As I covered in a recent article, methadone-related deaths increased by 700% between 1999 and 2006, and the numbers are still rising. Yesterday’s New York Times article about methadone deaths definitely shed some light on what’s going on. Until a couple of years ago, the dose recommended by the FDA was 80 mg/day - enough to kill some people who are not used to taking opiates. And it’s killing some people very quickly - they don’t even have time to get addicted or get into a drug addiction treatment center.

Doctors not understanding how to prescribe the drug is another major factor. Of course, they followed the FDA’s recommendations.

The third factor is that patients sometimes take more than is prescribed because they don’t get the immediate relief they expect. But because the drug is already in the blood-stream, they overdose.

The fourth factor is the combination of drugs and alcohol. This is probably where drug addiction treatment should come into play. Doctor’s aren’t looking at the patient’s history to see if they can be relied upon to not take other central nervous system depressants - including alcohol. The doctor who prescribed the methadone to one person who died knew of this history and said he told the patient to stop drinking. Well, as anyone familiar with addiction knows, telling someone who’s taking drugs or drinking a lot to stop is simply not enough. They need the help of a drug addiction treatment center.

Bottom line - this is one area where doctors just don’t know what they’re doing. Nor do the patients. Nor does the FDA.  There might be studies out there somewhere that could have predicted something like this happening with methadone but, since drug companies that conducted the studies don’t exactly have a reputation for putting all the cards on the table, we don’t really know.

Drugs are a little like politics - if you don’t really do your research and understand the issues, you can wind up voting for someone who can wind up with some big, and unfortunate, surprises.

Do your research, look for drug-free solutions, and if you or someone you care about has a drug or alcohol problem, get them into a drug addiction treatment center. The prescription drug addiction epidemic is bad enough - we don’t need people getting killed by these drugs right off the bat.

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I recently found out that doctors get about four hours of education on drugs during their entire education. If you’re wondering why we have such a big problem with prescription drug addiction and abuse, that might be a big part of it.

The doctors, not having the time to do the research themselves - especially since drug cmpanies go out of their way to hide information that makes the drugs look bad either because they’re ineffective, can cause prescription drug addiction or are candidates for abuse - largely rely on drug company info - which often amounts to little more than propaganda.

This is one big thing that’s going to have to change if we want to get rid of our current drug culture. Right now, to avoid problems with prescription drugs, patients are obliged to do their own research - thoroughly. That’s really the only way you can come close to guaranteeing your own safety.

The doctors don’t know, the drug companies lie, and the FDA doesn’t even insist they have all the research. Buyer beware. If you’re already taking prescription drugs and think you might be in trouble - or it might be someone you care about - get help in a drug addiction treatment center.

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A recent news story about the relationship of drugs and crime really highlights how easy it is to make the transition. Here’s the story of a young man, now 29 and drug-free for three years, who spent much of the last decade in jail. And all the crimes he committed were simply to get drugs - not a lot of them, just enough to stave off withdrawal symptoms. If he had gotten into a drug addiction treatment center early - he started on drugs at the ripe old age of 12 - his ife would have been different.

Some parents think that kids will grow out of their interest in alcohol or drugs but, more often than not, the younger they start the lower the chances are of them stopping. Also, the longer it takes to get them into drug addiction treatment, the lower the chances of them ever getting rehabiliated and the harder it’s going to be.

Read this story. Realize that it’s not an isolated incident. And that, no matter how great your kids are, drugs can do this to them. And if you have kids doing any drugs or even drinking more than rarely, contact Drug Rehab Referral to speak with a counselor and see if your kid does need alcohol rehab or drug addiction treatment.

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You really have to watch out for your kids around people doing drugs. Here’s a story about a woman who passed out in a car with a four year old in the back seat. Cocaine was found on the dash. Obviously, the woman needs drug rehab. Florida, where this incident happened - in Pinellas County, right next to Tampa, a major drug center in Florida -has several good facilities she could go to.

The news story doesn’t say if the child is hers or not.

I’m sure there are grandparents all over the U.S. who worry about their grandchildren because they know the mom or dad is on drugs. Although you hate to do it, it is possible to get custody of the kids. A better solution would be a drug addiction treatment center for the parent(s). Then you won’t have to worry about the grandchildren, or your own.

I remember being in the drug world years ago. One family had a child not more than a year or so old. Both parents were on heroin, although the mother didn’t seem to be doing too much anymore. The dad, however, was not only on heroin himself, he constantly had people over to the house who were also shooting up. Unbelieveable environment in which to raise a child. But, honestly, I barely noticed there was a child there. When you’re on heroin, you’re just too out of it and too disassociated from the real world for that sort of thing to effect you. I don’t know whatever happened to those people - I left town shortly thereafter. But you can be sure they’re no longer together as a family, unless the dad did get into a drug addiction treatment center.

