3 thoughts on “Rick Howe and Amy Graves discuss tamper resistant opioids and increased rates of opioid deaths. – News 957”
Painkiller Addiction and Overdoses Continue to Rise
Pharmaceutical Companies Are Sued for Inciting Epidemic
July 17, 2014
By Dr. Mercola
” Pain, regardless of cause, is among the most common of health ailments. Unfortunately, Americans in particular are succumbing to drug addiction in record numbers as a result of short-sighted and financially-driven drug marketing.
More than 70 million prescriptions for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are written each year, and according to 2010 data,1 there were enough narcotic painkillers being prescribed in the US to medicate every single adult, around the clock, for a month.
By 2012, a whopping 259 million prescriptions for opioids and other narcotic painkillers were written in the US,2 which equates to 82.5 prescriptions for every 100 Americans. And those narcotics are responsible for 46 deaths each and every day…
… Chicago and two California counties—Orange and Santa Clara—have filed a lawsuit against five drug companies that manufacture OxyContin, charging them with contributing to an epidemic of drug abuse.”
…Front Groups Are Used to Deceive You
Interestingly, a 2011 Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today investigation13 discovered that a University of Wisconsin-based organization called Pain & Policy Studies Group—which had received $2.5 million from makers of painkillers over the past decade—had been a “national force” pushing for expanded use of opioids. This group has also warned against increasing regulations of these dangerous drugs. As reported by MedPage Today:14
Doctors in the addiction and pain fields say the UW Pain Group pushed a pharmaceutical industry agenda not supported by rigorous science. ‘They advocate for policies that benefit pharmaceutical companies and harm pain patients and the public health,’ said Andrew Kolodny, MD, an expert on opioid addiction…
The efforts of the UW group helped create a climate that vastly expanded unproven medical use of the often abused drugs, said Kolodny, chairman of psychiatry at the Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. In addition, a review of records revealed personal financial relationships between drugmakers and two officials with the UW Pain Group. Those include helping a drug company win Food and Drug Administration approval for a new narcotic painkiller and working as speakers or consultants.”
The largest funder of the UW Pain Group was Purdue Pharma, which donated about $1.6 million to the group. Purdue actually ended up having to pay fines and restitution payments to the tune of $635 million after the US Department of Justice accused the company of misleading doctors with fraudulent claims, back in 2007. The company promoted OxyContin as “less addictive, less likely to cause withdrawal, and less subject to abuse” compared to other pain medications—claims for which they had no proof…”
Premier Government Body of Science and Medicine Turning Into Yet Another Agency for Corporate Science
July 15, 2014
Dr Mercola, USA
“Conflicts of interests at Institute of Medicine (IOM) may have coaxed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a new narcotic painkiller, Zohydro.
IOM’s new President, Victor Dzau, is on the board of directors of four companies, including PepsiCo, thereby extending the IOM’s conflicts of interest to both drugs and the junk food industry.
In a recent article,1 Dr. Sanjay Gupta discusses conflicts of interests that may have coaxed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a new narcotic painkiller, Zohydro ER (Zogenix).
The drug, which is the first drug containing pure hydrocodone (synthetic heroin), was approved at the same time that the FDA was also recommending tighter controls on narcotic painkillers, in light of alarming addiction rates and deaths linked to accidental overdoses.
All other hydrocodone-containing painkillers on the market are mixed with other non-addictive ingredients. Zohydro ER was approved for patients who need around-the-clock pain relief, and contains an opioid dose that is five to 10 times greater than anything else on the market.
As noted by Dr. Gupta, when FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg was criticized for the agency’s approval of Zohydro, she countered saying that “100 million Americans” suffer from severe chronic pain warranting use of the drug. This figure amounts to about 40 percent of the US adult population!
Prescription painkillers have been identified as one of the primary causes of lethal overdoses, not to mention widespread drug addiction. If 40 percent of American adults are in chronic pain and in need of a potent narcotic that will place them at very high risk of addiction or lethal overdose, surely something must be seriously wrong!…
…So, are 100 million Americans really plagued by chronic debilitating pain? Is there really a vast need for a product such as Zohydro, in light of our current drug abuse epidemic? This is highly unlikely. According to Allan Basbaum, PhD and Michael Von Korff, ScD, the 100 million figure constitutes anyone who has reported chronic pain lasting three to six months, including those with manageable pain, and those recovering from surgery….
