From the Sault (Ont.) Star:
First, it takes away the pain. Then it takes over your life.
Pharmacist Jon MacDonald has seen the astonishing rise in opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin over the last decade, and welcomes changes the provincial government wants to introduce to how they're prescribed and dispensed.
"If doctors are tracked, and know they're tracked, they'll prescribe a little more responsibly. And the same for pharmacists," said MacDonald, operator of the Medicine Shoppe on Second Line West, who until this year was regional spokesperson for the Ontario Pharmacists' Asoociation.
Ontario's Health Ministry wants to use a computer tracking system that would monitor how much of a drug is going out and send alerts if a prescription is received two days in a row.
MacDonald said it shouldn't be difficult, as anyone with a health card in Ontario is already entered into a database when they get prescriptions filled. The missing link right now is that nobody is actually monitoring what's going on, he said. ...more
Showing posts with label drug abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drug abuse. Show all posts
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Many U.S. teens share medications
From CBC News:
Many U.S. teens have lent or borrowed prescription medications such as antibiotics and acne medication, a survey suggests.
When researchers interviewed 529 people aged 12 to 17 in 11 U.S cities or suburbs, they found one in five reported they had borrowed or lent a prescription.
A third of the teens who took a borrowed prescription did not tell their doctor, the team said in this week's online issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
"Other researchers have studied people selling prescription drugs, but we looked at people with good intentions, trying, for instance, to help a friend who lacked money or transportation for a doctor's visit," co-author Chris Mayhorn, a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University, said in a release from the Center for the Advancement of Health.
Increased antibiotic resistance is also possible, since neither the lender nor the borrower was likely to take the full course of the drugs, the researchers noted. ...more
Many U.S. teens have lent or borrowed prescription medications such as antibiotics and acne medication, a survey suggests.
When researchers interviewed 529 people aged 12 to 17 in 11 U.S cities or suburbs, they found one in five reported they had borrowed or lent a prescription.
A third of the teens who took a borrowed prescription did not tell their doctor, the team said in this week's online issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
"Other researchers have studied people selling prescription drugs, but we looked at people with good intentions, trying, for instance, to help a friend who lacked money or transportation for a doctor's visit," co-author Chris Mayhorn, a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University, said in a release from the Center for the Advancement of Health.
Increased antibiotic resistance is also possible, since neither the lender nor the borrower was likely to take the full course of the drugs, the researchers noted. ...more
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Gazans struggling with rising drug abuse
From Reuters:
Palestinians struggling to cope with the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the trauma of war are turning to painkillers and tranquillizers at a rate that risks triggering a wave of addiction.
There is also evidence of mounting recreational drug use as Gaza drifts in limbo, with no clear political future.
Gaza residents reported health problems after a 22-day Israeli offensive last January, with most citing psychological problems and stress, according to a survey published by the United Nations Gender Task Force on April 21.
"With increased trauma and stress and limited access to professional psychosocial services, there is a rising problem of self-medication with unsupervised pharmaceutical therapies among the Gaza population," said a summary presented in Jerusalem.
One eighth-grade teacher, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said she recently found several 13-year-olds using tramadol hydrochloride, a strong painkiller sold under the brand name Tramal which is now drug of choice in the Gaza Strip. ...more
Palestinians struggling to cope with the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the trauma of war are turning to painkillers and tranquillizers at a rate that risks triggering a wave of addiction.
There is also evidence of mounting recreational drug use as Gaza drifts in limbo, with no clear political future.
Gaza residents reported health problems after a 22-day Israeli offensive last January, with most citing psychological problems and stress, according to a survey published by the United Nations Gender Task Force on April 21.
"With increased trauma and stress and limited access to professional psychosocial services, there is a rising problem of self-medication with unsupervised pharmaceutical therapies among the Gaza population," said a summary presented in Jerusalem.
One eighth-grade teacher, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said she recently found several 13-year-olds using tramadol hydrochloride, a strong painkiller sold under the brand name Tramal which is now drug of choice in the Gaza Strip. ...more
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Abuse of prescribed opiate painkillers on rise, research shows
From CBC News:
A growing number of Canadians are becoming addicted to prescription painkillers such as Tylenol 3 and OxyContin, say researchers who fear the problem could lead to more deaths.
In many Canadian cities, more people are addicted to prescription opiates than street drugs such as heroin or cocaine, according to study published in the April issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
In 2005, the majority of street drug users in main Canadian cities were non-medical users of prescription opioids, with the exception of Vancouver and Montreal, researchers found.
