Stumble ItLabels: prescription, rehab
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 4/12/2007 10:19:00 AM ----- BODY: According to a recent study done by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the use of methamphetamine and amphetamines increase the risk of stroke in young adults. This includes the use and abuse of the illegal drug methamphetamine, which is a dangerous stimulant that is widely abused in the United States, as well cocaine and other amphetamines. Currently there are many legally prescribed amphetamines for “diseases” such as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) that produce the same effect as a drug like methamphetamine and/or cocaine that have been widely abused over the last few years. The abuse of prescription drugs like Adderall and Ritalin is a national problem. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, visits to U.S. emergency rooms rose 21% from 2004 to 2005 because of the misuse of prescription drugs. Visits to the ER because of abuse of illegal drugs stayed the same. Many people who were prescribed drugs such as Adderall or Ritalin as children later end up abusing illegal stimulants such as methamphetamine or even cocaine as adults. According to many drug treatment centers and those using both methamphetamine and/or legally prescribed amphetamines are at a higher risk for stroke and other health issues as young adults and later in life. The most alarming thing about this is that many school age children are put on these drugs on a daily basis. But, do we really understand the side effects and long standing damage we are doing by putting kids on drugs? Are we setting them up for major medical problems and even addiction later in life? And is there a better way to handle learning disabilities and problems in school that does not involve drugging children? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: children, methamphetamine, prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 4/09/2007 10:49:00 AM ----- BODY: Okay, so we’ve held out as long as possible on this story, but when it was announced by the California State Medical Board to news outlets that a Los Angeles psychiatrist is being investigated for prescribing all of the11 types of drugs that were found in Anna Nicole Smith's room at the Florida hotel where she died, we had to chime in. The report said that while they were not all prescribed directly to Anna Nicole, they were all provided by the same doctor. Another doctor is also being investigated by the California State Medical Board for prescribing the painkiller methadone and the sedative Ativan to Smith, both of which were found in her system when she died. As reported earlier, the medical examiner did state that the mixture of prescription drugs is what killed her, but which ones or which combinations caused the most damage? For her son, it was a combination of methadone and two antidepressants, Lexapro and Zoloft. The common factors in the death of Anna Nicole and her son are methadone and psychiatric drugs. Do you think the same psychiatrist was involved? Should this be a lesson to the millions of people out there taking similar drug combinations and thinking they’re safe? If so, it is a tragic way for the truth to come out, but if you do some searching, you’ll find that Smith and her son weren’t exactly the only ones in the country who died from these drugs this past year, only the most famous. Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: celebrity, prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 4/06/2007 10:51:00 AM ----- BODY: The short answer is probably no, but there is a longer explanation. Drug addiction is often characterized as compulsive, drug seeking behavior due to physical and/or mental dependency on a drug, despite knowingly causing damage to oneself and others regardless of consequence. Someone who is drug dependent may not exhibit the compulsive drug-seeking and may have a more rational appearance in life. Cases of this may include the moderate-to-heavy social drinker who has three alcoholic drinks several nights per week or more. You can also include the millions of people who take prescribed drugs day in and day out. Someone who is drug dependent can easily become a drug addict, but there really isn’t a definite line. What happens if the drinker gets cut off at the bar? He often gets belligerent and goes to another bar to buy alcohol, which would be the compulsive drug (or alcohol) seeking. Tolerance can also have an effect on dependence turning into addiction. One example might be someone being prescribed a narcotic painkiller after an injury or surgery. She takes it for the recommended week as prescribed, but when she stops she goes into withdrawals because her body became dependent on it. Her next reaction is that she has to get more of the drug to not feel bad anymore – and this escalates. We receive calls every week of this very scenario, after people have fallen completely into the addiction category. Another example we see a lot with prescriptions includes teenagers who were put on amphetamines for learning disorder labels. Their bodies naturally develop a tolerance to the stimulant and then need more – something stronger. I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve heard the story of “please help, my son is using cocaine,” and when I ask questions about their history I find out he was on Ritalin for three years prior to this happening. So, despite different characteristics and definitions, one has to be drug dependent to be an addict, but the line isn’t definite when it is crossed. When do you think that line is crossed, if it’s there at all? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: general-drugs, prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 4/05/2007 10:39:00 AM ----- BODY: Most people’s definition of detoxification is simply just withdrawing from the drug. In most cases, a medically-supervised withdrawal is not necessary, especially with most stimulants and even painkillers and heroin, although it is often preferred with the latter two. Even though a common aide is to have someone ‘sleep it off,’ alcohol and some other drugs can be very difficult to withdraw from when a person is consuming large quantities. Medical detoxification helps someone to systematically withdraw from alcohol or drugs by reducing the amount and/or using other medicines to ease the process and eliminate the risk of seizure and other severe drug withdrawal symptoms. People most often wanting or needing a medically-supervised detoxification before beginning addiction treatment include those on benzodiazapines (Xanax, Valium), opiates (prescription painkillers, heroin, methadone), barbiturates (Phenobarbital) and heavy amounts of alcohol. One main problem with this is, though, that many drug users will try to stop their treatment after detox thinking that their problem is solved, but in actual fact they are much better off statistically to go into a longer-term drug-free residential rehabilitation program after detoxification. In recent years there have also been other classes of prescribed drugs that require medical detox to step down from. These drugs include antipsychotics (Zyprexa, Risperdol, Seroquel), antidepressants (Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, etc.) and other mind-altering prescriptions. Given that more information and side effects of these drugs are discovered each year, more and more people are deciding to not take them and are seeking alternative treatments. These types of drugs have very severe withdrawal symptoms and people coming down from them often experience sudden psychotic episodes, so stepping down gradually in a medically-supervised environment is a good approach rather than weaning down at home. Have you known anyone or heard stories of someone trying to withdraw from some of these drugs on their own? What was the result? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: alcohol, detox, general-drugs, prescription, rehab
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 4/04/2007 09:08:00 AM ----- BODY: On Monday the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy released figures on prescription drug abuse in New Jersey. National studies have shown that 3% of residents have abused prescription drugs in the past year with 6% of those in the 18-25 age bracket reporting misusing prescription drugs. Those numbers are even higher in New Jersey where recent reports show the numbers for young adults in the 18-25 category at 11% while statewide 4% of residents reported they abused prescription drugs in the past year. The White House report also stated that admissions to drug and alcohol rehab programs for pain killers have increased 217% from 1999-2005 for New Jersey. Deputy US Drug Czar Scott Burns said, “Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem in New Jersey.” Officials partly blame the practice of “doctor shopping” where people go from doctor to doctor obtaining multiple prescriptions and have them filled at different pharmacies, a practice which is on the rise nationwide. New Jersey is one of 16 states that still don’t have a drug-monitoring program in place that would allow doctors and pharmacies to receive up to date and accurate information about the patients drug history. Does your state have a drug monitoring program available? Do you think this should be implemented on a federal level? Let us know what you think. Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: political, prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 3/27/2007 11:54:00 AM ----- BODY: There are many drugs in existence today, both legal and illegal, that are called “non-addictive.” In fact, pharmaceutical companies have come out with “non-narcotic” forms of pain relief like Ultram and Ambien that are “safe if used as directed and non-addictive” yet the incidents of people becoming addicted to these drugs continues to increase. This is not something new. In the 1850’s when opium addiction first became an epidemic in the United States, morphine was used as a non-addictive substitute until it was later outlawed in the 1920’s because of its’ addictive properties. There have even been statements that the illegal drugs marijuana is a “non-addictive” and “non-harmful” drug, yet it continues to be one of the most abused drug in the country. Another drug said to be “non-addictive” is LSD which is in fact one of the most harmful drugs out there, causing long-term damage to users. Not only does LSD cause flashbacks, where certain aspects of their LSD experience reoccur, but it also can cause long-lasting psychoses, and drug tolerance - where the user needs more and more of the drug to achieve the desired effect. After experiencing their first high on LSD, many users take this drug over and over again, even with the negative effects associated with the drug. The fact remains that drugs alter the senses and perceptions. Drugs produce a high in the user and the user continues taking the drugs to achieve the desired effect and in many cases takes more and more of the drug. This is true of everything from LSD to marijuana, to those legal prescription drugs and replacement drug therapies that are so heavily promoted on a day to day basis. Calling these drugs “non-addictive” is not only a false statement but easily proven untrue, not only with illegal drugs like marijuana and LSD but also with “legal” drugs like prescription pain pills, anti-depressants and replacement drug therapies. If these drugs are so non-addictive, why does the number of people becoming addicted to them continue to increase? You do the math and you’ll see that “non-addictive” drugs really don’t exist. Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: general-drugs, political, prescription
