Drug and Alcohol Rehab Blog
Monday, November 9, 2009
Florida Father Speaks Out Against Pain Clinics
Florida father, Terri Parker, is losing his 21-year-old son, Michael James McGilvary, to a devastating painkiller addiction -- and he is speaking out against the pain clinics that have been supplying his son and other area youth with prescriptions to pain pills.
McGilvary, once a healthy and productive young man, became hooked on the narcotic painkiller OxyContin approximately two years ago. Since then, he has been able to obtain prescriptions for multiple types of pain pills from local clinics.
His father recalls how his son's habit quickly spun out of control, and says that the medications have turned his son into a shell of a person and a small-time criminal: "He got so bad here, he was taking this needle, instead of shooting it in his arm, shooting it under his tongue, under his fingernails, two, three, four, five times a day, because these drugs are so addictive."
McGilvary tried to stop taking the pills, but couldn't, and ended up attempting suicide. Parker says that local pain clinics are partly to blame for his son's downward spiral: "These doctors do not care at all. Yes, they care. They care for that $175 they get to write that prescription so they can [sail] on their boat and play golf Saturday and be with their children. They can take their child to soccer. My child's in jail.
"Somebody has got to alert the people about what these doctors are doing, these pain clinics. It's destroying lives. It's time that we stopped this. I can't save my kid. I might save somebody else's kid."
(Source: www.wpbf.com)
McGilvary, once a healthy and productive young man, became hooked on the narcotic painkiller OxyContin approximately two years ago. Since then, he has been able to obtain prescriptions for multiple types of pain pills from local clinics.
His father recalls how his son's habit quickly spun out of control, and says that the medications have turned his son into a shell of a person and a small-time criminal: "He got so bad here, he was taking this needle, instead of shooting it in his arm, shooting it under his tongue, under his fingernails, two, three, four, five times a day, because these drugs are so addictive."
McGilvary tried to stop taking the pills, but couldn't, and ended up attempting suicide. Parker says that local pain clinics are partly to blame for his son's downward spiral: "These doctors do not care at all. Yes, they care. They care for that $175 they get to write that prescription so they can [sail] on their boat and play golf Saturday and be with their children. They can take their child to soccer. My child's in jail.
"Somebody has got to alert the people about what these doctors are doing, these pain clinics. It's destroying lives. It's time that we stopped this. I can't save my kid. I might save somebody else's kid."
(Source: www.wpbf.com)
Labels: clinics, OxyContin, painkillers
posted by Drug-Rehab.com at 1:50 PM
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Drug and Alcohol Rehab Blog
Friday, July 31, 2009
Florida Battles Reputation as "Pill Mill" Capital
Authorities and legislators in Florida are grappling with the state's snowballing problem with illicit pain pill trafficking and abuse. Some experts posit that south Florida's high concentration of pain clinics and doctors may be the foundation of the problem. Other experts point to Florida's lag in developing sufficient prescription monitoring procedures in comparison to other states in the region.
With the introduction of OxyContin to Appalachia in the 1990s, several states reacted quickly, developing procedures for tracking the writing and filling of OxyContin and other similar medications. However, Florida, with an entrenched focus on battling cocaine use, failed to keep pace.
The growth of the problem is clear: Fatal overdoses involving oxycodone, the main component in brand-name pain killers OxyContin, Roxicet and Percocet, increased 20 percent from 2007 to 2008 in Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to state authorities. Last year, the two counties had 221 oxycodone-related overdose deaths. Last month, Governor Charlie Crist signed legislation aimed at regulating pain clinics more effectively.
(Source: www.sun-sentinel.com)
With the introduction of OxyContin to Appalachia in the 1990s, several states reacted quickly, developing procedures for tracking the writing and filling of OxyContin and other similar medications. However, Florida, with an entrenched focus on battling cocaine use, failed to keep pace.
The growth of the problem is clear: Fatal overdoses involving oxycodone, the main component in brand-name pain killers OxyContin, Roxicet and Percocet, increased 20 percent from 2007 to 2008 in Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to state authorities. Last year, the two counties had 221 oxycodone-related overdose deaths. Last month, Governor Charlie Crist signed legislation aimed at regulating pain clinics more effectively.
(Source: www.sun-sentinel.com)
Labels: drug-abuse, OxyContin, painkillers, prescription-drug-abuse
posted by Drug-Rehab.com at 8:06 AM
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Drug and Alcohol Rehab Blog
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Prescription Drug Abuse on the Rise in Ohio
Prescription drug abuse is on the rise in Ohio, according to a report released this week by the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network. The report, called "Surveillance of Drug Trends in the State of Ohio," noted an increase in the abuse of prescription medication such as Vicodin and OxyContin, and a slight decrease in the use of cocaine and methamphetamines.
The report includes data from June 2008 to January 2009, collected in eight metropolitan areas. Report authors interviewed drug users, treatment professionals, police and crime lab officials to obtain information useful to the development of addiction prevention, treatment and recovery programs.