The study's authors estimated that there are between 321,000 and 914,000 people in Canada who are abusing prescription opioids — between one per cent and three per cent of the country's population. ...more
A growing number of Canadians are becoming addicted to prescription painkillers such as Tylenol 3 and OxyContin, say researchers who fear the problem could lead to more deaths.
In many Canadian cities, more people are addicted to prescription opiates than street drugs such as heroin or cocaine, according to study published in the April issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
In 2005, the majority of street drug users in main Canadian cities were non-medical users of prescription opioids, with the exception of Vancouver and Montreal, researchers found.
The study's authors estimated that there are between 321,000 and 914,000 people in Canada who are abusing prescription opioids — between one per cent and three per cent of the country's population. ...more
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Pharmacist warns of 'pharm parties'
From the Madison (IN) Courier:
"Pharm parties" where party-goers ingest random prescription drugs collected from family medicine cabinets without regard for potentially lethal drug interactions are a rapidly increasing trend among teens and young adults, a pharmacist told a town hall audience Monday in Carrollton, Ky.
Pharmacist Dave Sallengs likened the possible deadly consequences of mixing prescription medication to the death Jan. 22, 2008, of Academy Award-winning actor Heath Ledger, who accidentally overdosed on six different painkillers and sedatives.
Sallengs said the number of 12- to 17-year-olds abusing controlled substances in the U.S. grew 212 percent between 1992 and 2003, and the number of prescriptions written for controlled substances in the U.S. grew 150 percent.
Sallengs, the manager of the drug enforcement and professional practices branch office of the Kentucky inspector general, said the number of people abusing prescription drugs exceeded the number of people abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin combined during that same period. ..more
"Pharm parties" where party-goers ingest random prescription drugs collected from family medicine cabinets without regard for potentially lethal drug interactions are a rapidly increasing trend among teens and young adults, a pharmacist told a town hall audience Monday in Carrollton, Ky.
Pharmacist Dave Sallengs likened the possible deadly consequences of mixing prescription medication to the death Jan. 22, 2008, of Academy Award-winning actor Heath Ledger, who accidentally overdosed on six different painkillers and sedatives.
Sallengs said the number of 12- to 17-year-olds abusing controlled substances in the U.S. grew 212 percent between 1992 and 2003, and the number of prescriptions written for controlled substances in the U.S. grew 150 percent.
Sallengs, the manager of the drug enforcement and professional practices branch office of the Kentucky inspector general, said the number of people abusing prescription drugs exceeded the number of people abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin combined during that same period. ..more
Sunday, March 15, 2009
MDs, pharmacists battling drug resellers
From the Winnipeg Free Press:
Inner-city doctors and pharmacists want the province to help them crack down on prescription-drug abuse in response to the growing number of people reselling addictive painkillers such as OxyContin on the street.
Betty Edel, executive director of the Mount Carmel Clinic, said the strip of medical clinics and pharmacies along North Main Street has become a hub for the resale of prescription painkillers.
Edel said area residents and people from other Winnipeg communities are coming to North Main to fill their prescriptions and sell them to dealers who, in turn, sell the drugs for a steeper price on the street.
OxyContin is a strong narcotic that contains oxycodone and other opiates and is prescribed by physicians as a long-release painkiller. Some addiction experts call it "hillbilly heroin," since tablets containing oxycodone can be purchased for about $5 a pill, then resold by dealers. ...more
Inner-city doctors and pharmacists want the province to help them crack down on prescription-drug abuse in response to the growing number of people reselling addictive painkillers such as OxyContin on the street.
Betty Edel, executive director of the Mount Carmel Clinic, said the strip of medical clinics and pharmacies along North Main Street has become a hub for the resale of prescription painkillers.
Edel said area residents and people from other Winnipeg communities are coming to North Main to fill their prescriptions and sell them to dealers who, in turn, sell the drugs for a steeper price on the street.
OxyContin is a strong narcotic that contains oxycodone and other opiates and is prescribed by physicians as a long-release painkiller. Some addiction experts call it "hillbilly heroin," since tablets containing oxycodone can be purchased for about $5 a pill, then resold by dealers. ...more
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Man charged with painkiller fraud, theft
From United Press International:
Police in Calgary, Alberta, have charged a pharmacy worker with fraud and theft related to 15,000 missing painkiller tablets.
