MYRTLE BEACH, S.C., Aug. 20, 2007
Painkiller Use In U.S. Skyrockets
Statistics Show Amount Of Pain Medicine Sold Jumped 90 Percent Between 1997 And 2005
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Oxycodone, the chemical used in OxyContin, is responsible for most of the increase. Oxycodone use jumped nearly six-fold between 1997 and 2005. (AP)
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The amount of five major painkillers sold at retail establishments rose 90 percent between 1997 and 2005, according to an Associated Press analysis of statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration.
More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores during the most recent year represented in the data. That total is enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person in the country.
Oxycodone, the chemical used in OxyContin, is responsible for most of the increase. Oxycodone use jumped nearly six-fold between 1997 and 2005. The drug gained notoriety as "hillbilly heroin," often bought and sold illegally in Appalachia. But its highest rates of sale now occur in places such as suburban St. Louis, Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The world of pain extends beyond big cities and involves more than oxycodone.
In Appalachia, retail sales of hydrocodone — sold mostly as Vicodin — are the highest in the nation. Nine of the 10 areas with the highest per-capita sales are in mostly rural parts of West Virginia, Kentucky or Tennessee.
Suburbs are not immune to the explosion.
While retail sales of codeine have fallen by one-quarter since 1997, some of the highest rates of sales are in communities around Kansas City, Mo., and Nashville, Tenn., and on New York's Long Island.
The DEA figures analyzed by the AP include nationwide sales and distribution of drugs by hospitals, retail pharmacies, doctors and teaching institutions. Federal investigators study the same data trying to identify illegal prescription patterns.
An AP investigation found these reasons for the increase:
Retired Staff Sgt. James Fernandez, 54, of Fredericksburg, Va., survived two helicopter crashes and Gulf War Syndrome over 20 years in the Marine Corps. He remains disabled from his service-related injuries and takes the equivalent of nine painkillers containing oxycodone every day.
"It's made a difference," he said. "I still have bad days, but it's under control."
Such stories should hearten longtime advocates of wider painkiller use, such as Russell Portenoy, head of New York's Beth Israel pain management department. But they have not.
"I'm concerned and many people are concerned," he said, "that the pendulum is swinging too far back."
Consider:
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 36 CommentsKudos to the few compassionate doctors who are out there that really care about the quality of their patients'' lives.
irving82 your husband is one of the smart ones...I give him credit. He could have easily ended up being an addict but he chose to get on with life.
Our pets go to the vet and have major surgery. They get sent home with a few days worth of pain pills...which hopefully the owner remembers to give them. They survive and get on with their lives.
I have seen little children jumping up and down in their cribs less then a day after having surgery. They are medicated mostly to sedate them so they won''t rip their stitches from activity.
I admit there are people out there that have chronic "severe" pain and need strong pain medications. I am all for someone with terminal cancer being given whatever it takes to get rid of their pain. But we should not give prescriptions of narcotics to every person who walks thru the door for "minor" pain just because they think they need it to feel good.
I have seen many, many lives ruined by over use and abuse of prescribed narcotics and it pissses me off. BTW I am a nurse.
the problem with these drugs and many like them is that after a while they no longer work and then what? when you get to a point when your painkillers don''t work what do you turn to for pain relief? morphine on a regular daily basis? cocaine?? heroin??
this combined with the fact that if you don''t get your pills filled, you don''t get your disability check. i think we are a society that breeds dependency.
let me finish by saying that my husband feel 27 feet off a roof in Aug of 06, 1 year ago this month. He had shattered both his heels, was in the hospital for 10 days, had 5 pins and 6 screws put in his left foot, 4 pins and 2 screws in his right foot, in a wheel chair for 42 days - had a morphine drip in the hospital for the first 2 days, codine while in the hospital and a 30 day supply at home following his release and nothing besides tylenol arthritis since! he went back to work Nov. 1st 06, six days a week, up and down a ladder and is still going today!!!
for those of you who think you can not live with pain and need the meds to get you through i''ll tell you the same thing i told my mother-in-law. i can only say that i feel sympathy for you, my husband however can feel your pain. the only difference is he, unlike you, has chosen not to.
My point is that today''s society expects to feel perfect 24/7 and thus pop pain pills to acheive this goal. Pain medications are being over used by many people for minor pain and they will develop a tolerance and require higher doses and stronger narcotics the day they do experience severe pain. Look what happened with the over use of antibiotics.
Posted by LawyerTom1
Rumor is it''s Democrats trying OD on painkillers everytime someone says Hillary is leading in the polls
The problem is that people with minor pain want to feel 100% great all the time. So doctors are prescribing stronger medications for minor pain. People taking pain medications for every little ache and pain will develop a tolerance. Then when they actually do have significant pain they will need even stronger pain medications. Of course people with severe chronic pain need strong medications. The pill-popper-wanna-feel-good-all-the-time generation is ruining it for those who do have chronic significant pain.
For those of you who think that people should "just take it" have no clue what it is like to live in severe chronic pain.
What did they do before??? Well... we always try to improve upon what was done before - peopld did not live as long - nor did they live as productive.
It is very concerning in this day and age when people who suffer some very serious illnesses cannot have their pain addressed.
We aren''t talking about your average headache that will be gone in a day or two. We are talking about pain that creates more pain upon pain due to pain not being controlled.
If you have any understanding of how the human body deals with pain and the exponential pain that can occur due to pain from organic growths and abnormalities - you would not be so cavalier in your indifference to people who do suffer from pain that needs addressed.
I am not coming from one who abuses drugs - nor in the thought process of those who do for a "high"... I am speaking from serious, chronic... diseases that take away from quality of life and potentially kill in slow long drawn out increments.
from the article
I don''t know if you realize it or not, but 300 mg is less than one regular size tylenol tablet! Granted when you are talking about some of these meds, 300 mg is a lot, but the above article is written in such a way that it will scare you.
I am another person who depends on a pain medicine just to be able to get enough relief to function. These types of ''news'' articles do more harm to patients like us than anything else out there.
Lobbyist the scum of the earth. All the legislatures that take bribes from them are even lower and a punishment should be in order a severe punishment like cancel there pensions and kick them out.
The doctors in this country have some responsibility as well as the pharmaceuticals meeting with the doctors giving them free drugs and pushing them, what did they do in the old days when they had pain.
Its Congress that put drug companies in the position to do what they are doing, so who cares.
Big Business bought and paid for Congress time and again, we dont have a government that is interested in protecting the people anymore, this is about profit.
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