July « 2009 « Medical Detox Programs in a stress-free environment

July 21, 2009

OxyContin A Major Factor In World’s Deadliest Pandemic

Filed under: Big Pharma, pharmaceutical giants, pharmaceuticals, prescription drug abuse, prescription drug addiction — Rod Malcolm @ 9:52 am

If anything deserves to be called a pandemic, it’s the scourge of prescription drug addiction, especially opioid painkillers, and particularly OxyContin.

I’ve been wondering about pandemics and mass deaths lately. It’s a morbid kind of preoccupation, but reading the daily news can do that to a person.

I’ve been observing, like you, like everyone, how governments around the world, prodded along by the World Health Organization and a fairly steady media frenzy, are gearing up at great public expense to do battle with the H1N1 “swine flu” viral infection. And I’ve been comparing all the noise and fanfare surrounding the so-called “swine flu pandemic” with the complacent foot-dragging here and in most other Western nations regarding drug addiction and abuse, by far and away the deadliest pandemic in the history of mankind.

If one counts, as one must, that drug addiction and abuse has continued to rage uninterrupted and effectively untreated for decades, and one also factors in the widespread devastation and sheer numbers of injuries and deaths — hundreds of thousands here, millions around the world — there can be no argument as to its status as a pandemic.

No one knows for sure how many hundreds of billions of world-wide law-enforcement tax dollars have been thrown at it in vain. And if you count medical and productivity losses, we must be looking at $trillions.

I’m just guessing. But maybe some study somewhere, some United Nations or WHO study, has accurate figures of the total costs, both financial and human, of the most ignored pandemic in our history.

So far, swine flue has sickened some 28,000 or so people in the entire world. And in all the world only 144 people have died. These figures are roughly parallel to those appearing in studies and media reports concerning just prescription drug abuse in the U.S., never mind the rest of the world, and that’s before adding in the common illicit street drugs. And that’s for every year for a quarter of a century or more.

In the past decade alone, prescription drug addiction and abuse has taken many thousands of lives, and ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S.

If that’s not a pandemic, nothing is. And the most abused, most dangerous drugs, are the opioid painkillers. These are the root viruses that are driving and spreading the prescription drug pandemic.

In the U.S. at least, one prescription opioid painkiller could easily make a bid for the dubious distinction of the leading cause of death, injury, and family devastation of all of them — Purdue Pharma’s notoriously addictive and harmful OxyContin.

OxyContin is featured daily in news reports from around the country about dead babies, dead mothers, dead fathers, dead brothers and sisters, dead uncles and aunts, dead cousins and friends, dozens of arrests, drugstore robberies, even a murder or two, every day, somewhere in America.

OxyContin has addicted, injured and killed so many people for so many years, that Americans are sick and tired of it. The fact that the company, Purdue Pharma, along with several of its executives, was fined $634 million for lying about its addictiveness, and that no one went to jail, has America up in arms.

A petition calling on the FDA to ban it from the marketplace, and revert to any of several equally effective and less dangerous drugs to control chronic pain, has appeared on the internet. Sponsored by a concerned pharmacist and a drug detox specialist, the petition has already attracted nearly 3,000 signatures.

We urge you to sign the petition. And you should browse the brief stories from hundreds of signatories who describe their personal tragedies, and occasional triumphs, concerning OxyContin.

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July 7, 2009

Potential Acetaminophen Ban Does Nothing To Reduce Opiate Abuse

Filed under: FDA, pharmaceutical sales, pharmaceuticals — Rod Malcolm @ 9:07 am

If the FDA follows a committee recommendation to ban acetaminophen-opioid combination painkillers, newer alternatives offer no relief from the ongoing carnage caused by opiate painkiller abuse and addiction.

An FDA advisory committee has recommended banning widely used prescription pain drugs containing acetaminophen, such as Abbott’s Vicodin and Endo’s Percocet, as well as reducing dosing levels of acetaminophen in over-the-counter products such as Tylenol and Excedrin, because of acetaminophen’s potential to cause liver damage.

Most industry watchers doubt the FDA will actually ban prescription drugs containing acetaminophen from the market as recommended, opting instead to lower the recommended dosages. And the committee voted to keep OTC acetaminophen remedies on the shelves, with reduced dosages.

According to an ABC News report, about 42,000 people visit emergency departments each year with acetaminophen overdoses, half of which are accidental. There’s no information given about the other half. What did they do, overdose on purpose? One can only wonder.

The report also quotes Dr. William Lee, chair of the liver diseases department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, who says that acetaminophen deaths outnumber deaths attributed to all other prescription drugs combined.

I don’t know where those figures are coming from. Studies I’m looking at now show 450 or so acetaminophen deaths a year, and more than 5,000 involving opiates and opioid analgesics.

Also, the doctor fails to mention that 60% of deaths involving acetaminophen occur when taking prescription opiate medications that contain acetaminophen — Vicodin (hydrocodone), Percocet (oxycodone) and Tylenol 3 (codeine) and others. These figures explain why the FDA committee is targeting prescription opiate-acetaminophen combinations more strongly than OTC drugs containing only acetaminophen.