Constable Dan Allen told the Calgary Sun the investigation showed customers' drug plan information was used to forge prescriptions for OxyContin painkiller pills from a Shoppers Drug Mart franchise where the suspect worked as a pharmacy technician.
"He would, in one case, find perhaps a couple who have two policies: one under perhaps the male, and one under the female, and he would then bill a portion to one of the clients and a portion to the other client, which would then raise no flags for the store," Allen told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. ...more
Police in Calgary, Alberta, have charged a pharmacy worker with fraud and theft related to 15,000 missing painkiller tablets.
Constable Dan Allen told the Calgary Sun the investigation showed customers' drug plan information was used to forge prescriptions for OxyContin painkiller pills from a Shoppers Drug Mart franchise where the suspect worked as a pharmacy technician.
"He would, in one case, find perhaps a couple who have two policies: one under perhaps the male, and one under the female, and he would then bill a portion to one of the clients and a portion to the other client, which would then raise no flags for the store," Allen told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. ...more
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Test kit highlights possible rise in prescription drug use among kids
From the Vancouver Sun:
As if it isn't enough for parents to worry about whether their teenager is using marijuana, cocaine or crystal meth, a new drug-testing kit presents parents with the option of testing their children for prescription drug use, too.
With a quick snip or a clump of hair, parents can find out within days whether a child has dipped into the family medicine cabinet, has tried cocaine in the past three months, uses crystal meth on the weekends, or is taking painkillers on a daily basis.
"Prescription drugs are so accessible to kids. They're in the medicine cabinet, so they don't really think it's dangerous for them," said Zeynep Ilgaz, president and co-founder of Confirm BioSciences, the California-based maker of the home drug-testing kits.
"Kids think it's a safe way to get high because they're not illegal."
Ilgaz said prescription drug abuse, particularly of OxyContin and Vicodin, is on the rise in the United States.
There are few Canadian statistics on the number of people who abuse prescription drugs, but the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse says available evidence suggests Canadians are among the heaviest consumers of psychotropic medication in the world. And a recent study found indications that non-medicinal use of prescription opioids is increasingly replacing heroin. ...more
As if it isn't enough for parents to worry about whether their teenager is using marijuana, cocaine or crystal meth, a new drug-testing kit presents parents with the option of testing their children for prescription drug use, too.
With a quick snip or a clump of hair, parents can find out within days whether a child has dipped into the family medicine cabinet, has tried cocaine in the past three months, uses crystal meth on the weekends, or is taking painkillers on a daily basis.
"Prescription drugs are so accessible to kids. They're in the medicine cabinet, so they don't really think it's dangerous for them," said Zeynep Ilgaz, president and co-founder of Confirm BioSciences, the California-based maker of the home drug-testing kits.
"Kids think it's a safe way to get high because they're not illegal."
Ilgaz said prescription drug abuse, particularly of OxyContin and Vicodin, is on the rise in the United States.
There are few Canadian statistics on the number of people who abuse prescription drugs, but the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse says available evidence suggests Canadians are among the heaviest consumers of psychotropic medication in the world. And a recent study found indications that non-medicinal use of prescription opioids is increasingly replacing heroin. ...more
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Pharmacist guilty of misconduct by supplying pills to rogue doctor
From the New Zealand Herald:
An Auckland pharmacist's actions in dispensing 773 prescriptions for the pseudoephedrine-based drug Sudomyl - a total of 46,380 60mg tablets - have been found to be professional misconduct.
So far known only as Mr Y, the pharmacist filled prescriptions from "rogue doctor" Rhys Cullen over five months to March 31, 2007, the Health Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal says.
Pseudoephedrine is a precursor chemical for manufacturing illicit street drugs known as meth or "P".
The tribunal suspended Dr Cullen from practice on March 29, 2007, and subsequently had his registration as a doctor cancelled. He was fined $15,000.
The tribunal said in a professional conduct committee decision released yesterday that Dr Cullen's practice delivered bundles of prescriptions for Sudomyl and paid for them in cash. ...more
An Auckland pharmacist's actions in dispensing 773 prescriptions for the pseudoephedrine-based drug Sudomyl - a total of 46,380 60mg tablets - have been found to be professional misconduct.
So far known only as Mr Y, the pharmacist filled prescriptions from "rogue doctor" Rhys Cullen over five months to March 31, 2007, the Health Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal says.