…Speaking in more general terms, the IOM appears to have been taken over by corporate interests in general. For example, the IOM’s new President, Victor Dzau,9, 10 is on the board of directors of no less than four companies: Genzyme, Medtronic, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and PepsiCo, thereby extending the IOM’s conflicts of interest far and wide between both drugs and the primary purveyors of chronic disease, the junk food industry…
Read further: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/07/15/institute-medicine-zohydro-painkiller.aspx?e_cid=20140724Z1_WNL_art_6&utm_source=wklynl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art6&utm_campaign=20140724Z1&et_cid=DM53867&et_rid=596187548
Heroin Addiction Was Rampant in 1913; In 2014, It’s Prescription Painkiller Addiction
By Dr. Mercola – USA
If you were around in the early 1900s, a time when tuberculosis and pneumonia were among the leading causes of death, your doctor might have prescribed a drug called heroin to treat your cough…
As explained in the intriguing podcast, linked above, heroin was first synthesized by chemist Charles Romley Alder Wright in 1874, but he abandoned it after running animal tests…
…In the early 1900s, heroin was popular in more than 23 countries, with Bayer producing one ton of the drug in its first year alone. However, by 1913 the number of heroin addicts had skyrocketed to the point that Bayer was forced to stop producing the drug…
…For instance, hydrocodone, a prescription opiate, is synthetic heroin. So, if you’re hooked on hydrocodone, you are in fact a good-old-fashioned heroin addict. But most people assume that because it’s a “prescription” drug, it’s safe, or should not carry the same negative stigma as a street drug. This is, sadly, far from the truth.
..Fatal prescription drug overdoses actually surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of accidental death in 2007. Many of the overdoses (36 percent) involve prescription opioid painkillers, which were actually the cause of more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined…
…To put this into perspective, in 2009, nearly 29,000 people died from unintentional drug overdoses, which is the equivalent of losing an airplane carrying 150 passengers and crew every day for nearly 6.5 months – a scenario that would simply be absolutely unacceptable in terms of public health risks…
…Pain is one of the most common health complaints in the US, but record numbers of Americans are, sadly, becoming drug addicts in an attempt to live pain-free. According to 2010 data, there were enough narcotic painkillers being prescribed in the US to medicate every single adult, around the clock, for a month.
By 2012, a whopping 259 million prescriptions for opioids and other narcotic painkillers were written in the US, which equates to 82.5 prescriptions for every 100 Americans. And those narcotics are responsible for 46 deaths each and every day…
Americans use the most opioids of any nation—twice the amount used by Canadians, who come in second place in terms of prescriptions. The problem has become noticeable enough that even US officials now warn that narcotic painkillers are a driving force in the rise of substance abuse and lethal overdoses…
Get Prescription Drugs Off The Street Society 
Painkiller Addiction and Overdoses Continue to Rise
Pharmaceutical Companies Are Sued for Inciting Epidemic
July 17, 2014
By Dr. Mercola
” Pain, regardless of cause, is among the most common of health ailments. Unfortunately, Americans in particular are succumbing to drug addiction in record numbers as a result of short-sighted and financially-driven drug marketing.
More than 70 million prescriptions for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are written each year, and according to 2010 data,1 there were enough narcotic painkillers being prescribed in the US to medicate every single adult, around the clock, for a month.
By 2012, a whopping 259 million prescriptions for opioids and other narcotic painkillers were written in the US,2 which equates to 82.5 prescriptions for every 100 Americans. And those narcotics are responsible for 46 deaths each and every day…
… Chicago and two California counties—Orange and Santa Clara—have filed a lawsuit against five drug companies that manufacture OxyContin, charging them with contributing to an epidemic of drug abuse.”
…Front Groups Are Used to Deceive You
Interestingly, a 2011 Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today investigation13 discovered that a University of Wisconsin-based organization called Pain & Policy Studies Group—which had received $2.5 million from makers of painkillers over the past decade—had been a “national force” pushing for expanded use of opioids. This group has also warned against increasing regulations of these dangerous drugs. As reported by MedPage Today:14
Doctors in the addiction and pain fields say the UW Pain Group pushed a pharmaceutical industry agenda not supported by rigorous science. ‘They advocate for policies that benefit pharmaceutical companies and harm pain patients and the public health,’ said Andrew Kolodny, MD, an expert on opioid addiction…
The efforts of the UW group helped create a climate that vastly expanded unproven medical use of the often abused drugs, said Kolodny, chairman of psychiatry at the Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. In addition, a review of records revealed personal financial relationships between drugmakers and two officials with the UW Pain Group. Those include helping a drug company win Food and Drug Administration approval for a new narcotic painkiller and working as speakers or consultants.”
The largest funder of the UW Pain Group was Purdue Pharma, which donated about $1.6 million to the group. Purdue actually ended up having to pay fines and restitution payments to the tune of $635 million after the US Department of Justice accused the company of misleading doctors with fraudulent claims, back in 2007. The company promoted OxyContin as “less addictive, less likely to cause withdrawal, and less subject to abuse” compared to other pain medications—claims for which they had no proof…”
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/07/17/painkiller-addiction-overdose.aspx
Premier Government Body of Science and Medicine Turning Into Yet Another Agency for Corporate Science
July 15, 2014
Dr Mercola, USA
“Conflicts of interests at Institute of Medicine (IOM) may have coaxed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a new narcotic painkiller, Zohydro.