-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: COMMENT-DATE:Mar 28, 2007 3:38:00 PM COMMENT-BODY:Drug use and addiction are two very different things. -------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 3/26/2007 11:33:00 AM ----- BODY: Recently the Broward County Medical Examiner has ruled that Anna Nicole Smith’s death was the result of an accidental drug overdose. Since she was found unresponsive on Feb 8th in her hotel room in Hollywood, FL there has been a media storm surrounding questions of how she died as well as where to bury her and who gets custody of her infant daughter Dannielynn. It was stated by the Medical Examiner that prescription drugs found in therapeutic levels were present when the body was examined. Benzodiazepine medications such as Klonipin, Valium and Ativan were all found in her body as well as Chloral Hydrate, a sedative used in the short-term treatment of insomnia as well as to relieve anxiety and induce sleep before surgery. It is also used after surgery for pain and to treat alcohol withdrawl. Additionally Topomax, a medication commonly used in the treatment of seizures, the muscle relaxant Soma as well as over the counter medications such as Benedryl and Tylenol were also found to be present in her toxicology report. It is believed that the combination of these and other drugs found in her bloodstream are what resulted in her death. Questions of whether this could have been prevented if the multiple doctors who prescribed these medications were aware of the interactions between them could not be answered. More and more in the United States this is a trend for many drug users who seek out prescription medications from multiple doctors without letting one know about the other, called “doctor shopping” it is a practice many prescription drug abusers are all too familiar with. As we can now see the results of the interactions of these drugs taken together even at therapeutic levels can be deadly. Did Anna Nicole intend to commit suicide or was she simply taking medications as directed? At this point, at least as far as the medical examiner is concerned, the death was accidental; an eerie warning to those who use any combination of these drugs without the physicians who prescribe them being aware of the combinations the patient is taking. Should doctors who prescribe benzodiazepines be held responsible if a person dies from the interaction of drugs they prescribe when taken at therapeutic levels? What do you think? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: celebrity, prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 3/20/2007 10:33:00 AM ----- BODY: Among prescription drugs that are commonly abused, painkillers lead the category. As with other drugs, the usage varies from age range as well as by state. According to an article by the Associated Press (AP), a federal study of painkiller abuse found that Utah led the nation in 2004 and 2005. The study was released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and it was found that approximately 6.5 percent of Utah's population 12 and over used prescription drugs non-medically (without a prescription). Among the age groups, the largest percentage of abusers was between 18 and 25, which is typical of most drugs. People abusing prescription drugs often get them from a friend or relative's prescription, or participate in what is known as 'doctor shopping', which is going from one doctor to another with the same complaint to receive several prescriptions. It has also been found, especially with narcotic painkillers such as Vicodin, Lortab, Oxycontin, etc. that there continues to be a growing illicit market for such drugs. On our toll-free help lines, we get calls nearly every day from all over the country of people trying to break free from an addiction to painkillers, many of them starting with a legitimate prescription for an accident or injury. The problem is that these drugs are so addictive that even some very well-intended people wind up becoming physically dependent on such substances. From there it can develop into a full-blown addiction, complete with all of the “normal” drug-seeking behavior and their world begins to crash down upon them. Do you know of someone who wound up dependent on prescription painkillers? If so, how did it start for them? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: political, prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 3/16/2007 03:45:00 PM ----- BODY: Earlier in the week we talked about the issue of driving under the influence of other drugs besides alcohol. One of the cautionary points included sleeping medication – sedative drugs such as Ambien, Restoril and Lunesta. Just a couple of days ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested that all manufacturers of these types of drugs strengthen their product labeling to include stronger language concerning potential risks. These risks include severe allergic reactions and complex sleep-related behaviors, which may include sleep-driving. Sleep driving is defined as driving while not fully awake after ingestion of a sedative-hypnotic product, with no memory of the event. Steven Galson, M.D., MPH, director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research was quoted in an FDA release as saying, "…after reviewing the available post-marketing adverse event information for these products, FDA concluded that