1) One in ten high school seniors in the United States has admitted to misusing prescription painkillers.

2) Prescription painkiller addiction costs our society an estimated $ 484 billion annually. This includes the cost of rehabilitation programs, lost productivity at work, and accidents caused by persons impaired by painkillers.

3) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 10 to 22 percent of car crashes involve drivers who have been using some type of drugs, both prescription and street drugs.

4) Nearly two-thirds of people in prescription drug rehabilitation programs say they were physically or sexually abused as children. Studies are finding more and more people who are suffering from painkiller addiction are actually using these drugs to numb a “different” kind of pain, that of emotional turmoil.

5) In 2006, over 10 million people 12 or older reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs during the past year.

6) Of the seven million-plus people ages 12 and older who reported using prescription drugs non-medically, 5.2 million of those people used pain killers.

7) Prescription drug use has been linked to over half of the major crimes committed in our country – these crimes include assault, rape, and murder.

8) Prescription pain killers, when mixed with alcohol and other depressants such as sleeping aids, can be deadly. In fact, many coroners for prescription drug fatalities report several drugs in their autopsy reports, stating that a mix of drugs magnified the effects of all the drugs.

9) While there is a certain stigma associated with street drugs, many of the people who abuse prescription drugs and develop addictions are working professionals who never intended to abuse drugs. Their addiction started out as getting a simple prescription or two written up by a doctor and progressed from there.

10) The withdrawal side effects from oxycodone and other prescription drugs can be just as debilitating as those coming off heroin or crystal meth highs. In many cases, those withdrawing from prescription painkillers actually need medical treatment to monitor their bodies rid the drug from their systems. They also need medical support to alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal.

11) There are over 250 self-help recovery groups nation-wide modeled after the Alcoholics Anonymous famous “Twelve Step Program.” This does not include residential drug treatment programs and medical detox programs.

12) As pain pill clinics around the country continue to get busted by law enforcement, emergency rooms around the country are receiving an influx of patients who have nothing physically wrong with them but are suffering physically from prescription painkiller addiction.

 

Seeking answers to tragic use of painkillers

Filed under: prescription drug painkillers

"We didn't get turned away, but we didn't come out with anything positive,'' said Avi Israel, whose 20-year-old son, Michael, who was addicted to painkillers and other prescription drugs from his treatment for Crohn's disease, killed himself last year …
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West Des Moines Clinic Aims to Stem Addiction to Painkillers

Filed under: prescription drug painkillers

Harbor View Medical, a new specialty clinic aimed at curbing addiction to prescription painkillers – something physicians say can occur as soon as three days after starting medication – opened Wednesday in West Des Moines Located at 1300 37th St …
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Veterinarian Charged With Falsely Prescribing Painkillers

Filed under: prescription drug painkillers

A former Garrettsville veterinarian facing charges for writing fake prescriptions for painkillers and other drugs using her dogs' names pleaded not guilty to charges Wednesday. Lee A. Givan, 52, of Thompson Station, Tenn., entered the plea in Trumbull …
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