole in a patient’s colon.

A young medical professional in Denver repeatedly replaced drugs in syringes with a saline solution so she could inject herself with them. By neglecting to sterilize needles, she exposed 6,000 patients to Hepatitis C.

Another health professional, this time in Minneapolis, is facing charges of stealing painkillers from a patient undergoing kidney surgery. This addict told the patient to "man up and take on some of the pain yourself."

"The American public has accepted the idea that a physician works in their patients’ best interests," said Dr. Lucian Leape, a professor of public health at Harvard University, "but in the past 20 years, there’s more and more evidence that we have definite problems."

The main reason for physicians’ high rate of drug abuse is that they are in an extremely stressful profession is extremely stressful and have easy accessibility to drugs. As one expert put it, those two factors plus a genetic propensity toward drug abuse means a doctor with an addiction.

Another factor is that doctors have trouble identifying and diagnosing behavior-based diseases, such as obesity, alcoholism and drug addiction because medical education is slanted toward the use of procedures and medications to treat conditions. One panel of experts concluded in 1996 that primary care doctors are inadequately trained to diagnose and help people who have substance abuse problems, which makes it harder for them to identify the problem among their colleagues.

Because of their superior intellects, doctors can be extraordinarily talented and creative at hiding their addictions from their colleagues and patients. Since they know the symptoms of addiction, they also know how to mask them and how to fake urine tests. One doctor who was drinking three bottles of vodka a day actually devised a chemical concoction of drugs she took every morning to disguise her hangovers.

Only a few hospitals and organizations require medical professionals to undergo random drug testing, although such tests are routine in other professions where people’s lives depend on the competence of the person in charge. For example, pilots undergo drug tests and can be fired if they fail a test even once. The American Medical Association does not even have a drug testing policy, and relies upon each state to set up a government-supervised Physician Health Program or PHP. Doctors who have problems with drugs can be referred to a PHP and required to go through therapy and sometimes even residential treatment programs. Most continue to practice medicine while they are in treatment. However, most experts, including Dr. Leape, believe that the majority of doctors with drug problems escape detection by PHP monitoring boards, and their colleagues and patients.

"Medicine tolerates bad behavior that in any other profession would be unacceptable," he said.

The thing is that physicians who do enter treatment have a superior rate of recovery. One of the few studies performed about this issue found that of 904 doctors enrolled in PHPs, 78% were able to abstain from drugs during the five years of the study. Dr. Mark Gold concluded this study by saying, "Treatment works. It is safe, effective, and cost effective."

Doctors are often the last people to reach out for help. As Dr. Michael Wilks, an Australian doctor who struggled with substance abuse said, "Doctors are taught to be decisive and they are treated with respect. So to ask for help you have to climb off your pedestal and admit you have a problem." Doctors don’t want to reach out for that help because they don’t understand that a real addict cannot help himself."

The thing is if when doctors who abuse drugs do reach out for help, they can and do overcome the problem.

Bibliography

"Addicted doctors still treat patients," CNN News, March 31, 2003.

"Beloved doctors murdered in cold blood," CBS News, and 48 Hours TV Show, Oct. 27, 2007.

Cox, Lauren. "Urine Drug Tests for Doctors?" ABC News, November 12, 2008.

Gilbert, Susan. "Doctors found to fail in diagnosing addictions," The New York Times, Feb. 14, 1996.

Guadagnino, Christopher. "Treating Physician Drug Abuse," Physicians’ News, March 1997.

Malone, Andrew. "Why are so many doctors addicted to drink or drugs?" The Daily Mail, May 13, 2010.

Markel, Howard. "Treatment for addiction meets barriers in the doctors’ office," The New York Times, Oct. 21, 2003.

McGrath, Tim. "Is your doc addicted?" Men’s Health, May 14, 2010.

McGrath, Tim. "Addicted doctors put patients in peril," Men’s Health, June 24, 2010. Also seen on msnbc.news.

McKinney, Matt. "Nurse accused of stealing pain meds in treatment," The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Feb. 17, 2011.

Thompson, Cheryl. "Medical boards let physicians practice despite drug abuse," Washington Post, April 10, 2005.