labeling changes are necessary to inform health care providers and consumers about risks." Other recorded incidents from taking these drugs included making phone calls and even cooking and eating – all with no recollection afterward due to the hypnotic state. The medications that are the focus of the revised FDA labeling include the following 13 products: Ambien/Ambien CR (Sanofi Aventis) Butisol Sodium (Medpointe Pharm HLC) Carbrital (Parke-Davis) Dalmane (Valeant Pharm) Doral (Questcor Pharms) Halcion (Pharmacia & Upjohn) Lunesta (Sepracor) Placidyl (Abbott) Prosom (Abbott) Restoril (Tyco Healthcare) Rozerem (Takeda) Seconal (Lilly) Sonata (King Pharmaceuticals) Aside from individuals asking for and receiving prescriptions from their doctors for these drugs, especially when seeing the clever marketing campaigns on television, more than a quarter million people used the drug non-medically in 2004. Nearly 60 percent of people who used these drugs without prescriptions said they got them from a friend or relative for free. Despite some of these drugs seeming relatively benign in concept and promotion, this is yet another example of dangerous side effects being found after being released on the market. Do you have any examples of things like this happening to people you know? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: driving, prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 3/15/2007 03:46:00 PM ----- BODY: Prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drug abuse continues to spread throughout America. According to some recent surveys though, most parents aren’t aware that ten percent of kids (2.4 million) have tried abusing cough medicines that contain dextromethorphan (DXM). Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) recently launched a new campaign designed to educate communities about how to prevent cough medicine abuse among teenagers. The alliance produced a website called Dose of Prevention and released a toolkit that is designed to arm parents, educators, retailers, healthcare providers, law enforcement officials, and other community leaders with critical information to address the problem of cough medicine abuse. According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), an estimated 12,584 emergency department visits in 2004 involved pharmaceuticals containing DXM. Nearly half of these visits involved young people between the ages of 12 and 20. A 6-year retrospective study from 1999 to 2004 of the California Poison Control System showed a 10-fold increase in the rate of DXM abuse cases in all ages and a 15-fold increase in the rate of cases in adolescents, accounting for about 75% of all of the cases. The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) has members who make the cough medicines containing DXM. Do you think their recent efforts after such a huge increase are enough, or should some other regulatory agency step in? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: children, prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 3/06/2007 01:45:00 PM ----- BODY: Driving under the influence of alcohol or another drug is actually more of an issue than most people recognize. Sure, there are groups against drunk driving, such as MADD, which help bring to light some of the issues. While alcohol is the main culprit, being easily available and readily served, it is not the only substance we should be concerned about. Alcohol is still the most dangerous in terms of numbers of crashes, loss of life and damage caused to society. In 2005, there were more than 31 million people over the age of 12 who reported driving under the influence of alcohol. During the same year over 10 million people aged 12 or older also reported driving under the influence of an illicit drug. Whether someone is nodding out from opiates such as heroin, oblivious to others on marijuana or driving aggressively because of stimulants like meth or cocaine, they’re still a menace on the streets. There have been additional threats in recent years though, and that is people driving under the influence of drugs legally prescribed to them. Even at the recommended dose some of these drugs can be very dangerous when combined with driving. Last year the New York Times and MSNBC reported that there was a major increase in the number of DUI arrests involving the prescription sleep aid Ambien across the country. The category is not just limited to sleeping pills. Other types of medications can be equally as hazardous. An article from a teacher was posted on About.com where she talked about getting arrested for driving under the influence of her prescription because she was weaving in her lane and failed a field sobriety test. Despite most people knowing that it’s there and ignoring it, the label on these drugs says, “Do not operate heavy machinery” and is there for a reason. So, it might be good to do yourselves and others a favor and not let people on these medications drive, regardless of how long they’ve already been doing it. It might just keep them from going to jail or injuring themselves or someone else. Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | SpurlLabels: driving, prescription