If you know anyone using drugs who’s around children, help them get the drug addiction treatment they need now.

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Is the threat of prescription drug addiction and abuse - and possibly medical license suspension - keeping doctors from prescribing narcotic painkillers? Apparently so. In fact, a recent article described this dilemma as “perhaps the hottest national debate in medicine today.” And when you look at the number of people showing up in drug addiction treatment centers for prescription drug addiction - not to mention the numbers showing up in hospital ERs and morgues - that’s as it should be.

There’s a lot of information in this article - Treatment for Pain Divides Physicians - and anyone who’s taking OxyContin, Vicodin or other prescription painkillers, or who is in chronic pain and considering doing so, should read it.

One of the doctors, Dr. William Witt, a pain management specialist, doesn’t prescribe narcotics for anything other than post-surgical or similar conditions. According to him, there’s no evidence that these drugs improve function or even continue to give pain relief after six months. He also brought up the recent evidence that narcotic painkillers actually cause pain after taking them for a certain period of time. So, your original pain could well be gone and now you’re taking the painkillers to relieve the pain the painkillers are causing. And, by that time, you can be pretty sure you also have a problem with prescription drug addiction and need a drug addiction treatment center to help you get off them.

Crazy situation. And worthy of hot debate.

The thing is, Dr. Witt is a pain management specialist. And he’s apparently good at it. He’s getting people out of pain - serious, chronic pain - every day, without the use of narcotic drugs and without risking prescription drug addiction or the need for treatment in a drug addiction treatment center.

So, why even debate the issue? If you have the option to treat someone without the risk of prescription drug addiction and other side effects, if you have the option to treat the cause of the pain so it is not just being masked with drugs, if you have the option to treat in a way that won’t eventually cause even more pain - what’s there to debate about?

Part of this is the fault of our health care system. I know people on medicare or other health plans that don’t cover alternative therapies. Does your coverage include chiropractic, physical therapy, acupuncture, herbs and other natural therapies or supplements? Probably not. And it’s likely that same for a lot of people. Especially when what’s needed is long-term treatment rather than just a few sessions. And a lot of people, probably most, just can’t afford to pay for it out of pocket.

So, here we are with all these highly trained doctors and other health professionals who aren’t being fully utilized or accepted within our health care system, with about 60 million people in the U.S. in pain every single day, doctors paying a fortune for malpractice insurance, patients in drug addiction treatment centers, hospitals, ERs and morgues because of prescription drug addiction and abuse, alternative health practitioners practically being lined up and shot by the medical establishment, and it’s all costing the U.S. $100 billion a year in medical costs and lost productivity.

Who’s coming out ahead? In the end, probably just one industry. The guys who make and sell the drugs.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Florida has a serious prescription drug addiction problem. It is also one of only 15 states holding out on implementing the pharmacist and physician prescription drug database that would enable both to identify those with a drug problem to get the drug addiction treatment they need. The concern is privacy.

While I couldn’t agree more privacy is worth protecting, sometimes it just might be over-rated when it comes to taking responsibility for our fellow human beings, and for ourselves.

Prescription drug addiction is a dangerous epidemic - it’s not like having a favorite TV show that you just have to watch every Tuesday night. It ruins people’s lives, it kills them, it spreads like wildfire, people on drugs steal, lie, cheat, are dangerous to others and to themselves - really, they belong in a prescription drug addiction treatment center, not in a pharmacy getting another prescription.

Do we have the right to protect people from themselves by invading their privacy? It’s a question that is in constant debate. Perhaps the answer depends on the situation and the real intention behind it. Would you, for example, see your son or daughter, husband addicted, their lives ruined, or dead rather than invade their privacy? I wouldn’t think so.

Getting someone into a drug addiction treatment center when they need help is sometimes uncomfortable - chances are they’re not going to agree to do it without you being a little pushier or invading a little more of their privacy than is comfortable for you. Or them. But … consider the alternative. And then find a drug rehab. Florida has plenty. Call us to find out which is best for your situation.

Popularity: 9% [?]

After a death related to prescription drug addiction and abuse - a 24-year-old man had obtained prescription drugs from 17 different online pharmacies - Minneapolis authorities cracked down on drugs available on the Internet. One of the pharmacies is under investigation and two pharmacists have been disciplined and fined, thanks to new state laws. Florida could really use something like that. Prescription drug addiction is rampant in Florida, it’s nicknamed ‘the pill state’, and Tampa is considered ground zero for Internet pharmacies.

In another Minnesota case a pharmacy was fined $25,000 for filling 4,500 Internet prescriptions over a period of less than three months. Give me a break!!! How many people went to the ER, got sick, died, or developed a prescription drug addiction because of his prescriptions? $25,000 is peanuts compared to the harm that pharmacist did. Shouldn’t he be in jail?

