Kids and Prescription Drug Abuse

Posted by Russell Armstrong on March 11, 2011

child and medicine cabinet.jpgPrescription drug abuse is an epidemic in California and across the U.S.  Easy access to the numerous prescription medications found right in our own medicine cabinets can lead to abuse.   

As the father of three young children, even though I am part of Malibu Beach Recovery Center, I wanted to commend the efforts of our colleagues at the Promises Treatment Centers who recently tried to increase awareness of the prescription pill abuse epidemic with LocktheCabinet, a public awareness campaign. The program was designed educate parents about the need to secure prescription pills at home.

A press release says that addiction usually starts in the teen years, when peer pressure runs high.  It goes on to point out that many teens now believe that taking prescription medications to get high is safer than using illicit drugs because prescription medications are legal and provided by a doctor; however, abusing these drugs can be just as dangerous as using cocaine or heroin.  Those who get hooked on opiate painkillers like OxyContin often start abusing heroin if they find it is easier a nd cheaper to obtain than the prescription medication.

The LocktheCabinet website has information about prescription drug abuse and how to recognize the signs of abuse, and also details how to properly dispose of unused medication. There’s also a Facebook page for parents to share information, make suggestions, and ask questions.

Kids who abuse pills have admitted stealing them from their houses. As the press release stated, a 2008 survey found that “1.9 million teens between the ages of 12 and 17 abused prescription medication, with 1.6 million abusing a prescription painkiller such as Vicodin or OxyContin.” And in many cases, parents unwittingly supplied them.

 

Never Mix, Never Worry: F.D.A. Limiting Painkillers

Posted by Pat Olsen on February 13, 2011

The New York Times recently reported that the F.D.A. is restricting prescription painkillers in the hope that people will stop getting overdoses of acetaminophen. The problem arises when people take prescription drugs containing acetaminophen together with over-the-counter pills like Extra Strength Tylenol (which also contain the medication). 

 

In 2005 an F.D.A advisory panel wanted to see a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, but the F.D.A didn’t support that advice then or now. Instead, the organization has ruled that manufacturers have three years to take these prescription drugs off the market or reformulate them.  Under the new restrictions, the pills can contain 325 mgs. of acetaminophen and that’s it. This means that the pills will have less than half the potency they now have. 

 

Extra Strength Tylenol has more than 325 mg. of acetaminophen and the same advisory panel actually wanted to ban this medication, too. The F.D.A. declined but left the door open for future action.

 

We’ll be seeing more definitive warning labels on Percocet and Vicodin about the possible overdoses. 

 

These steps will make medication safer. People have to be careful even with products like Tylenol (also known as paracetamol and APAP), since the article warns that even recommended doses of acetaminophen can cause liver damage in some people.  

 

From the article: “More than 400 peoppills.jpgle die and 42,000 are hospitalized every year in the U.S. from overdoses.” It can happen when you take one medication containing acetaminophen for one type of pain, and another for pain elsewhere or maybe for cold symptoms.   

 

It’s interesting to read the different opinions. A director of the Neuromedicine Pain Management Center at the University of Rochester said that if the FDA had banned Vicodin and Percocet, patients seeking pain relief would have just gone to other “equally risky” pain relief. The current actions give the F.D.A. more time to study the problem. A professor of internal medicine at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas wants to see the two prescription drugs banned because people take greater amounts as they become more tolerant.  A Johnson & Johnson spokesperson stood up for Extra-Strength Tylenol, while drug company Abbott said it is determining how to comply.  

 

The F.D.A. has a tough job. Prescription medications help countless numbers of people, but they also have risks and side effects. You constantly have to educate yourself on the benefit-risk ratio.