"Treating Drug-addicted doctors is good medicine," Science Daily, March 1, 2009.

Zaroff, Larry (M.D.) "A Bout with Addiction, for the doctor who has everything," New York Times, May 9, 2006.

When a Doctor Has a Substance Abuse Problem is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University say that few doctors give adequate attention to prescribing opioids to patients, despite the high risk of abuse, addiction and overdose.

In a study published online March 2 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the researchers found that there was not appropriate monitoring for opioid prescriptions, even when the patient was at a high risk of opioid misuse with a history of drug abuse or dependence.

Lead author Joanna Starrels, M.D., M.S., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Einstein, explains that the findings of the study provide support for a standardized approach to monitoring.

The research team evaluated the administrative and medical records for over 1,600 patients who were receiving prescription opioids for chronic, non-cancer pain. The records were analyzed for whether urine drug testing occurred, whether the patients were seen regularly in the office and whether the patients received multiple early refills for opioids.

Very few of the patients (about 8 percent) were asked to provide a urine test. While testing was highest among those who were considered high-risk for abuse, the testing among those patients was only 24 percent. About half of patients given opioid prescriptions were seen regularly in the office and the frequency was not increased for those at a higher risk of opioid abuse.

While less than a quarter (23 percent) of patients received two or more early opioid prescription refills, patients considered at a greater risk for misuse were more likely to receive multiple early refills.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse reported in 2004 that 48 million people over the age of 12 have taken prescription drugs for nonmedical uses in their lifetime. This equates to about 20 percent of the total population. Among the drugs most commonly misused were opioids.

While many doctors are aware of the risk of prescription opioid abuse, many do not have a set of standardized procedures to prevent the misuse of prescription opioids by their patients. The findings of this study highlight the need for a process that will prevent multiple early refills and require periodic office visits by patients prescribed with opioids.

Standardized Monitoring Needed for Prescription Painkillers is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The DPI’s Safe and Drug-Free Program’s Steve Fernan is surprised so many students say they have experimented with prescription drugs. "The fact that at least 20% said that they had at least once was surprising. So again as we look at this further, we can begin to determine if there is a growing or declining trend,” he said. The study found that 11% of high school students took prescription drugs to get high.

Department of Justice Special Agent Brian Dunlap says prescription drug abuse is leading to drug overdose deaths among teens and surpassing illegal drug overdoses in Wisconsin.

"So if you look at coke, crack, methamphetamine, add all those together, just the OxyContins account for more deaths on an annual basis than all those other drugs combined,” he says.

Dunlap says statistics from the four-county area of Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac, and Calumet show more deaths from prescription pain killers among teens than from street drugs, and he believes this trend is reflected statewide.

One in Five Wisconsin Teens Have Abused Prescription Drugs is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

“With the help of my family and team of medical professionals, I am taking responsibility for the management of my pain and am eager to be back on the stage and in the recording studio with my bandmates Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton, and Brad Whitford,” Tyler says in a statement released to People.

“I love Aerosmith; I love performing as the lead singer in Aerosmith,” he adds. “I am grateful for all of the support and love I am receiving and am committed to getting things taken care of.”

“My family and I are in complete support of my dad’s decision to seek treatment. He is a courageous man. We love him and are so proud that he is getting help to balance his pain management, not just for himself but for his family, friends and fans,” says his daughter, Liv Tyler.

Tyler, 61, has suffered orthopedic injuries over the past decade that have left him with “severe chronic pain” and will require additional surgeries on his knees and feet, says his physician, Dr. Brian McKeon, Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopedics at Tufts School of Medicine.

“Managing and controlling his pain has been challenging, and despite our use of alternative therapies and the creation of custom shoes built by a team of engineers from Timberland, Steven’s pain has progressed,” says McKeon, who is also the team doctor for the Boston Celtics.

“The balance between managing his pain and avoiding addiction is tenuous and difficult and his bravery in persevering through rigorous touring is admirable. As with many athletes, Steven put his performance first as he struggled with acute pain for years.”

Tyler’s bandmates expressed concern for his well-being – and the future of Aerosmith – after he fell off stage during a concert in August, breaking his shoulder.

