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Posts Tagged ‘Pain Medication’

I’ve Become Drug Dependant at 45 – Prescription Drugs

Friday, November 5th, 2010

A new report finds that hospital admissions for Americans over 45 for medication and drug-related conditions has doubled between 1997 and 2008. The report, from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, included the consequences of both illicit and prescription drugs.

The increase was driven by a growth in hospital discharges for drug-induced delirium, “poisoning” or overdose by codeine, meperidine and other opiates, and drug withdrawal. Admissions increased by 117 percent for the 45-64 year old demographic between 1997 and 2008. The rate of admissions for those 65-84 years of age closely followed with a 96 percent growth. By comparison, the number of hospital admission among adults between the ages of 18 and 44 decreased by 11 percent.

“This report reveals a disturbing trend, and we need to find out more about why these admissions are increasing,” said Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “As the average age of hospital patients continues to increase, so does the need for close monitoring of the types and dosage of drugs given to them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Guns and Prescription Pain Medications Don’t Mix

Monday, November 1st, 2010

A well-known member of the South Florida pain clinic industry was indicted this week on federal gun charges. Chris George, 29, is already the center of a separate drug trafficking investigation, and was charged last week with firearm and ammunition possession despite having a previous felony conviction. In 2002, George was convicted of felony drug possession.

George is accused of possession of a handgun, two shotguns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition. The indictment does not mention of the federal drug investigation, but law enforcement officials discovered the guns in March during a rain of George’s pain clinic, American Pain in Lake Worth, and of his properties in Wellington.

George pleaded not guilty and his attorney vowed to vigorously defend his client against the charges. Prior to the raids, George and his twin brother, Jeff, ran some of the most aggressive and lucrative pain clinics in Palm Beach County and Broward County. The clinics were popular with addicts and dealers from outside Florida and were a cash business. The clinics generated $50,000 in revenue in a single day.

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Campaigns to Fight Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

A new nationwide campaign hopes to help fight the epidemic of prescription drug abuse. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the American College of Emergency Physicians, poison control centers, and law enforcement agencies are sponsoring the “American Medicine Chest Challenge” on Nov. 13. The day asks Americans to rid their medicine cabinets of old prescription drugs and make certain the prescriptions that are current are locked up.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse believes that a campaign like this one is critical because 70 percent of those who abuse prescription pain medications say they got their support from someone they know. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that more than 9 million people use prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. Seven of the top 11 drugs most often abused by high school seniors are either prescribed or purchased over the counter.

“Prescriptions can be very toxic if used in any way other than as prescribed,” said Dr. Steven Marcus, executive medical director of the New Jersey Poison Information & Education System. “Inadvertently, homes are havens for drug abuse due to the increasing number of controlled prescription medications on hand in the average home.”

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Addiction to Pain Medication – Or Dependency for Relief?

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Thirty-one of 75 patients hospitalized for opioid detoxification told physicians they first became addicted to drugs legitimately prescribed for pain. Another 24 patients started their addiction with prescription pills from a friend or a parent’s medicine cabinet. The remaining 20 patients said they became addicted on street drugs.

This information was reported to physicians at the University of Buffalo. Ninety two percent of the patients in the study said they eventually purchased drugs off the street, primarily heroin, because it is cheaper and more effective than prescription drugs.

They told the physicians that they continued using drugs because they “helped to take away my emotional pain and stress,” “to feel normal,” or “to feel like a better person.”

The information will be used to train medical students and residents at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and practicing physicians to screen for potential addiction among their patients, and to direct patients to a treatment program if necessary.

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