And we’re still waiting for the FDA to do something about the opiates and opioids themselves. When you compare thousands of opiate deaths and tens of thousands of dependencies, addictions and ruined lives, to the 450 deaths from acetaminophen, it’s clear the FDA needs to step up and take the opioid painkiller situation more seriously.

There’s little doubt that the recommendations will lead to a shift away from acetaminophen-containing prescription painkillers, and toward alternatives. But banning acetaminophen does nothing for what really counts: Opioid abuse, dependence, addiction and countless ruined lives.

And what about the enormous cost to society of drug related crime? When was the last time you heard about a desperate gun-toting addict robbing a pharmacy for acetaminophen? Almost all pharmacy robberies, street killings and overflowing prisons are the domain of opioid abuse, not acetaminophen.

Yes, acetaminophen-free alternatives are waiting in the wings, like Acurox, a new formulation oxycodone painkiller co-developed by King and Acura that will hopefully deter abuse. It’s currently under review by the FDA. But Acurox, and others like it being developed, are just more oxycodone or hydrocodone in new packages.

Hopefully deter abuse? That’s what they said about OxyContin, now the world’s leading heroin substitute, legal heroin in a pill that’s fast become the favorite of heroin addicts.

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July 2, 2009

How Many People Have To Die Before The FDA Takes Action?

Filed under: Big Pharma, FDA, pharmaceutical sales, pharmaceuticals, prescription drug abuse, prescription drug addiction — Rod Malcolm @ 9:06 am

The “King of Pop” Michael Jackson is dead at only 50, joining many other celebrities, and thousands of others, who’s untimely deaths have been associated with painkillers like Demerol and OxyContin. What is it going to take for the FDA to end the prescription drug carnage in this country, especially the deadly OxyContin epidemic?

The unexpected and tragic death of Michael Jackson, allegedly addicted to painkillers for some 20 years or more, emphasizes the urgency with which the FDA should address the problems surrounding this country’s lax prescribing regulations, easy availability, and widespread abuse of opioid painkillers like OxyContin.

Early reports of the pop star dying less than an hour after receiving an injection of pethidine, or Demerol as it is better known, have since been denied by lawyer representing the pop star’s doctor. Whether true or false, numerous cases of sudden cardiac arrest have been traced to “serotonin syndrome”, a sudden, overwhelming and toxic excess of serotonin activity that can lead to failure of the central nervous system, which can then progress to cardiac arrest.

Serotonin syndrome, or toxicity, can be caused by dozens of drugs, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter remedies, and popular herbal preparations. Whether used therapeutically or recreationally, they can either bring about the deadly condition directly, or inadvertently through interactions with other drugs.

Jackson family members, friends, employees and co-workers have all been quoted in the media about Jackson’s long-term dependence on various prescription drugs. Some have alleged abuse, and even addiction, especially to opioid painkillers like Demerol and OxyContin. The star’s drug use was reportedly to help relieve chronic back and leg pain caused by dance injuries.

The drugs most commonly associated with serotonin toxicity include:

* Opioid painkillers
* Antidepressants
* Central nervous system stimulants
* Triptans
* Psychedelics
* Various Herbs
* Numerous other drugs and remedies

Jackson, who reliable family sources are saying suffered from a 20-year addiction to Demerol, OxyContin and other opioid painkillers, was also reportedly taking benzodiazepines and/or antidepressants along with the painkillers before his death.

Dr. Deepak Chopra, spiritual adviser and physician, and a friend of Jackson’s for many years, told Canada’s CTV News last weekend that the pop star sought and found supplies of narcotics from multiple physicians. Chopra said his suspicions that the singer was addicted were aroused in 2005, when Jackson asked him for drugs. Chopra says he refused, but learned later that Jackson was “able to find enabling physicians who co-operated with him. That’s something that people who are addicted are very good at.”

$50,000 A Year Prescription Drug Bill?

In a related story, the Associated Press reported back in January that Jackson owed a Beverly Hills pharmacy $101,926 for prescription drugs, covering roughly the years 2005 and 2006, a debt the pop star finally settled in 2007. This represents annual prescription drug costs of over $50,000! The average senior with chronic conditions in the U.S. spends an average of about $2,000 a year for prescriptions, the AP said. Whether addicted or physically dependent, there can be little doubt that the singer was consuming plenty of prescription drugs during the years, months, days and probably the hours leading up to his death.

Many questions remain about the exact cause of Jackson’s death. Toxicology screens will take four to six weeks, according to the Los Angeles medical examiner’s office. Should it be shown that the singer died from cardiac arrest, as has already been indicated, it will be no surprise to learn that serotonin syndrome, or some other central nervous system failure, will be directly attributed to prescription drugs — if not the pethidine he was alleged to have taken, then another opioid painkiller like OxyContin, or some lethal combination of drugs.