IOM’s new President, Victor Dzau, is on the board of directors of four companies, including PepsiCo, thereby extending the IOM’s conflicts of interest to both drugs and the junk food industry.
In a recent article,1 Dr. Sanjay Gupta discusses conflicts of interests that may have coaxed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a new narcotic painkiller, Zohydro ER (Zogenix).
The drug, which is the first drug containing pure hydrocodone (synthetic heroin), was approved at the same time that the FDA was also recommending tighter controls on narcotic painkillers, in light of alarming addiction rates and deaths linked to accidental overdoses.
All other hydrocodone-containing painkillers on the market are mixed with other non-addictive ingredients. Zohydro ER was approved for patients who need around-the-clock pain relief, and contains an opioid dose that is five to 10 times greater than anything else on the market.
As noted by Dr. Gupta, when FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg was criticized for the agency’s approval of Zohydro, she countered saying that “100 million Americans” suffer from severe chronic pain warranting use of the drug. This figure amounts to about 40 percent of the US adult population!
Prescription painkillers have been identified as one of the primary causes of lethal overdoses, not to mention widespread drug addiction. If 40 percent of American adults are in chronic pain and in need of a potent narcotic that will place them at very high risk of addiction or lethal overdose, surely something must be seriously wrong!…
…So, are 100 million Americans really plagued by chronic debilitating pain? Is there really a vast need for a product such as Zohydro, in light of our current drug abuse epidemic? This is highly unlikely. According to Allan Basbaum, PhD and Michael Von Korff, ScD, the 100 million figure constitutes anyone who has reported chronic pain lasting three to six months, including those with manageable pain, and those recovering from surgery….
…Speaking in more general terms, the IOM appears to have been taken over by corporate interests in general. For example, the IOM’s new President, Victor Dzau,9, 10 is on the board of directors of no less than four companies: Genzyme, Medtronic, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and PepsiCo, thereby extending the IOM’s conflicts of interest far and wide between both drugs and the primary purveyors of chronic disease, the junk food industry…
Read further:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/07/15/institute-medicine-zohydro-painkiller.aspx?e_cid=20140724Z1_WNL_art_6&utm_source=wklynl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art6&utm_campaign=20140724Z1&et_cid=DM53867&et_rid=596187548
Heroin Addiction Was Rampant in 1913; In 2014, It’s Prescription Painkiller Addiction
By Dr. Mercola – USA
If you were around in the early 1900s, a time when tuberculosis and pneumonia were among the leading causes of death, your doctor might have prescribed a drug called heroin to treat your cough…
As explained in the intriguing podcast, linked above, heroin was first synthesized by chemist Charles Romley Alder Wright in 1874, but he abandoned it after running animal tests…
…In the early 1900s, heroin was popular in more than 23 countries, with Bayer producing one ton of the drug in its first year alone. However, by 1913 the number of heroin addicts had skyrocketed to the point that Bayer was forced to stop producing the drug…
…For instance, hydrocodone, a prescription opiate, is synthetic heroin. So, if you’re hooked on hydrocodone, you are in fact a good-old-fashioned heroin addict. But most people assume that because it’s a “prescription” drug, it’s safe, or should not carry the same negative stigma as a street drug. This is, sadly, far from the truth.
..Fatal prescription drug overdoses actually surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of accidental death in 2007. Many of the overdoses (36 percent) involve prescription opioid painkillers, which were actually the cause of more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined…
…To put this into perspective, in 2009, nearly 29,000 people died from unintentional drug overdoses, which is the equivalent of losing an airplane carrying 150 passengers and crew every day for nearly 6.5 months – a scenario that would simply be absolutely unacceptable in terms of public health risks…
…Pain is one of the most common health complaints in the US, but record numbers of Americans are, sadly, becoming drug addicts in an attempt to live pain-free. According to 2010 data, there were enough narcotic painkillers being prescribed in the US to medicate every single adult, around the clock, for a month.
By 2012, a whopping 259 million prescriptions for opioids and other narcotic painkillers were written in the US, which equates to 82.5 prescriptions for every 100 Americans. And those narcotics are responsible for 46 deaths each and every day…
Americans use the most opioids of any nation—twice the amount used by Canadians, who come in second place in terms of prescriptions. The problem has become noticeable enough that even US officials now warn that narcotic painkillers are a driving force in the rise of substance abuse and lethal overdoses…
http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/heroin-addiction-was-rampant-in-1913-in-2014-its-prescription-painkiller-addiction/