“I think that he needs help and that attention needs to be put to his health,” drummer Kramer told People, adding that Tyler, who had battled drug addiction in the ’70s and ‘80s, had “isolated himself.”

Steven Tyler in Rehab for Painkiller Addiction is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

No One Starts Out Trying to Abuse Drugs

Unless someone is deliberately suicidal, they generally don’t start out trying to abuse drugs. Drug abuse, dependence and addiction occur over time. And, no, it isn’t just illegal drugs that cause addiction. Millions of Americans are addicted to one or more prescription drugs. What typically happens is you have some medical problem and you go to your doctor to find out what it is and what can be done about it. Let’s say you fall and hurt your low back. This is common enough and certainly something we can all relate to. The doctor asks some questions such as how long you’ve had the condition, what brought it on, where the pain hurts, when does it hurt most, what type of pain is it, and other questions. He then performs a physical examination and orders X-rays. Since you’re in pain, he gives you a prescription for a painkiller, an opiate.

Opiates are narcotics, and because they have a high potential for addiction, they are generally prescribed for only 1 to 2 weeks. Depending on the level of pain, your doctor may prescribe varying strengths of opiate. Some of the more common are:

• Codeine (Tylenol-3)
• Fentanyl (Actiq)
• Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, Norco, Panlor)
• Methadone (Dolophine, Methadose)
• Morphine (MS Contin, Oramorph SR, Avinza)
• Oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, Percolone)
• Propoxyphene (Darvocet-N)

You take the medication for the prescribed period, but find that you still have pain. You may go back to the same doctor or see another one and repeat the same procedure. What you’re looking for is a new prescription for another painkiller. The problem with this is that you are contributing to your own addiction.

According to WebMD, opiates are not intended to be taken until all the pain goes away. Their intended use is just to get patients through the most severe pain. By continuing to take opiates, you risk dependence and addiction. Long-term abuse of opiates leads to potentially severe withdrawal symptoms when you suddenly stop taking them.

What happens after you’ve been taking opiates, or some other prescription drug with a high potential for addiction, and you realize you’re hooked? You certainly didn’t want to become dependent on the drug, but once you are, you’re in for a difficult time getting off your dependence.

One Plus More Doesn’t Mean Better

If you have a nagging pain that sometimes becomes acute and you have a prescription from your doctor in the medicine cabinet, it’s tempting to pop more than one pill to make the pain go away faster. At least, that’s what you tell yourself. The truth is, however, that taking more than the recommended dose does not make it better. In fact, it could lead to complications that may be uncomfortable, dangerous, or potentially life threatening.

Watch Out for Drug Interactions
Many Americans, especially the elderly, take multiple prescription medications on a daily basis. It’s not uncommon for a diabetic woman in her 80s, who also suffers from heart disease, high blood pressure and early Alzheimer’s, to be taking insulin, a blood thinner, blood pressure medication and several more medications. Recent studies show that the average person over 65 takes between two and seven prescription medications daily.

Some people who regularly take numerous medications have a system to ensure they take their pills in the right order and at the right time. This may be a pill container with pills portioned out for each day, or pill bottles lined up on the kitchen counter in the order they are to be taken, bottles numbered in sequence, ribbons tied around some, markings made with multi-colored felt tip pens on others. In short, it’s a mixed bag. The trouble is, mistakes happen all the time.

Grandma forgets that she already took her heart medicine this morning, so she takes it again, along with her lunch and a few more medications she usually takes at that time. Grandpa complains that somebody stole his medication because he knows he didn’t take it and the pills don’t add up right. He takes his medicine a second time. Both of these examples illustrate what can happen with the elderly due to forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty concentrating or other problems associated with aging.

The risk for drug interactions, along with food/drug interactions and side effects, increases with such mistakes. Some medications, when taken out of sequence or in combination with other medications, may not work or may result in dangerous side effects. It’s an unfortunate fact that most adverse drug reactions reported each year involve people older than 60.

Never Mix Drugs and Alcohol

This should be a no-brainer, but it isn’t. Despite printed warnings on prescription labels, warnings on TV advertisements for medications, numerous newspaper, TV and Internet stories about the dangers of mixing drugs and alcohol, people still do it.