(Source: www.limiohio.com)
The report includes data from June 2008 to January 2009, collected in eight metropolitan areas. Report authors interviewed drug users, treatment professionals, police and crime lab officials to obtain information useful to the development of addiction prevention, treatment and recovery programs.
(Source: www.limiohio.com)
Labels: addiction, OxyContin, prescription-drug-abuse, recovery, Vicodin
posted by Drug-Rehab.com at 4:03 PM
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Drug and Alcohol Rehab Blog
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Massachusetts Battles OxyContin, Heroin Epidemic
Lawmakers in Massachusetts are calling the recent spike in heroin and OxyContin (a chemical cousin of heroin) abuse the worst epidemic to ever hit the state.
At a public hearing last week on drug abuse, state Sen. Steven Tolman commented on the frightening trend: "OxyContin and heroin abuse are destroying lives and tearing families apart throughout Massachusetts and the nation. It does not discriminate based on age, race, sex or geographic region."
Massachusetts has established a 13-member OxyContin and Heroin Commission, which is being led by Sen. Holman, during the 2007-2008 legislative session. The commission's mandate is to study and recommend solutions to increasing rates of opiate abuse. In 10 years, abuse of prescription OxyContin has increased by 1,000 percent. During the same time period, abuse of heroin has jumped by 52 percent.
Sen. Tolman emphasizes that the battle against opiate abuse is really a war, and that lives are at stake. At the hearing, he put the struggle in context: "Between 2002 and 2007, we lost 78 soldiers on the streets and battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, but buried 3,265 citizens during that same period [because of overdoses]. Folks, that's 42-1 to what we're losing in war. We need to change the way we address this problem and, most importantly, we need to find solutions rather than pretend it isn't going on."
(Source: www.iberkshires.com)
At a public hearing last week on drug abuse, state Sen. Steven Tolman commented on the frightening trend: "OxyContin and heroin abuse are destroying lives and tearing families apart throughout Massachusetts and the nation. It does not discriminate based on age, race, sex or geographic region."
Massachusetts has established a 13-member OxyContin and Heroin Commission, which is being led by Sen. Holman, during the 2007-2008 legislative session. The commission's mandate is to study and recommend solutions to increasing rates of opiate abuse. In 10 years, abuse of prescription OxyContin has increased by 1,000 percent. During the same time period, abuse of heroin has jumped by 52 percent.
Sen. Tolman emphasizes that the battle against opiate abuse is really a war, and that lives are at stake. At the hearing, he put the struggle in context: "Between 2002 and 2007, we lost 78 soldiers on the streets and battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, but buried 3,265 citizens during that same period [because of overdoses]. Folks, that's 42-1 to what we're losing in war. We need to change the way we address this problem and, most importantly, we need to find solutions rather than pretend it isn't going on."
(Source: www.iberkshires.com)
Labels: drug-abuse, heroin, OxyContin
posted by Drug-Rehab.com at 2:52 PM
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Drug and Alcohol Rehab Blog
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Prescription Drug Abuse on the Rise in California
On Dec. 16, 2007, 23-year-old Cyrus Moinzadeh overdosed on OxyContin and died. Moinzadeh was smart (spoke three languages) and well-liked, but spent time with a group of young people who frequently abused the drug.
Of Cyrus' five closest friends from high school, three have died from drug overdoses. OxyContin, a chemical relative of heroin, is frequently prescribed as painkiller for back pain, cancer pain, bone fractures, and other severe injuries. Many teenagers obtain the drug over the Internet from unscrupulous companies in Canada and Mexico.
OxyContin is produced as a time-release tablet, so non-medical users will often smash up the pills to snort them or melt them to smoke (they will place the pills on foil and apply heat from underneath). Scott Henderson of the San Diego Police Department narcotics division advises parents to be aware of their teenagers' activities.
Henderson recommends looking on teens' Facebook and MySpace pages, because that's commonly where they exchange information about getting drugs. Henderson also said to be on the lookout for the tinfoil used to smoke it since Oxy leaves black charred streaks. "If you're running out of tin foil and you don't make a lot of casseroles, I'm telling you right now something is amiss."
(Source: www.delmartimes.com)
Of Cyrus' five closest friends from high school, three have died from drug overdoses. OxyContin, a chemical relative of heroin, is frequently prescribed as painkiller for back pain, cancer pain, bone fractures, and other severe injuries. Many teenagers obtain the drug over the Internet from unscrupulous companies in Canada and Mexico.
OxyContin is produced as a time-release tablet, so non-medical users will often smash up the pills to snort them or melt them to smoke (they will place the pills on foil and apply heat from underneath). Scott Henderson of the San Diego Police Department narcotics division advises parents to be aware of their teenagers' activities.
Henderson recommends looking on teens' Facebook and MySpace pages, because that's commonly where they exchange information about getting drugs. Henderson also said to be on the lookout for the tinfoil used to smoke it since Oxy leaves black charred streaks. "If you're running out of tin foil and you don't make a lot of casseroles, I'm telling you right now something is amiss."
(Source: www.delmartimes.com)
Labels: heroin, OxyContin, prescription-drug-abuse
posted by Drug-Rehab.com at 9:28 AM
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