Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 22, 2016 under Addiction Trends, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs | 
In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers in the Division of Rheumatic and Autoimmune Diseases at the University of Minnesota have found that patients with lower back pain are more likely to have a prescription for painkillers as well as use drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. While additional studies have to be conducted to find out more about the connection, this information may be a first step in developing more effective prevention tools for future prescription painkiller abuse.
The researchers compared questionnaires filled out by patients with chronic lower back pain and people without back problems. Volunteers were asked to answer questions regarding the frequency in which they used marijuana, heroin, prescription painkillers, cocaine and methamphetamine. It was found that 22.5% of adults with chronic lower back pain used prescription painkiller regularly compared to 15% of adults without the pain. This in itself isn’t that surprising, though there may be other forms of treatment that would be much better suited, depending on the severity of the pain.
“Americans with chronic low back pain are more likely to use illicit drugs than the general population, particularly the ‘hard’ drugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. There are several ways to interpret this relationship. It is possible that illicit drug use makes chronic pain more likely or leads individuals to seek a chronic pain diagnosis to obtain prescription narcotics,” explained Anna Shmagel, MD, MS, and lead author of the study. Shmagel also cautions that there could be a common underlying reason for prescription painkiller addicts and patients with lower back pain, like depression.
Opening up the research to include a more in depth look at if depression plays a role in prescription painkiller addiction is a relatively new avenue for researchers. In the past, the focus has mainly been on patients who have accidentally become addicted to painkillers. However, chronic pain has been shown to cause depression and illicit drugs have long been sought out by people looking to escape or fix their emotional problems.
As more and more research is conducted regarding prescription painkiller use and misuse it is becoming clear that preventing the reasons for taking the drugs in the first place is vital. This means that the medical profession is likely to come up with ways to improve chronic lower back pain treatment in addition to finding new methods to intervene before the back pain requires narcotic painkillers.
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.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on February 17, 2015 under Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs |
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a startling figure – more than 25 percent of all women who could become pregnant in the near future are taking prescription painkillers. This means that potential mothers could already be addicted to pills like OxyContin, Percocet or Vicodin. Since the withdrawal symptoms and cravings are so intense for these medications, mothers are more likely to abuse them while they are pregnant, exposing their unborn children to powerful and dangerous drugs before they ever take a breath of air.
While these drugs are meant for those suffering from chronic or acute pain, and only supposed to be provided for by a physician, the appetite for these pills is so intense that addicts have gotten around current restrictions. Sometimes a person with a valid pain issue and a valid prescription will sell their pills on the black market, prices can be as high as $100 per pill. Other times an addict will fake an injury or get copies of phony X-rays or a fake MRI. Once presented to a physician they can then acquire the pills necessary to fuel their drug habit. Other times doctors begin writing prescriptions to addicts who have no need for the heroin-like painkillers – essentially becoming drug dealers.
However a person gets a hold of these pills, it is clear that future generations are poised to feel the effects of this epidemic. Mothers who are dependent on or abuse narcotics or any other opiate-based painkiller put their unborn children at risk for birth defects and physical withdrawal pains from the drug.
Children who receive drugs prenatally have to go through a period of withdrawal upon being born. This means that they have become physically dependent to the drug and now that they are no longer receiving the drug through their mother they have to overcome severe withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms from narcotic painkillers include; vomiting, diarrhea, body aches and insomnia. These symptoms are often too much for grown adults to handle, let alone day-old infants.
This study is important because many pregnancies are not planned. Oftentimes when a person is leading a life that involves regular drug use they are unaware of how their actions can affect themselves and others.
