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Treatment Terms Re-ha-bil-i-tate: Restore to effectiveness or normal life by training. Ad-dic-tion: Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance. Drug: A chemical substance, such as a narcotic or hallucinogen, that affects the central nervous system, causing changes in behavior and often addiction. |
News ReleasesMichael Jackson: Latest Victim of Prescription Drugs09/16/2009 The news over the last few weeks has been buzzing with stories of Michael Jackson, his drug abuse and the tragedy associated with his death. However, an unfortunate sobering fact is that while Michael Jacksons' homicide caused a severe loss for his family and the nation, just like Anna Nicole Smith and Heath Ledger whom died under similar circumstances, there are thousands more non-celebrities who suffer the same consequences of over prescribed meds. These unsuspecting victims of prescription drug promotion and prescription lose their families, friends and often, their life. In fact, according to medicalmalpractice.com, there are 7,000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals, and a whopping 106,000 deaths/year from non-error adverse effects of medication. This is no surprise when you examine the over abundance of prescription drug abuse plaguing our nation. According to Nora D. Volkow, M.D. in testimony before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, Several factors have recently contributed to the severity of prescription drug abuse, including drastic increases in the number of prescriptions written, greater social acceptance of using medications, and aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies. These factors together have helped create the broad "environmental availability" of prescription drugs. Dr. Volkow clarified her statement of alarm by pointing out that the total number of stimulant prescriptions in the U.S. has soared from around 5 million in 1991 to nearly 35 million in 2007. Prescriptions for opiates (Hydrocodone and oxycodone products) have escalated from around 40 million in 1991 to nearly 180 million in 2007, with the U.S. their biggest consumer. The U.S. supplied 99 percent of the world with Hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin) and 71 percent of the world with oxycodone (e.g., OxyContin). There are hundreds of people who have become addicted to legally prescribed pain relievers and psychotropic drugs. Their rehabilitation from these chemicals is a life saving necessity if they are to survive. This is not necessarily new information at all. According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 50 million Americans age 12 or older reported non-medical use of any psychotherapeutic at some point in their lifetimes, representing 20.3% of the population aged 12 or older. One-fifth of the population of the United States is using or abusing prescription drugs non-medically. By anyone’s standards, that is a huge percentage. In the survey, psychotherapeutics include any prescription-type pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant, or sedative but do not include over-the-counter drugs. Data from the survey also showed that 2.5 million people, aged 12 or older, initiated or started using prescription pain relievers non-medically within the past year, which averages out to around 7,000 initiates per day. Emergency department visits with prescription drug abuse as the cause are from an interesting diversity of drug sources: Psychotherapeutic agents 323,999 Psychotherapeutics and antidepressant drugs rank highest in causes of emergency room visits due to overdose and adverse reactions, sometimes including death. Technorati Tags: drug rehab
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