Pseudoephedrine is a precursor chemical for manufacturing illicit street drugs known as meth or "P".
The tribunal suspended Dr Cullen from practice on March 29, 2007, and subsequently had his registration as a doctor cancelled. He was fined $15,000.
The tribunal said in a professional conduct committee decision released yesterday that Dr Cullen's practice delivered bundles of prescriptions for Sudomyl and paid for them in cash. ...more
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Task force taking group approach to opiate problem
From the Fort Francis (Ont.) Times:
With the abuse of prescription drugs like oxycontin on the rise, a community task force has been established to address the problems arising from the increasing amount of opiate addiction in Rainy River District and First Nations’ communities.
OPP Insp. Dave Lucas, who last week was appointed as the new detachment commander of the Kenora OPP, informed delegates at the Ontario Association of Police Service Boards Zone 1 semi-annual meeting here in Fort Frances that representatives from pharmacies, aboriginal agencies, counselling services, dental offices, prevention programs, police services, and health care have come together to discuss the problem—and are trying to find both short-term and long-term solutions.
Insp. Lucas admitted he didn’t know much about this kind of opiate abuse until two years ago, when it became very clear it was a problem in Rainy River District.
“I asked myself, ‘Why didn’t I know about this if it is such a huge issue?’” he remarked, adding it quickly became evident there are no regulations to control how these drugs are prescribed. ...more
With the abuse of prescription drugs like oxycontin on the rise, a community task force has been established to address the problems arising from the increasing amount of opiate addiction in Rainy River District and First Nations’ communities.
OPP Insp. Dave Lucas, who last week was appointed as the new detachment commander of the Kenora OPP, informed delegates at the Ontario Association of Police Service Boards Zone 1 semi-annual meeting here in Fort Frances that representatives from pharmacies, aboriginal agencies, counselling services, dental offices, prevention programs, police services, and health care have come together to discuss the problem—and are trying to find both short-term and long-term solutions.
Insp. Lucas admitted he didn’t know much about this kind of opiate abuse until two years ago, when it became very clear it was a problem in Rainy River District.
“I asked myself, ‘Why didn’t I know about this if it is such a huge issue?’” he remarked, adding it quickly became evident there are no regulations to control how these drugs are prescribed. ...more
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Drug patch stolen from senior's arm
I would suspect that the patch in question contained fentanyl. I'm pretty sure it's the only narcotic transdermal patch on the market. It's kind of scary, but I'm also surprised that this hasn't happened before (that I can recall).
From UPI:
Canadian police in the northern Ontario city of Thunder Bay were investigating the theft of a prescription patch from a man's arm in a nursing home.
The Chronicle Herald reported the theft happened around 11 a.m. Sunday, when a woman entered the unidentified 65-year-old man's room at Roseview Manor and ripped off the patch.
Neither the facility nor police would say what medication
was in the patch, the newspaper said. ...more
Friday, January 23, 2009
Crime spree targeting Calgary-area pharmacies
From the Calgary Herald:
Two robbers after a highly-addictive painkiller have held up at least 10 Calgary-area pharmacies, and police are concerned they're getting more violent.
In each case, the man and woman responsible have taken oxycodone, a powerful prescription drug that has become a commodity on the illegal drug market.
Oxycodone -- sold under the commercial name OxyContin-- can be fatal if misused, but police are also concerned the couple suspected of committing the robberies poses a threat to the public as they become increasingly desperate for the drug and more aggressive toward their victims. ...more
Two robbers after a highly-addictive painkiller have held up at least 10 Calgary-area pharmacies, and police are concerned they're getting more violent.
In each case, the man and woman responsible have taken oxycodone, a powerful prescription drug that has become a commodity on the illegal drug market.
Oxycodone -- sold under the commercial name OxyContin-- can be fatal if misused, but police are also concerned the couple suspected of committing the robberies poses a threat to the public as they become increasingly desperate for the drug and more aggressive toward their victims. ...more
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Swiss approve pioneering legal heroin program
From the Associated Press:
The world's most comprehensive legalized heroin program became permanent Sunday with overwhelming approval from Swiss voters who simultaneously rejected the decriminalization of marijuana.
The heroin program, started in 1994, is offered in 23 centers across Switzerland. It has helped eliminate scenes of large groups of drug users shooting up openly in parks that marred Swiss cities in the 1980s and 1990s and is credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts.
