Deaths from painkiller overdose surge to record

LogicSoDeveloped

LogicSoDeveloped

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(Reuters) - Nearly 15,000 Americans died from an overdose of prescription painkillers in 2008, a record rate that has outstripped fatalities from illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin combined, health officials said on Tuesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that as of last year 12 million Americans were using prescription opioid or narcotic pain relievers, such as Vicodin, OxyContin and methadone, for the high they cause instead of their true medical purpose, or without a legitimate prescription.

Many get the drugs by eliciting prescriptions from several doctors, also known as "doctor shopping," or through so-called "pill mills," prescription forgery rings and illegal online pharmacies.

The amount of painkillers made available at pharmacies, hospitals and doctors' offices quadrupled from 1999 to 2010, contributing to the overdose death rate that more than tripled over the decade.

"More of a problem is now created by a few irresponsible doctors than drug pushers on street corners," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden told reporters in a phone briefing.

In fact, enough painkillers were prescribed last year to medicate every American adult every four hours for a month.

"The system is awash with opioids, drugs that get people hooked and keep them hooked," Frieden said.

More men died of overdosing on painkillers than women in 2008 and the death rate was worst among middle-aged, white Americans, the CDC report showed.

By state, it found the painkiller abuse problem at its worst in Oklahoma, where more than 8 percent of people over the age of 12 abused opioid pain relievers in 2008 to 2009.

Oregon was next in line with almost 7 percent of the population reported to abuse painkillers. The rate was just over 6 percent in Rhode Island and Washington state.

New Mexico, West Virginia and Nevada saw the most people killed by the abuse. The lowest death rate was in Nebraska.

The alarming spread of prescription drug abuse has prompted a campaign by President Barack Obama's administration.

In recent crackdowns, authorities have made arrests in Florida, where CDC has found the highest rate of prescription painkillers sold per person, and suburban Philadelphia.

One included an operation to shut down "pill mills" and another was a bust of illicit workplace distribution at Boeing's military aircraft plant.
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source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/01/us-usa-painkillers-overdose-idUSTRE7A06I120111101
 
I feel like someone updated the APAP wiki page, but I might be imagining things.

APAP listed as leading cause of acute liver failure in the the West.

The cause of "most" drug overdoses in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

It'd be nice to know how many of these deaths resulted from actual overdoses versus ingesting too much APAP, etc. But I'm sure those numbers are fairly obscured.

And what does it say if more people die from APAP, etc overdoses than from complications resulting from what they're trying to get high off. Perhaps some lives are spared because people avoid the APAP but the idea of using that shit as a deterrent seems pretty fucked up if you ask me.
 
While I posted this, I feel like articles like this are definitely liable to be skewed in some way or another. I just feel like they think they have so much to gain from making problems to be much bigger than they really are. Not to say that death/addiction are good in any way-I just feel like the media likes to sensationalize many issues.
 
Thats true the media likes to make things seem more urgent than they are. You have to keep people worried about everything so they keep reading the news
 
Yeah, the media is one big whining screaming bitch. Blisters are on the rise! Your children are turning into broken pansies with allergies to everything [and if they're not they should be]! Somethin's happening! (ALL THE TIME) The world is possibly ending. Your kid's on crack. Go have a beer and watch us again tomorrow with some rye on the rocks! Get connected

I'd like the gov't to start policing the media [if they're not already, and if they are, in the opposite direction]. there really should be a limit to free speech, in my useless, completely impotent opinion. like if I had the loudest loudspeaker on Earth, should I be allowed to climb Mt. Everest and scream fear-mongering nonsense at the top of my lungs? I think not! Police - take that reporter down and bring him into custody... for DISTURBING THE PEACE.

I don't care about missing children. I don't CARE about cancer! Stop trying to make me cry you bullies!!!
 
I have family that quit watching the new a few years ago because they said it just makes them depressed and its the same stuff over and over again.

My grandmother, on the other hand, enjoys seeing horrible stuff (not kidding) and is a news fanatic-I'm talking every tv in the house will have Nancy Grace on when her show aires-among others such as Fox.
 
LogicSoDeveloped said:
I have family that quit watching the new a few years ago because they said it just makes them depressed and its the same stuff over and over again.

My grandmother, on the other hand, enjoys seeing horrible stuff (not kidding) and is a news fanatic-I'm talking every tv in the house will have Nancy Grace on when her show aires-among others such as Fox.
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I havent watched the news on tv in over 4 years & you family is correct, the news is very depressing & full of propaganda & lies...........
 
I can pretty much guarantee whoever wrote this article that anyone who has died from a Vicodin overdose, and only a Vicodin overdose, dropped from the acetaminophen and not the hydrocodone.

Isn't the LD50 of most pharmaceutical opioids (except fentanyl) at least 10 or 20 times the active dose? Unless one's tolerance went down without them realizing it, or they are shooting pills (a terrible idea) or just using seriously foolish large doses, I'd think it would be really tough to OD on painkillers. I have been through long periods of everyday use of Oxycodone, Dilaudid and others, with the ROA being almost exclusively nasal, and simple logic and caution has allowed me to get super high and never come close to ODing.
 
^I wonder what percentage of the people that take Vicodin for fun go through the trouble of doing a CWE. I can see people ODing that way too. You're probably right though that the majority of hydrocodone-related deaths (with no other depressants) are acute liver failures from the APAP.
 
I don't even use opiates-I have used opiates around 10 times in my life-and I know that APAP has easily reached toxicity levels. I think it is ridiculous that they add it to pills simply to avoid abuse by people. A buddy of mine told me that that is the main reason they are added. If people want Acetaminophen, they should be able to take it separately. I don't know much about opiate pharmacology but I would guess that it causes people who don't know about CWE to switch from Hydrocodone to other painkillers w/o the APAP like 30mg Oxycodone pills or w/e.

I really wish I could be more knowledgeable but what I do know about most painkillers is from BL, not from personal experience.
 
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