What is the deal with fining people like that. If they were drug dealers on the street and had sold 4,500 people drugs, they’d be in jail. No question about it. But the same does not apply with prescription drugs.

But, at least it’s something. I think things will get tougher on these guys in the near future. Not even the judge in the Purdue case was happy about the guys not going to jail.

Each of the recipients of those 4,500 prescriptions could be contacted. Find out what condition they’re in and, if they have developed a prescription drug addiction, the pharmacist could pay for drug rehab. Florida could certainly make some headway if there was a law like that! 

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Okay. We’ve finally got some numbers here. Over 7 million people in the U.S. abused prescription drugs in 2007. More than cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy, and inhalants (which includes, for some reason, marijuana) combined. That figure was less than 4 million in the year 2000. That’s prescription drug addiction on the ‘illegal’ end of things. But those numbers don’t even come close to the ‘legal’ numbers.

From 1995 to 2005, the number of people treated for abuse of prescription painkillers increased by 321 percent. And every year 180 million legal prescriptions are written for painkillers every year. That’s amazing. If only one prescription went to each person, about 1/2 the population of the U.S. would be taking what is basically heroin.

Let me see. A 40 mg OxyContin pill costs just under $6 for a legitimate prescription. If each of the prescriptions written was a two week’s supply - let’s say 42 pills - the drug manufacturer would make about $45 billion. 

If that’s not a vested interest in prescription drug addiction, I don’t know what is. With that kind of incentive, you can be sure the drugs are designed to make you want to keep taking them.

How does it happen. Read U.S. grapples with rising prescription drug addiction. Then refuse to take the drugs or give them to your kids unless it’s a life-threatening situation. And if it’s already too late for that, get anyone you know who’s taking them into a drug addiction treatment center.

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A methadone clinic opened up about two years ago in Indiana. The goal was to provide a closer location for those on methadone treatment - which is supposed to help heroin addicts through withdrawal so they can then get through drug rehab at a drug addiction treatment center so they’ll be drug free. 

I get tons of responses from readers of this blog whenever I write about methadone treatment. They tell me how it’s saved their lives and that it was a last resort.

According to a recent news article, the clinic in Indiana is using it as anything but a last resort. The requirements for getting methadone from this clinic are that the person has been addicted to an opiate for at least one year.  And many of the people they’re servicing are addicted to prescription drugs - it’s opiates, so it would be OxyContin or a similar painkiller - that they were given by their doctor and then couldn’t quit.

Wow. So much for methadone treatment being used as a last resort.

“They don’t want to lose their job or lose their kids,” said the program director. “They come to us because they want to be safe, and they want to be legal.”

So, now, instead of long-time heroin addicts being addicted to methadone, we have people addicted to methadone because they couldn’t quit taking OxyContin or some similar drug because of surgery or an illness.

The program director says they’re supposed to get daily methadone for a while but are supposed to start weaning off it within three to six months. He said it works for some, and not for others. Of course. That’s because they’re getting methadone instead of going to a drug addiction treatment center that can help them with their addiction.

Prescription drug addiction - especially OxyContin addiction or addiction to another painkiller - is like heroin addiction. Just like we’ve been saying. And, like heroin addiction, the solution is drug rehab. Not methadone.
 

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A recent increase in heroin deaths has health officials in Oregon worried. The whole country should probably be worried because Oregon is a major transshipment point for drugs in other states including, but not limited to, Montana, Minnesota, Illinois, and New York. Heroin deaths are up 32% over last year. If anyone you know is using heroin, now would be a good time to get them into a drug addiction treatment center.

The officials think this is the beginning of a trend. They’ve noticed that heroin deaths go up and down. When they see something like this, they know there’s much more of it to come.

A word of warning, don’t opt for methadone - methadone replacement therapy programs usually don’t include any of the drug addiction treatment they promise. The heroin addict winds up addicted to methadone instead, and they can stay on it for the rest of their lives. Go for a real drug addiction treatment center that helps them through withdrawal, gets them on a regimen to improve their overall health, and then gets down to the bottom of the reasons behind the person’s addiction so they don’t relapse.

There are many centers like that around, but for every one like that there are hundreds or thousands that don’t work. So, if you want to handle the situation once and for all, do it right the first time.

Officials are warning heroin addicts about these deaths in the hopes that they will test the drugs before they take them rather than shooting up a full dose right off the bat. Hey, if they can do that, maybe they can quit altogether. If you’re looking for a way to help them, call Drug Rehab Referral. Their specialists know all the facilities available and can find the right one for your situation. Whatever you do, don’t delay. Get them into a drug addiction treatment center before they become one of the increasing statistics.

Popularity: 13% [?]