The nearly 1,300 selected addicts, who have been unhelped by other therapies, visit one of the centers twice a day to receive the carefully measured dose of heroin produced by a government-approved laboratory.
They keep their paraphernalia in cups labeled with their names and use the equipment and clean needles to inject themselves — four at a time — under the supervision of a nurse, and also receive counseling from psychiatrists and social workers. ...more
The world's most comprehensive legalized heroin program became permanent Sunday with overwhelming approval from Swiss voters who simultaneously rejected the decriminalization of marijuana.
The heroin program, started in 1994, is offered in 23 centers across Switzerland. It has helped eliminate scenes of large groups of drug users shooting up openly in parks that marred Swiss cities in the 1980s and 1990s and is credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts.
The nearly 1,300 selected addicts, who have been unhelped by other therapies, visit one of the centers twice a day to receive the carefully measured dose of heroin produced by a government-approved laboratory.
They keep their paraphernalia in cups labeled with their names and use the equipment and clean needles to inject themselves — four at a time — under the supervision of a nurse, and also receive counseling from psychiatrists and social workers. ...more
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Methadone could help cocaine addicts: study
From the Calgary Herald:
Methadone, a drug used for many years to treat heroin addiction, also appears to work well against cocaine addiction, a new Canadian study suggests.
Psychologist Francesco Leri of the University of Guelph has been making rats addicted to cocaine, and then treating them with methadone.
Most of the rats responded well, he says. They lost their powerful urge for cocaine and, in addition, their brains "re-set" themselves into the same pattern that existed before they first used cocaine.
"It can be done tomorrow with humans, and should be done tomorrow," Leri said.
That's because methadone--unlike some new drug -- already exists as a tested drug, with clear prescription rules and clinical staff trained in giving it out.
"There is an entire system that is already in place for the employment of methadone," that could be used for cocaine addicts, Leri said. ...more
Methadone, a drug used for many years to treat heroin addiction, also appears to work well against cocaine addiction, a new Canadian study suggests.
Psychologist Francesco Leri of the University of Guelph has been making rats addicted to cocaine, and then treating them with methadone.
Most of the rats responded well, he says. They lost their powerful urge for cocaine and, in addition, their brains "re-set" themselves into the same pattern that existed before they first used cocaine.
"It can be done tomorrow with humans, and should be done tomorrow," Leri said.
That's because methadone--unlike some new drug -- already exists as a tested drug, with clear prescription rules and clinical staff trained in giving it out.
"There is an entire system that is already in place for the employment of methadone," that could be used for cocaine addicts, Leri said. ...more
Saturday, November 15, 2008
OxyContin maker: Pills seized in C.B. weren’t the real deal
From the Halifax Chronicle Herald:
Representatives of the company that makes the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin flew to Sydney on Thursday to examine a vast quantity of seized pills that turned out to be knock-offs.
Police in Cape Breton seized 25,000 oxycodone tablets from a vehicle at a parking lot last week in what is considered the biggest bust of its kind in Atlantic Canada.
Staff Sgt. Paul Jobe said police are now confident the drugs, which have an estimated street value of about $700,000, are not of pharmaceutical grade.
Investigators met with drug-makers Purdue Pharma at police headquarters in Sydney where the company made a presentation on their manufacturing and security systems.
"It’s not the same quality they would produce," said Jobe. "They have a coating they put on their pills, they have a stamp they put on their pills, there’s a (certain) way they produce them."
The U.S.-based pharmaceutical company operates a facility in Pickering, Ont., and is the only maker of the brand OxyContin in Canada. There are eight other manufacturers of its generic form oxycodone, though none deal with the high milligram content found on the pills that were seized. ...more
Representatives of the company that makes the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin flew to Sydney on Thursday to examine a vast quantity of seized pills that turned out to be knock-offs.
Police in Cape Breton seized 25,000 oxycodone tablets from a vehicle at a parking lot last week in what is considered the biggest bust of its kind in Atlantic Canada.
Staff Sgt. Paul Jobe said police are now confident the drugs, which have an estimated street value of about $700,000, are not of pharmaceutical grade.
Investigators met with drug-makers Purdue Pharma at police headquarters in Sydney where the company made a presentation on their manufacturing and security systems.
"It’s not the same quality they would produce," said Jobe. "They have a coating they put on their pills, they have a stamp they put on their pills, there’s a (certain) way they produce them."