The most famous serotonin syndrome death occurred in New York in 2003, when the daughter of a prominent New York family, Libby Zion, died of cardiac arrest following treatment with pethidine by weary, overworked doctors who failed to first establish whether or not Libby was taking any other medications. It turned out she was, which led to a fatal drug interaction. The result was new state legislation, dubbed “the Libby Zion law”, regulating the number of hours that physicians can remain on post in New York State hospitals.

Pethidine acts exactly like morphine in some ways, affecting the same receptors in the brain. In many countries of the world, including Australia, the use of pethidine has been severely limited, or banned completely. The FDA should provide at least as good protection from deadly opioid painkillers for American citizens.

Deaths across the country have soared dramatically in recent years from prescription opioids, with OxyContin the most flagrantly abused. Deaths, widespread addiction and ruined lives from OxyContin dwarf those associated with any other opioid painkiller. The active component of OxyContin, called oxycodone, has been found to be even more likely to cause dangerous drug interactions than even pethidine and most other, if not all other, opioid painkillers.

For these reasons, a petition calling on the FDA to ban OxyContin, sponsored by a concerned pharmacist and a drug detox specialist who routinely sees the worst that OxyContin can do, has attracted nearly 3,000 signatures. We urge everyone who wants to see an end to the OxyContin carnage to sign the petition. And be sure to read some of the dozens and dozens of harrowing accounts from signatories, who share the personal tragedies that OxyContin has wrought in their lives.

The FDA is already holding public hearings on the problems associated with OxyContin. Enough signatures can help motivate the FDA to take steps to curtail, or better, outright ban this dangerous drug.

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July 1, 2009

Unsealed Documents Reveal More Unethical Marketing By Lilly

Filed under: Big Pharma, Eli Lilly, FDA, Zyprexa — Rod Malcolm @ 9:46 am

No matter how many lawsuits against Big Pharma we’ve seen in recent years, there doesn’t seem to be any end to them in sight. Ely Lilly, the biggest maker and pusher of psychiatric drugs, is currently under the gun from health insurers alleging massive overpayments due to the company’s illegal marketing practices.

Over the past month or two, Bloomberg News has been pretty much scooping everyone else on the grisly details surrounding the gigantic overpayment lawsuit filed by health insurers against Ely Lilly, for its unethical marketing practices of its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa.

The insurers contend that Lilly should pay as much as $6.8 billion in damages for downplaying Zyprexa’s health risks, and for illegally marketing it off-label to increase profits.

So far, about 10,000 pages of internal Lilly documents have been unsealed as part of the suit, and Bloomberg’s reporters have been sifting through them in great detail.

Bloomberg has found documents fully supporting the charge that Lilly brazenly and illegally marketed its antipsychotic Zyprexa off-label for dementia, knowing full well that the drug did nothing to help the condition, and in fact was actually killing elderly patients.

Lilly has already settled with the feds and more than 30 states, pleading guilty to a criminal misdemeanor in January, over the off-label marketing of Zyprexa for use in the elderly. But these new documents remove any vestige of doubt that the company was culpable.

The documents also reveal that a subsidiary of CVS Caremark Corp., the largest U.S. drug-store chain, used its extensive access to health care providers to market Zyprexa directly to mental health prescribers — and was paid for that by Lilly — all while simultaneously under contract to bargain with Lilly on behalf of health insurers.

That’s really got the health insurers up in arms.

In an April 30 filing, Lilly said it had settled suits involving about 32,670 individual claimants alleging damages from Zyprexa, including serious weight gain and diabetes. Some 140 claims are still unsettled, but Lilly has already paid out about $1.2 billion for the individual settlements.

Whether all the suits in recent years brought against Big Pharma by patients alleging damage, by irate insurers alleging overpayment, or by state and federal governments alleging both overpayment and various civil and criminal misconducts, the suits reveal that almost all the time the charges were well-founded.

And now, along with Big Pharma, we can no longer trust our corner drug stores. Our friendly pharmacist is now involved, however indirectly, in the endless litany of crimes against humanity that have permanently sullied Big Pharma’s reputation.

There are two things we must keep in mind if we are ever going to see real changes.

First, Big Pharma’s callous disregard for patient welfare, placing profit ahead of all else, is endemic in the industry. This fact should be trumpeted long and loud.

Second, people were killed outright by Zyprexa. The same is true for many other drugs from numerous drugmakers. Yet Lilly pleaded guilty to a “criminal misdemeanor”, and no drugmaker has spent a single day in prison for murder or manslaughter.

The problem is this: If a drug company is found guilty of a felony, the law states that they can’t do business with the federal government — so the enormous Medicare and Medicaid market is lost, meaning they are essentially out of business. However, if all Big Pharma has to do is pay a fine when they’re caught, like Purdue Pharma was over the OxyContin debacle, then it becomes just a “cost of doing business.”

But slaps on the wrist will never bring about the reform in Big Pharma that is so urgently needed. For a serious discussion of the thorny situation surrounding Big Pharma crimes, and specifically OxyContin and the FDA, please read Different Justice For A Drug Dealer, by Novus Detox director Steven Hayes.

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