poledriver
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Concern over highly addictive painkiller
A concerted effort by health authorities has seen use of a highly addictive pain relief drug known as "hillbilly heroin" level off.
In the United States oxycodone is one of a number of synthetic opiates contributing to huge scale prescription pill addiction. More Amercians are now using prescription medication than heroin, cocaine and ecstacy combined.
An alternative to morphine, oxycodone is highly effective and highly addictive. When it was introduced in New Zealand in 2007 it overtook morphine as the preferred drug for chronic pain within four years, at a cost of $6 million.
Addiction medicine specialist Brian Mcavoy said unfortunately many doctors are very gullible and "pharmaceutical companies are highly skilled in their marketing and presenting of information".
Officials were concerned that too many hospital patients were staying on oxycodone for too long, risking addiction to the powerful drug.
But Dr Peter Moodie from Pharmac said although there was "potential for bad things to happen" he does not believe they did.
Pharmac said it headed off any problems through an information campaign to District Health Boards and doctors.
Oxycodone prescriptions levelled off late last year and have declined in recent months.
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The information toolkit designed to curb oxycodone use outside hospitals says GPs should tell patients just how strong the drug is and that milligram for milligram it is twice as potent as morphine.
Addiction experts say about 10 percent of their rehab clients are addicted to synthetic opiates like oxycodone and they believe the awareness campaign probably stopped more addiction.
Unlike in Australia and the United States, oxycodone had not become the main street drug for junkies, which Capital & Coast chief medical officer Geoff Robinson said was "perhaps surprising given the number of prescriptions".
Addicts still prefer to inject morphine and methadone, according to the latest Illicit Drug Monitoring System figures.
Between 2007 and 2011, the number of patients dispensed oxycodone nationally increased 254%, compared with a 37% increase for morphine.
Since the awareness campaign prescription rates of the opioid have dropped 50% with a 22% drop in GP prescriptions. About 70% of oxycodone users start taking it while in hospital, and 17% of those patients have their prescriptions continued by a GP.
However, the number of addicts who illicitly used oxycodone doubled to 18% from 2008 to 2010. It is prescribed by GPs as a tablet, but is also available in hospitals in an injectable form. People can chew or crush the tablets for rapid absorption.
Despite the dangers of misuse, Dr Robinson - also an addiction medicine specialist - said it still had a place as an alternative to morphine but doctors needed to be extra vigilant so they did not create addicts by accident.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners said all its fellows were "trained to understand the requirements for safe prescribing of medicines for managing pain".
What is oxycodone?
A strong opioid used to dull moderate to severe pain when morphine is not tolerated by a patient. It is highly addictive and twice as potent as morphine. It was first synthesised in 1916 in Germany, and became available for clinical use in the United States by 1939. Street names for it include hillbilly heroin, Oxy and O.C. Users can either go cold turkey or be weaned off the drug. The dosage, and how long a person is on it, determines withdrawal symptoms.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/concern-over-highly-addictive-painkiller-5470278
A concerted effort by health authorities has seen use of a highly addictive pain relief drug known as "hillbilly heroin" level off.
In the United States oxycodone is one of a number of synthetic opiates contributing to huge scale prescription pill addiction. More Amercians are now using prescription medication than heroin, cocaine and ecstacy combined.
An alternative to morphine, oxycodone is highly effective and highly addictive. When it was introduced in New Zealand in 2007 it overtook morphine as the preferred drug for chronic pain within four years, at a cost of $6 million.
Addiction medicine specialist Brian Mcavoy said unfortunately many doctors are very gullible and "pharmaceutical companies are highly skilled in their marketing and presenting of information".
Officials were concerned that too many hospital patients were staying on oxycodone for too long, risking addiction to the powerful drug.
But Dr Peter Moodie from Pharmac said although there was "potential for bad things to happen" he does not believe they did.
Pharmac said it headed off any problems through an information campaign to District Health Boards and doctors.
Oxycodone prescriptions levelled off late last year and have declined in recent months.
Advertisement
The information toolkit designed to curb oxycodone use outside hospitals says GPs should tell patients just how strong the drug is and that milligram for milligram it is twice as potent as morphine.
Addiction experts say about 10 percent of their rehab clients are addicted to synthetic opiates like oxycodone and they believe the awareness campaign probably stopped more addiction.
Unlike in Australia and the United States, oxycodone had not become the main street drug for junkies, which Capital & Coast chief medical officer Geoff Robinson said was "perhaps surprising given the number of prescriptions".
Addicts still prefer to inject morphine and methadone, according to the latest Illicit Drug Monitoring System figures.
Between 2007 and 2011, the number of patients dispensed oxycodone nationally increased 254%, compared with a 37% increase for morphine.
Since the awareness campaign prescription rates of the opioid have dropped 50% with a 22% drop in GP prescriptions. About 70% of oxycodone users start taking it while in hospital, and 17% of those patients have their prescriptions continued by a GP.
However, the number of addicts who illicitly used oxycodone doubled to 18% from 2008 to 2010. It is prescribed by GPs as a tablet, but is also available in hospitals in an injectable form. People can chew or crush the tablets for rapid absorption.
Despite the dangers of misuse, Dr Robinson - also an addiction medicine specialist - said it still had a place as an alternative to morphine but doctors needed to be extra vigilant so they did not create addicts by accident.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners said all its fellows were "trained to understand the requirements for safe prescribing of medicines for managing pain".
What is oxycodone?
A strong opioid used to dull moderate to severe pain when morphine is not tolerated by a patient. It is highly addictive and twice as potent as morphine. It was first synthesised in 1916 in Germany, and became available for clinical use in the United States by 1939. Street names for it include hillbilly heroin, Oxy and O.C. Users can either go cold turkey or be weaned off the drug. The dosage, and how long a person is on it, determines withdrawal symptoms.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/concern-over-highly-addictive-painkiller-5470278
