Posted by azdrugrehabctr on April 21, 2016 under Addiction Trends, Prescription Drugs | 
An alarming study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia uncovered a major problem among medical students and may reveal why prescription pain medications are being overprescribed to certain kinds of patients. The study looked to find why white people are more likely to be prescribed prescription painkillers over black people.
Researchers were able to determine that many white doctors held false beliefs about black people that will likely prevent them from properly treating black patients, as well as potentially answering the question of why so many white people are addicted to prescription painkillers after being prescribed the medication for real or falsified pain.
False beliefs such as black people age more slowly than white people, black people’s skin is thicker than white people’s skin and black people’s nerve endings are less sensitive than white people’s were discovered in the study of 222 white medical students. In addition to having a significant misunderstanding about the anatomy and constitution of black people, doctors have a harder time empathizing with patients that they have less in common with.
“What we found is those who endorsed more of those false beliefs showed more bias and were less accurate in their treatment recommendations,” explained Kelly Hoffman, a UVA doctoral candidate in psychology, and leader of the study. The report was presented to the National Academy of Sciences.
This study, while alarming in the sense that medical students have such an extreme misunderstanding regarding black people, points to another question about the overwhelming amounts of prescription painkillers that are being prescribed to white patients in this country. If medical students believe that white people are more sensitive to pain, or are more in need of prescription painkillers, then they would be more apt to believe someone who is complaining of pain. Unfortunately, it has become clear that sometimes they are really just seeking out a prescription for painkillers so they can abuse them or sell them on the streets.
As more and more researchers look into the prescription painkiller problem and conduct studies about doctor’s beliefs, practices and histories it is becoming clear that a change in the medical system is needed in order to stop the prescription painkiller epidemic.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on March 8, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Prescription Drugs |
The over prescription of drugs like Oxycontin, Percocet or Xanax have led to countless painkiller and benzodiazepine addictions. The prescription abuse problem in the United States has skyrocketed over the last few years with overdose deaths having quadrupled in the last fifteen years.
However, despite the overwhelming data that prescription abuse is a serious problem in this country, many doctors are still prescribing large amounts of the drugs. Some are not changing their prescribing practices even if the patient experiences an overdose and are also not responding to warnings by the U.S government or the public.
As a way to determine what an effective warning to doctors would be, a research team led by Adam Sacarny of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City decided to track doctors who received letters warning them that they were prescribing too much of a certain painkiller or benzodiazepine.
In order to conduct the study, the research team looked to locate doctors who were prescribing more than their neighboring peers. Once these doctors were located, the team monitored their prescription practices after they were sent a letter from Medicare stating the problem of their over prescription. Despite receiving the letter, the prescribing practices did not cease. This was interesting to the researchers because in the past, letters from Medicare comparing local vaccinations had helped to bring up the amount of vaccinations patients were receiving from a doctor that was falling behind to his peers.
A total of 1,525 doctors were sent the letters warning them that they were prescribing more narcotic painkillers or benzodiazepines than other doctors. The doctors that were singled out to receive a letter because they were prescribing over 400% more painkillers and benzodiazepines than other nearby physicians. Unfortunately, the letters from Medicare did not seem very effective. In fact, the research team witnessed no significant change at all.
While the letters may have worked in the past for other issues, it is clear that a clearer message will be needed in order to safely bring down the amount of narcotics that are being prescribed to patients throughout the country.
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 August 19, 2015 under Addiction Trends, Prescription Drugs |
Citizens of the United States have heard countless stories and warnings about the prescription drug abuse epidemic. Originally starting in areas where heroin was not easy to obtain, such as rural areas, pain pill misuse and abuse spread throughout the country. Now experts are watching other countries throughout the world succumb to the prescription drug epidemic as well.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) monitors the drug patterns throughout the world. The organization has reported that prescription drugs have moved up to the second most abused and trafficked class of drugs worldwide. Second only to marijuana, prescription drugs are making their mark around the globe including places like Europe, Asia and Australia.
Prescription painkillers like oxycodone and hydrocodone make up much of the prescription drug problem, but stimulants, sedatives and tranquilizers are included in this group as well. The INCB also reported that heroin and cocaine use has gone down, despite the recent surge in heroin use here in the United States.
Prescription drug trafficking isn’t just being done by criminal organizations, as there are reports that doctors around the world have also been a huge part of the problem through careless and sometimes intentional prescribing practices in exchange for money.
The INCB concurred with most experts in that most people seek out prescription drugs because they are considered safer than street drugs. This misconception has helped to encourage worldwide addiction problems.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on July 15, 2015 under Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
A migraine is an intense headache that is often accompanied by impaired vision and stomach nausea. Many people who get migraines are unable to function and must wait out the severe pain for several hours. Because of the impaired vision, it is common to have to protect one’s eyes in a room that is completely dark. It is estimated that around 18% of women and 6% of men suffer from migraines and there is a big push in the medical community to come up with effective and safe solutions to debilitating condition. While there are several medications on the market that are designed to eliminate the migraine or ease it once it attacks, new research shows that many people are simply prescribed painkillers.
While it may seem obvious to prescribe someone that is in excruciating pain a narcotic painkiller, experts agree that migraine sufferers should not be given a heavy opioid for their discomfort as a first option. In fact, studies show that opioids can actually induce more intense migraines or more frequent migraines over time. So why are so many physicians prescribing something that is addictive and can actually cause the problem the pills are supposed to be fixing?
Researchers believe that it is a lack of education regarding migraines and the effective treatments. When a person is experiencing a migraine they often go to the Emergency Room. Doctors seeing patients in the ER are generally not specialists and respond to extreme pain in the only way they know how, by administering narcotic painkillers. However, doctors that specialize in the treatment of migraines are aware that there are certain medications on the market that are designed to treat the migraine while ensuring that the patient is not introduced to opiate painkillers that have a high potential for addiction.
There has been a push lately to educate the medical community about the dangers of prescription painkillers and the treatment of migraines is one such example. By quickly prescribing a narcotic such as hydrocodone or oxycodone, they may be temporarily relieving the pan but not actually solving the problem. Stories like these that share research into the prescribing patterns and results of those drugs help reduce the overall painkiller problem in America, even if only a little bit at a time.
