We Restore Hope -

Integrity has no need of rules. ~Albert Camus

A doctor in Hawaii who ran a website called DIAL-A-DOC has pleaded guilty in federal court to four counts of dispensing drugs without a legitimate medical purpose.

Dr. Harold Spear III also pleaded guilty last week to a similar additional charge filed in Alabama. He agreed to forfeit money seized in that investigation.

Spear faces a possible maximum sentence of 85 years in prison and $4.2 million in fines when he is sentenced on October 26. The U.S. Attorney said Spear admitted illegally prescribing methadone to a patient in Hawaii four times in 2005 and 2006. He also illegally prescribed hydrocodone in the Alabama case.

Anything I’ve ever done that ultimately was worthwhile… initially scared me to death. ~Betty Bender

Jeannette Barnes is a self-descripted prescription drug addict. Every day, the 43-year-old British woman takes at least 34 pills, spoonfuls of medicine and three different inhalers. She claims to be hooked on pills and blames doctors who gave her the medications over the years. She says it all began with Valium.

Barnes said she suffers from depression, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, heartburn, vertigo and allergies. She fears her addiction will claim her life.

“Taking these drugs could be killing me, but I can’t come off them suddenly. When I try, I get the shakes.”

There are no foolish questions, and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions. ~Charles Proteus Steinmetz

A former surgical technician was charged last week with three federal drug charges after she allegedly stole syringes filled with liquid pain killers and replaced them with saline-filled dirty syringes.

The worker is infected with hepatitis C, putting almost 6,000 patients at risk during surgeries at the Rose Medical Center near Denver. So far, 10 patients have tested positive for the hepatitis C virus.

The worker was fired in April after Fentanyl was found in her system in a drug test. Authorities say this case is a stark reminder of the hidden danger inside hospitals and doctors’ offices.

For healthcare workers addicted to drugs like Fentanyl, a strong painkiller, the easy accessibility of these drugs in medical settings makes it easy to abuse them. According to David Rosenbloom, the president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, up to 12 percent of health professionals become dependent on prescription drugs at some point in their careers.

There is hope though. Doctors have a high rate of success with addiction treatment and staying clean. Five years after going through these programs, more than three quarters of them are still practicing medicine and clean of their addictions.

The essence of true friendship is to make allowance for another’s little lapses. ~David Storey

Michael Jackson took more than 10 Xanax pills a night, asking his employees to get his prescription drug under their names and travelling to doctors in other states to get the Xanax prescriptions. He was the classic definition of an addict.

Xanax is commonly prescribed for the treatment of anxiety and panic disorders. With addiction, people develop a tolerance to drugs and have to take more and more pills to achieve the desired effect.

According to a former security guard, Jackson had been taking 30 to 40 Xanax pills each night to battle insomnia. He had recently reduced his intake to 10 pills a night prior to his death on June 25.

That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in another. ~Adlai Stevenson

When someone seems to have lost control of life, or has become a danger to themselves, family and friends often try to intervene. Addictions to alcohol or drugs are all reasons for concern.

Interventions can take many forms. Simply suggesting that an addict make an appointment may work. Speaking openly, in an compassionate and non-judgemental tone, is an effective way to approach these conversations. The addiction should be viewed as an illness that deserves professional care.

A more formal, direct intervention involves family and friends confronting the person and encouraging them to seek help. Before this meeting, a professional interventionist will meet with those concerned to get a history.

Letters are a typical component of a direct intervention. The letter will explain why the family members and friends are doing the intervention – because they love the addict. The letter will outline evidence of specific events and behaviors.

The direct intervention is not always the best method. It can leave the addict humiliated and may reduce the benefits of treatment. If the intervention does not work, it can create a divide between the addict and their family and friends.

Instead, it is best to treat the addiction as a medical problem. The intervention should stress the physical consequences of their addiction and then hope for the best. Experts stressed that family and friends should not wait until the person “hits rock bottom” before trying to get them professional help.

Don’t wait for people to be friendly, show them how. ~Author Unknown

People with a family history of depression, anxiety and alcohol and drug dependence are not only likely to develop these conditions, but tend to suffer more seriously and more treatment, according to a new study from New Zealand.

In the nearly 30-year study, researchers followed 981 people from the age of three until the age of 32, and collected data on their psychiatric conditions as well as those of their family members.

Four psychiatric disorders were studied: depression, anxiety, alcohol dependence and drug dependence. While it is well-known that a positive family history increases the likelihood of an individual developing any of these four conditions, this study attempted to learn how seriously those people were affected.

The study showed participants with a positive family history had more recurrences of these conditions and they reported more disruptions caused to their lives, families, friends and work.

“Among those with depression, anxiety disorder, alcohol dependence and drug dependence, a family history screen may help determine whose illness will recur, whose illness will cause the greatest impairment and who will be the most likely to use treatment resources.”

Mirrors should think longer before they reflect. ~Jean Cocteau

Good food may be enough to rewire an addict’s brain. The trick is to serve meals that revive pleasure-inducing neurotransmitters disrupted by addiction. Foods as simple as steak, milk and nuts can boost the brain’s production of serotonin or glutamine, both of which help addicts recover.

More trials are needed, experts say, to test the link between nutrition and addiction, however so far they have not happened. Drug companies are reluctant to pay to study an idea they cannot patent, and many governments give addicts little more than rhetoric.

It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not. ~Author Unknown
More than 50 million Americans have admitted to abusing prescription drugs. That has led 39 states to take steps to monitor prescription drug use – most recently Florida. Police departments across the country are trying to slow street sales of drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin.

Members from the New Orleans narcotics team and the Drug Enforcement Agency recently conducted a raid, rounding up suspected “doctor shippers.” Officers accuse these suspects of going from doctor to doctor, buying prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin to abuse and or sell. Nowhere is the problem more apparent than in Florida, where pain clinics abound and the lack of a prescription drug monitoring program makes tracking prescriptions difficult.

Each year, nearly 7 million Americans abuse prescription drugs. That is more than cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, ecstasy and inhalants combined. Bill Janes, Florida’s drug czar, says addiction to prescription medication is an epidemic.

Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they’re yours. ~Richard Bach, Illusions

Government experts asked for sweeping safety restrictions last week on the most widely used painkiller, including reducing the maximum dose of Tylenol and eliminating prescription drugs such as Vicodin and Percocet.

The Food and Drug Administration and a panel of 37 experts recommended ways to reduce deadly overdoses with acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, which is the leading cause of liver failure in the United States. It sends 56,000 people to the emergency room each year. About 200 people die each year from an acetaminophen overdose.

Over-the-counter cold medicines – such as Nyquil and Theraflu- that combine other drugs with acetaminophen can stay on the market, according to the recommendation of the panel.

The FDA is not required to follow the advice of its panels, though it usually does. The agency gave no indication when it would act on these recommendations.

Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop. ~Usman B. Asif

The Food and Drug Administration will require two stop smoking drugs, Chantix and Zyban, to carry the agency’s strongest safety warning. The new warning – called a “Black Box” warning – cautions of side effects of depression and suicidal thoughts. It is based on reports of people experiencing unusual changes in behavior, becoming depressed, or having suicidal thoughts while taking the drug.

The antidepressant Wellbutrin, which has the same active ingredient as Zyban, already carries a “Black Box” warning. Despite the new, stricter warnings, the FDA said people and their doctors still have to weigh the benefits and risks before taking the drugs.