According to Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines, a publication from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), mixing alcohol with medications puts you at risk for dangerous reactions. Here are just a few of the many conditions for which medications are commonly prescribed and the interactions of those drugs with alcohol.

• Allergies/colds/flu – drowsiness, dizziness, increased risk for overdose
• Angina (chest pain), coronary heart disease – rapid heartbeat, sudden changes in blood pressure, dizziness, fainting
• Blood clots – occasional drinking may lead to internal bleeding; heavier drinking may cause bleeding or have the opposite effect, resulting in blood clots, strokes or heart attacks
• Diabetes – abnormally low blood sugar levels, nausea, vomiting, headache, rapid heartbeat, sudden changes in blood pressure
• High blood pressure – dizziness, drowsiness, fainting, heart problems (such as arrhythmia, changes in the heart’s regular heartbeat
• Muscle pain – drowsiness, dizziness, increased risk of seizures, increased risk for overdose, memory problems, impaired motor control, slowed or difficulty breathing

Know who is taking what

How many individuals are in your household? How many of them are regularly taking prescription medications? Who dispenses the medication? Do you rely on the individual to self dispense, or do you make it a practice to remind them or put the medicine out for them to take?

The reason these questions are important is that it is so easy to lose track of who’s taking what and for what condition. Without some system of oversight, there are bound to be dosing errors, medication not taken at the proper times or at all, or medicines taken together that shouldn’t be. Someone has to take responsibility for this. Who is it in your house?

If there are only two adults, say a husband and wife, you’d think that each person should be able to handle their own medication schedule. That’s true to a point. But what often happens is that one person is usually the one to order and pick up prescription refills so that ongoing prescriptions don’t run out. The other person, who may be taking the medication, just follows his or her daily routine of taking it. It would be logical for the one who orders the medications to somehow keep tabs on all the medications in the household. In other words, institute a tracking system for who’s taking what.

Take an inventory, marking what medications are for what condition, how often the medicine is to be taken, who takes it, when it should be taken, and anything else pertinent. Once this is in place, it becomes easier to notice gaps, or something out of the ordinary.

Knowing what medications your loved one is taking will also help you to be able to quickly spot a potential drug interaction – with another drug and/or food. And, if some new medications are introduced, keep a close eye for any indications of side effects.

Mind Expiration Dates

Never permit outdated medications to remain in the medicine cabinet or anywhere else. While some medications may be effective for some period of time after their expiration date, it’s not a good idea to take the chance. This is especially true for life-saving medicines for heart conditions, diabetes, and other conditions.

Go through the house today and toss out all expired medications. If some of these are still necessary, contact your doctor to get a new prescription. Write the expiration date of the newly-obtained medication on the tracking list along with other pertinent information.

Ensure Safety Precautions

While we’re on the subject of inventory and expiration dates, here’s another important tip. If you have young children or teenagers in the house, or if your elderly parents or other relatives live with you, take appropriate safety precautions for all medications. Keep them locked up in a medicine cabinet.

Does this sound extreme? You may be surprised to know that teenagers say the easiest way to obtain prescription medications – that they take for non-medical purposes – is to simply raid their parents’ medicine cabinet or one at the home of their friends. Eager to experiment, test the bounds, fit in with the crowd, and take risks, adolescents and teens gravitate toward this “open candy store” pharmacopeia. Alcohol is often involved and the results can be catastrophic. Mixing prescription drugs used for non-medical purposes with alcohol can lead to impaired driving, overdose, seizures, increased heartbeat, increased blood pressure, stroke, unconsciousness, coma and death.

Ask for Pharmacist Consult

Whenever you get a new prescription, ask for a consult with the pharmacist. Inquire what potential side effects this new drug has, and how it may interact with other medication you or someone else you’re getting the prescription for takes. Of course, the best practice is to have all your prescription drugs filled at the same pharmacy. If you do most of your ongoing prescriptions through a mail-order pharmacy, contact their customer service department and speak with a pharmacist to ask the appropriate questions.

End Date

Surely none of us wants to go on taking medication forever. Even if we have an ongoing condition, the possibility exists that the doctor can reduce the strength or frequency of a prescription. He or she may even recommend we stop taking it at a certain point.

