Posted by azdrugrehabctr on February 29, 2016 under Addiction Trends, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs | 
There has been a lot of investigation into the link between prescription drug abuse and heroin abuse. Since prescription painkillers are very similar to heroin as opioids, it is not a stretch to think that an addict who cannot get their hands on pills would turn to heroin eventually. Not only are the drugs similar in the effect that they have on the body, but heroin is generally less expensive and easier to find on the street.
Additionally, some people fear that the efforts being taken to decrease the availability of prescription painkillers among the public have forced addicts to begin using heroin. These factors would seem to come together to prove that heroin abuse is rising because of the prescription painkiller addiction. However, a recent study conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), indicates that this belief is not necessarily valid.
“As an alternative explanation, we explore the complexity and reciprocal nature of this relationship and review the pharmacologic basis for heroin us among people who use prescription opioids nonmedically, the patterns of heroin use among people who use prescription opioids nonmedically, the current trends in heroin use and their correlates, and the effects on heroin use of policies aimed at curbing inappropriate prescribing of opioids,” explained the authors of the study.
The study showed that people who abuse prescription painkillers are not as likely to turn to heroin as some might think, though most heroin users did start out with prescription narcotics. Polices that have been enacted to reduce and monitor prescription painkiller abuse should remain in effect, as they don’t cause people to seek out heroin. The less these drugs are available and the more prevention and treatment practices used, the less opiate addicts we will have. The same drive should also be taken when it comes to heroin or any other substance that is abused.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on February 16, 2016 under Addiction Trends, Prescription Drugs |
The vast majority of doctors in the United States are committed to fighting the prescription painkiller epidemic. This is because the painkillers often originate out of offices in every state. Doctors either unknowingly write a prescription to a person who is falsifying their maladies, the patient with a legitimate problem sells their prescription to make money, or addicts steal the pills from people who have prescriptions. However, some addicts are able to exploit the system and find a doctor who is willing to write illegal prescriptions for a hefty cost. This was apparently the case with Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng.
Tseng was a doctor out of Rowland Heights, a suburb of Los Angeles. The DEA began their investigation after it was discovered that the doctor had written 27,000 prescriptions for narcotic drugs over a period of three years. This means that she averaged 25 prescriptions a day. Despite her lawyer’s claims that Tseng was naïve and had no idea that her patients were abusing the medications, it appears that Tseng was responsible for twelve deaths among her patients. Due to additional reasons for death, like prescription from other doctors and a possible suicide, Tseng was only convicted of three deaths. For her part, Tseng received a thirty year to life sentence.
“(She’s) a person who seemingly did not care about he lives of her patients in this case but rather appeared more concerned about distributing dangerous controlled substances in an assembly line fashion so as to collect payments which amounted to her amassing several million dollars,” commented George Lomeli, the Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge that presided over the case.
This landmark case is intended to show other doctors who may be engaging in the same behavior that they will be prosecuted for the laws they break and the trust they violate. Additionally, doctors who may be suspicious of their patient’s need for prescription drugs are likely to take this case into account when determining the best course of action. Illustrating to the medical community that there are repercussions for the over egregious violations of over-prescribing of narcotics is an important step when it comes to lowering the amount of painkillers available to addicts.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on February 9, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Prescription Drugs |
Reports show that around six million people in the United States have been diagnosed with having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The number of people diagnosed with this disorder has increased over the years, especially among children. In fact, six percent of American children have been labeled as having ADHD. However, some are surprised that there is not a more definitive test to determine if someone has the fits into that category. This means that doctors often have to rely on their own observations, input from the parents and feedback from the children.
The most common medications for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder include Adderall, Vyvanse and Ritalin. These drugs are stimulants that allow a person with disorder to concentrate and stay on task. Those who take the drug without having this behavioral problem are essentially abusing speed. In fact, Adderall is an amphetamine, which has a very high potential for abuse.
Additionally, there are very few long term studies about the effects of Adderall on the brain. In order to rectify this, Joseph Helpern of the Medical University of South Carolina has begun to use MRI’s to view the brains of people who have been diagnosed with ADHD. In addition to investigating the long term effects of Adderall, Helpern and his group of researchers want to develop a method of diagnosis that is based on medical evidence, rather than relying on the methods that are being used today.
“Currently, we know the medications work on behavior but don’t understand what it’s doing to the brain over time. Having these (study) results would raise awareness to the potential risk in taking psychostimulants without a clinical diagnosis, in seeing if they are changing the normal brain to something abnormal,” explained Vitria Adisteiyo, a contributor to the study.
The research may be paying off, as Helpern and his colleagues have discovered that patients that have been diagnosed with ADHD seem to have lower levels of iron in their brain scans. This is important because it validates what many in the medical community have suspected for years, but haven’t been able to prove. If this discovery proves that iron levels are a direct link to ADHD, researchers may be able to develop a medication that is not addictive and cannot be abused recreationally.
More non-stimulant ADHD medications could help prevent these drugs from being abused in high schools and colleges across the country.