-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: COMMENT-DATE:Mar 10, 2007 2:31:00 PM COMMENT-BODY:Yet another scary aspect of the drug culture of today - prescrpition drugs- not just some teenagers smoking Pot but millions of americans on drugs as part of their daily lives. There is no drug without side effects and it seems like this is one of them that doesnt just affect the user but random people as well. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: COMMENT-DATE:Mar 13, 2007 11:43:00 AM COMMENT-BODY:If people could just realize that everytime they get high it effects other people besides themselves we would all be better off. -------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 3/01/2007 05:46:00 PM ----- BODY: In case you haven’t heard, prescription drugs are considered the fastest rising drug abuse threat in our society. This is true from teenagers and young adults all the way through the baby boomer generation. So where are all of these prescriptions coming from and how are young people getting them? According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, more than three in five teens say prescription pain relievers are easy to get from parents’ medicine cabinets; half of teens say they’re easy to get through other people’s prescriptions; and more than half of teens say pain relievers are “available everywhere;” 43 percent of teens believe pain relievers are cheap and 35 percent believe they are safer to use than illegal drugs. In addition to that, a street market has developed for many prescriptions, especially painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin, Lortab, Methadone, etc… as well as amphetamines like Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine. There have even been incidences where people have robbed pharmacies just for drugs and left all the cash. Due to the outbreak in prescription drug abuse across the country in recent years, more states have been implementing prescription drug monitoring programs, where pharmacies and doctors share information on who is prescribed what and when, which would cut down on the “doctor shopping” that some addicts do. This is where someone will go to several doctors with the same problem, real or imagined, and get multiple prescriptions for an addictive substance. They then travel around to different pharmacies to have them filled. Despite the legal drugs becoming illicit, the most common ways for people to start abusing them is by getting them from friends and family members who have been prescribed these drugs. So, for those of you at home, a good idea is to throw away your old medications and lock up or hide any current ones. People of all ages, but especially teenagers and young adults, are taking these drugs to get high. You could also try an alternative substitute than a narcotic or amphetamine if at all possible, and not run the risk in the first place. Article by EricStumble It | Digg It | Furl It | Reddit | Rojo It
Bookmark in del.icio.us | Add to technorati faves
Bookmark in Yahoo! | Seed in Newsvine
Add to Google Bookmarks | Add to Bloglines
Labels: prescription
-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 2/27/2007 01:26:00 PM ----- BODY: The controversy over ADHD diagnosis and the drugs prescribed for it has not gone away, and rightfully so. In most cases, the drugs that are being given to children as well as adults are powerfully addictive stimulants. A new study reported by USA Today says that parents of children taking ADHD medication are about nine times more likely to also use the drugs than parents of children who aren't on these drugs. The study of more than 100,000 privately insured children was done by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages pharmacy benefits. Medco data shows that the growth in adult use of drugs for ADHD, such as Ritalin and Concerta, outpaced the increases in childhood prescriptions since 2000. About 2 million children and 1 million adults are prescribed medications for ADHD each month. According to the FDA, adult use of the drugs nearly doubled between March 2002 and June 2005. The maker of one of the drugs financed the study, presumably to find out more about who to market to. In 2006, U.S. sales of ADHD drugs totaled about $3.5 billion, according to health care information company IMS Health. Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated problems with the stimulant drugs drive nearly 3,100 people to ERs each year. The FDA has ordered that drug makers of 15 ADHD-related chemicals must start providing warnings about the risks of cardiovascular problems with the drugs. Because stimulant drugs such as Ritalin have such a high potential for abuse, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has placed tight, Schedule II controls on their manufacture, distribution, and prescription. A study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse last year estimated that more than 1.6 million American teens and young adults misused these drugs during a 12-month period, and 75,000 became addicted. In response to this information, one pediatrician is noted as saying “that seventy-five thousand addicts is more alarming than a few hundred heart problems.” We’d like to hear your concerns about these drugs. Are the billions of dollars in sales overshadowing the damage caused by the drugs? Do you find it alarming that pharmaceutical companies began targeting adult ADHD once the increase in prescriptions to kids slowed? Do you find it more troubling that there are heart attacks, strokes and deaths from the drugs, or that there hundreds of thousands of young people abusing these harmful substances and tens of thousands becoming addicted to them? Article by Eric MitchellStumble It | Digg It | Furl It | Reddit | Rojo It
Bookmark in del.icio.us | Add to technorati faves
Bookmark in Yahoo! | Seed in Newsvine
Add to Google Bookmarks | Add to Bloglines
Labels: children, prescription
-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: COMMENT-DATE:Feb 27, 2007 7:36:00 PM COMMENT-BODY:The simple fact of human economics is that people have needs and will fulfill those needs any way they can: moral or legal threats be damned. These threats are artifices of recent society and its mores rather than biological imperatives. The latter will always win.