Make it a practice to ask your doctor how long you’ll need to take this medication. Bring in your list of medicines that you currently take and go through each one with the doctor. This is especially important if you’ve obtained prescriptions at other doctors. Your primary doctor should advise you on the protocol for keeping, reducing, changing or quitting medications. This may be done in consult with the original prescribing doctor.

Take Charge of your Health

There’s no better way to keep on top of what to expect than to be proactive. It’s up to you to become knowledgeable about the medicines you take, how they may affect you, how they can interact with other prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, food and/or alcohol. It’s also important that you know your body and be alert to signs that something’s wrong.

Don’t just take medication like it’s a vitamin. Medicines are very powerful. They can, in some instances, and when taken correctly, mean the difference between life and death. When taken without regard for the dangers, or abused and taken to the point of dependence and addiction, they can also mean the difference between life and death – in this case, unintended.

Know that addiction to prescription drugs can easily sneak up on you if you’re not paying attention to the signs. Take as little medication as you need for the shortest period of time. If you find that you do get into trouble, feeling a dependence on the prescription drug, seek medical attention and counseling.

Bottom line: be smart about prescription addiction. The life you save may be your own (or that of your loved one).

Be Smart About Prescription Addiction: What You Don’t Know May Kill You is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The actor’s manager, Erik Kritzer, said in a statement that Reynolds was struggling after a recent back surgery and “realized that he was in the prison of prescription pain pills.” Kritzer said Reynolds hopes his story will help others in similar situations and that they will not try to solve the problem by themselves.

In the 1980s, Reynold’s career was nearly destroyed when prescription drug abuse led to false rumors that he was infected with the AIDS virus. He hurt his jaw making the 1984 comedy “City Heat” with Clint Eastwood. Barely able to eat, he lost 50 pounds and looked ill and emaciated.

“For two years I couldn’t get a job,” Reynolds told the Associated Press in 1990. “I had to take five physicals to get a job. I had to take the pictures that were offered to me. I did action pictures because I was trying to prove that I was well.”

He was diagnosed with temporomandibular joint disorder, which affects the area that connects the jaw to the skull and can result in significant pain. Reynolds then confessed to a reliance on the sleeping aid Halcion.

He eventually regained his health and his career, first in the TV series “Evening Shade” and then as the porn movie impresario Jack Horner in the 1997 hit movie “Boogie Nights.” He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for best supporting actor.

Burt Reynolds Enters Rehab is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

While the problem exists in every state, Kentucky led the nation in the abuse of prescription drugs last year, according to the state’s Office of Drug Control Policy. Prescription drug abuse is particularly rampant in Eastern Kentucky. Last year alone, at least 485 people in Kentucky died from prescription drug overdoses. Medical examiners’ records indicate that the drugs most commonly found in those deaths were methadone, oxycodone (found in OxyContin), hydrocodone (found in Vicodin), alprazolam (the anti-anxiety drug Xanax), morphine, diazepam (Valium), and fentanyl.

“It’s an epidemic and I’m afraid we’re losing a whole generation,” Beth Lewis Maze told MSBNC.com. Maze is the Chief Circuit Judge for the 21st Judicial Circuit in Kentucky. “These pain medications are so highly addictive that these young people are digging themselves a very deep hole.” Maze said she sees people from all walks of life at the newly formed drug court. “I see good kids from good families, doctors, lawyers, teachers,” she said.

Greenup County Coroner Neil Wright says that prescription drug abuse is “public enemy number one.” Half of the 50 deaths he logged last year were drug related, and 85 to 90 percent of them involved prescription drug overdoses. “It affects everybody,” he said. “I don’t care, rich, poor, educated or non-educated, it affects everybody.”

“We are drowning in a sea of prescription medication,” said Greenup County Sheriff Keith Cooper, speaking of the many evidence bags he sees that are filled with prescription pill bottles and cash seized during drug arrests. He said that the number of crimes committed by addicts looking for money to buy painkillers have skyrocketed.

