Pain Killers

Has there ever been a doubt that pain killers can be addictive? With the death of Michael Jackson and the revealing of years and years of pain medication abuse, the light is being shed on the dangers of these “legal” drugs. Andrew Wainwright, our CEO, talked on CNN a couple of weeks ago about the dangers of pain killer abuse (you can see the transcript here), and brought up a few key points: that off-label prescription drug abuse doesn’t carry the stigma of, say, a meth addict, and that in 1996 Oxycontin hit the market as “the” pain killer and was marketed as such. However- here’s a stunning fact: Overdose deaths involving prescription pain relievers increased 114 percent from 2001 to 2005, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

In 2005, drug company Purdue Pharma confirmed that there was a federal inquiry about their marketing plan on the drug Oxycontin (check out the whole article from the Roanoke Times here). Paul Hanly, an attorney for one of the clients who worked for Purdue Pharma, had quite a bit to say, including that Purdue knew about widespread abuse and addiction to Oxycontin dating back to 1997 and 1998, even though they only publicly acknowledged that there “might be a problem” in 2000 after being notified by an attorney in Maine.

This past year, drug maker Merck has been battling a class action lawsuit in Australia over their pain medication Vioxx, which was pulled from the US market in 2004 after causing a series of cardiovascular injuries- to the tune of $4.85 billion. And two of the top-prescribed pain meds in the world, Percocet and Vicoden, have been recommended to be banned by the Food and Drug Administration.

The bottom line is this- drugs, of any form, are dangerous when abused. Pain medication can be lethal- and the fact that people think that because it’s coming from a doctor, it’s ok, is just wrong. Our doctors have been marketed and pushed and wined and dined by these pharmaceutical companies- companies without the best interest of the patients in mind, but the best dollar value and profit margin. Educate yourself before you start taking pain medication unnecessarily. Find out what kind of marketing strategy the drug company has used to get to your doctor. Ask questions. If your doctor is using their Oxycontin pen to prescribe you Oxycontin, make sure to ask why he or she recommends that- and what the dangerous side effects are.

If we aren’t active, we will see many more people die before things change. Be aware and be a voice.

For more information on pain killers, or for help with a pain killer addiction, contact us at 877-320-0247.

Tags: addiction intervention, assistance in recovery, oxycontin addiction, pain addiction, pain killers, pain medication, pain meds, percocet addiction, vicodin addiction