The U.S.-based pharmaceutical company operates a facility in Pickering, Ont., and is the only maker of the brand OxyContin in Canada. There are eight other manufacturers of its generic form oxycodone, though none deal with the high milligram content found on the pills that were seized. ...more
Thursday, November 13, 2008
C.B. cops make big Oxy bust
From the Halifax Chronicle Herald:
Some 25,000 OxyContin pills were seized in a downtown parking lot Friday night in what the acting chief of Cape Breton Regional Police says could be the biggest bust of the prescription drug in Atlantic Canada.
Plastic baggies filled with the powerful pills lined a table at police headquarters Monday as Staff Sgt. Paul Jobe told reporters about the takedown.
Members of the street crime unit staked out a car in a parking lot along the Esplanade on Friday and moved in when the suspects got out, he said. A small amount of marijuana was also seized.
Christopher John Allingham of Eastern Passage and Todd Douglas Miller of the Montreal area appeared briefly in Sydney provincial court on Monday....more
Some 25,000 OxyContin pills were seized in a downtown parking lot Friday night in what the acting chief of Cape Breton Regional Police says could be the biggest bust of the prescription drug in Atlantic Canada.
Plastic baggies filled with the powerful pills lined a table at police headquarters Monday as Staff Sgt. Paul Jobe told reporters about the takedown.
Members of the street crime unit staked out a car in a parking lot along the Esplanade on Friday and moved in when the suspects got out, he said. A small amount of marijuana was also seized.
Christopher John Allingham of Eastern Passage and Todd Douglas Miller of the Montreal area appeared briefly in Sydney provincial court on Monday....more
Sunday, October 19, 2008
New treatment works
From the Vancouver Province:
A legal painkiller called Dilaudid is more effective in treating serious heroin addiction than methadone therapy, according to a groundbreaking Canadian study.
The North American Opiate Medication Initiative, also known as NAOMI, examined the effectiveness of prescription heroin on hard-core addicts in Vancouver and Montreal, who have repeatedly failed treatment in the past.
Over a 12- to 15-month period beginning March 2007, 115 addicts in the study were prescribed medical-grade heroin, while 25 addicts were given hydromorphone or Dilaudid in a double-blind study. A control group of 111 addicts received oral methadone.
The results, released Friday, showed improved physical and psychological health, a decrease in illicit heroin use and a drop in criminal activities among all participants.
The retention rate for addicts receiving heroin or Dilaudid was 88 per cent. All but one of the addicts receiving Dilaudid were not able to distinguish it from heroin. ...more
A legal painkiller called Dilaudid is more effective in treating serious heroin addiction than methadone therapy, according to a groundbreaking Canadian study.
The North American Opiate Medication Initiative, also known as NAOMI, examined the effectiveness of prescription heroin on hard-core addicts in Vancouver and Montreal, who have repeatedly failed treatment in the past.
Over a 12- to 15-month period beginning March 2007, 115 addicts in the study were prescribed medical-grade heroin, while 25 addicts were given hydromorphone or Dilaudid in a double-blind study. A control group of 111 addicts received oral methadone.
The results, released Friday, showed improved physical and psychological health, a decrease in illicit heroin use and a drop in criminal activities among all participants.
The retention rate for addicts receiving heroin or Dilaudid was 88 per cent. All but one of the addicts receiving Dilaudid were not able to distinguish it from heroin. ...more
Monday, September 15, 2008
Prescription drug abuse grows
From the Nanaimo (BC) Daily News:
A longtime Nanaimo pharmacist says prescription drug abuse is so bad, some clients are only allowed a daily dose that they must consume before they leave.
The pharmacy fears the pills will end up on the streets.
Police do not know how widespread such prescription drug abuse is in Nanaimo, although they do not think the practice has declined. Police work within the medical industry to crack down on potential prescription drug abusers and high-risk individuals.
"Any time you have an increase in street level users there's going to be an issue," said Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O'Brien.
Nanaimo's Clearview Centre reports a 50% increase (in the past year to 18 months) in clients detoxifying from prescription drugs. In Vancouver, Downtown Eastside health workers say pharmacists offer methadone users cash kickbacks to fill their prescriptions. ...more
A longtime Nanaimo pharmacist says prescription drug abuse is so bad, some clients are only allowed a daily dose that they must consume before they leave.
The pharmacy fears the pills will end up on the streets.
Police do not know how widespread such prescription drug abuse is in Nanaimo, although they do not think the practice has declined. Police work within the medical industry to crack down on potential prescription drug abusers and high-risk individuals.
"Any time you have an increase in street level users there's going to be an issue," said Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O'Brien.
Nanaimo's Clearview Centre reports a 50% increase (in the past year to 18 months) in clients detoxifying from prescription drugs. In Vancouver, Downtown Eastside health workers say pharmacists offer methadone users cash kickbacks to fill their prescriptions. ...more
Narcotics case a first for Nevada
From the Las Vegas Sun:
Nevada bartenders are not liable for customers who drive drunk, but should the same be true for pharmacists who provide pills to suspected drug addicts?
That’s the question in a first-of-its kind appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Patricia Copening was under the influence of hydrocodone on June 4, 2004, when she slammed her Dodge Durango into Gregory Sanchez Jr. and Robert Martinez, who had pulled over to the side of the road to fix a flat tire. Sanchez died and Martinez was severely injured.
Copening served nine months in the Clark County Detention Center for the crime. Now, the families of the two men have sued Copening, the two doctors who supplied her the pills, and seven pharmacies that dispensed her medications. The pharmacies are liable, the victims’ attorney argues, because they continued to fill prescriptions even after being notified of Copening’s drug abuse.
Nevada was among the first states to track every prescription filled in the state for the purpose of reducing drug abuse. The state tracks the date, medication type, quantity and name of the patient, prescribing doctor and pharmacy.
Almost a year before the accident, on June 24, 2003, the Prescription Controlled Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force warned all the doctors and pharmacies that had supplied Copening that she may be a drug abuser. The letter to the pharmacists did not tell them what to do, but urged them to “use their professional expertise to assist patients who may be abusing controlled substances.”...more
Nevada bartenders are not liable for customers who drive drunk, but should the same be true for pharmacists who provide pills to suspected drug addicts?
That’s the question in a first-of-its kind appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Patricia Copening was under the influence of hydrocodone on June 4, 2004, when she slammed her Dodge Durango into Gregory Sanchez Jr. and Robert Martinez, who had pulled over to the side of the road to fix a flat tire. Sanchez died and Martinez was severely injured.
Copening served nine months in the Clark County Detention Center for the crime. Now, the families of the two men have sued Copening, the two doctors who supplied her the pills, and seven pharmacies that dispensed her medications. The pharmacies are liable, the victims’ attorney argues, because they continued to fill prescriptions even after being notified of Copening’s drug abuse.
Nevada was among the first states to track every prescription filled in the state for the purpose of reducing drug abuse. The state tracks the date, medication type, quantity and name of the patient, prescribing doctor and pharmacy.
Almost a year before the accident, on June 24, 2003, the Prescription Controlled Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force warned all the doctors and pharmacies that had supplied Copening that she may be a drug abuser. The letter to the pharmacists did not tell them what to do, but urged them to “use their professional expertise to assist patients who may be abusing controlled substances.”...more
Friday, September 12, 2008
Doctors call methadone kickbacks a 'big problem'
From the Vancouver Province:
Addictions doctors in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have complained for months about pharmacists luring heroin addicts for their lucrative methadone prescriptions, and say rules around dispensing fees have to change.
"A lot of doctors have been frustrated by this," said Dr. Stan deVlaming, medical director for Inner City Primary Health Care for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. "There have been numerous complaints spread over months for at least a year. . . It's a big problem, not a small one."
Heroin addicts prescribed methadone, which quells cravings, are getting kickbacks for filling their prescriptions at certain pharmacies, particularly in the Downtown Eastside and in Whalley's downtown in Surrey.
Offering incentives is against PharmaCare rules and the B.C. College of Pharmacists and B.C. Health are investigating. ...more
Addictions doctors in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have complained for months about pharmacists luring heroin addicts for their lucrative methadone prescriptions, and say rules around dispensing fees have to change.
"A lot of doctors have been frustrated by this," said Dr. Stan deVlaming, medical director for Inner City Primary Health Care for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. "There have been numerous complaints spread over months for at least a year. . . It's a big problem, not a small one."
Heroin addicts prescribed methadone, which quells cravings, are getting kickbacks for filling their prescriptions at certain pharmacies, particularly in the Downtown Eastside and in Whalley's downtown in Surrey.
Offering incentives is against PharmaCare rules and the B.C. College of Pharmacists and B.C. Health are investigating. ...more
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