At Shepherd’s Shelter in Mount Sterling, KY, run by Pastor Wayne Ross, almost all of the 50 residents are struggling to overcome prescription drug addiction. Kay Fultz, 36, is currently a resident at the shelter and said that she was taking as many as 50 oxycodone pills a day and was selling drugs to support her habit.

“It just starts out as a party drug, you know, every now and then,” Fultz said of oxycodone. “Once you start doing it every day, I mean it just takes compete control of your life.” She also said it’s very simple to obtain, but that once you’re addicted, the costs are severe. “I’ve lost everything. I’ve lost everything and it’s so easy to do.”

Ross asked his residents where they obtained their prescription drugs, and every person in the room had either traveled to Florida to buy them or had purchased them from someone who had bought the pills in Florida. The state has become a notorious destination for addicts and drug dealers in the southeastern US, as pain clinics flourish there and some of them dispense hundreds of drugs after a cursory medical exam.

Fultz explained that you can go to Florida and get everything you need within 24 hours. She added that the medical exam she was given at a Florida pain clinic was not professional at all, and that she was able to obtain drugs by pretending to suffer from pain. “I mean, they look at your MRI, ask you how you are feeling—‘I’m feeling pretty bad’—and you leave there with pills,” she explained.

Local police, federal agents, and medical officials in Florida are targeting prescription drug sales, and they recently passed a law to start regulating and monitoring pain clinics late next year. Kentucky and most other states already have such monitoring laws in place, making it much more difficult for users and addicts to obtain large amounts of prescription drugs.

Sam Kissick, a Kentucky resident who recently lost his 22-year-old daughter Savannah to prescription drug overdose, said, “The drugs, they don’t discriminate and it can happen to anybody. You may never have any idea that your child is exploring or fooling with prescription drugs at all, until they’ve already gone too far with it.”

Prescription Drug Abuse Called an Epidemic in Kentucky is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

“Demerol, Demerol. Oh, God, he’s taking Demerol” are very poignant lyrics from Michael Jackson’s 1997 song “Morphine.” With Jackson’s shocking death on June 25, 2009, many questions have arisen, the most popular one being whether he died from a drug overdose. Jackson had a long and tumultuous affair with prescription drugs during the course of his life, and as more information surrounding his death surfaces, it is appearing more likely that drugs did in fact end his life. But what exactly is Demerol aside from Jackson’s drug of choice?

Demerol is the brand name for the narcotic meperidine (also known as pethidine) and it is a member of the opioid class of drugs. It is used as a pain reliever for moderate to severe pain and produces similar results as morphine. The narcotic is only available by prescription and comes in tablet, syrup, or injectable forms. Individuals who have taken the drug often experience a euphoric feeling and a great sense of pleasure as the drug blocks pain by attaching to opioid receptors found in the spinal column and brain. Common side effects of Demerol include lightheadedness, sedation, nausea, and dry mouth.

Like most pain-relieving narcotics, Demerol is a highly addictive and habit-forming drug and should only be taken as prescribed. The length of time a patient uses Demerol also needs to be closely monitored by a physician because extended use of the drug can build up the user’s tolerance, thus requiring larger doses to achieve the same pain relief. Long-term usage also increases the likelihood of a physical and mental addiction to the drug.

Reports have surfaced that Michael Jackson was receiving daily injections of Demerol, but why? Sources close to the family have said that Jackson had been taking the drug as early as 1984 when he suffered burns while filming a commercial. Over the subsequent years, Jackson may have been prescribed the drug to treat additional injuries he sustained while performing, which include a broken leg and a broken vertebra.

Signs of a Demerol overdose include abdominal cramps, vomiting, hypotension, and respiratory depression. In severe cases cardiac arrest, circulatory collapse, and even death may occur. An individual who overdoses on Demerol can survive depending on the dosage of the drug they consumed and whether they are treated promptly. However, if an individual has consumed multiple drugs in addition to Demerol, particularly antidepressants, it can be a deadly combination.

Is this what caused Michael Jackson’s untimely death? Toxicology reports are still pending, but medical experts have already ruled out foul play, leading many to believe that drugs are indeed the culprit.

“Demerol, Demerol. Oh, my, Oh, God, it’s Demerol”…Was Jackson’s life imitating art or was it the other way around?

The Dangers of Demerol is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment