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What You Should Know About Opiate Drug Overdoses

September 9, 2010 by Editor

When someone overdoses on opiate drugs, speed is the most important factor, even more so than the substance that was overdosed on. This is because the longer a drug overdose victim goes without treatment, the more the drug is absorbed, and the more damage is done. People can

easily die from drug overdoses.

Symptoms

When someone has overdosed on the following Opiates: Opium; oxycontin, heroin; morphine; Suboxone, Methadone™; codeine, etc.

Unconscious
Coma
Seizing
Confused
Drowsiness
Fainting, dizzy, uncoordinated
Slow pulse
Vomiting
Muscular relaxation
Acting strangely, drunk, psychotic
Have difficulty breathing
Shallow breathing
Respiratory arrest
Slurred speech
High or low temperature
Enlarged or extra small pupils
Reddish face and heavy sweating
Delusions or hallucinations
Cool clammy pale skin

Treatment

Call 911 immediately
If the drug overdose victim is unconscious check vital signs. If you need to, begin CPR (no pulse).
If the person is unconscious check the airways and clear them out (remove any pills, vomit, etc)
Once the unconscious person is ‘stable’ place them in the recovery position (lying on their side) and wait for help to arrive while keeping a close eye on them.
If you find pills, syringes, medications, bottles & containers (from medications or drugs) or drugs around the person save them and give them to the medics when they arrive. If available, save a sample of the vomit as well.
If the person is conscious ask them what happened and most importantly keep them as awake and alert as possible.
DO NOT try to induce vomiting unless instructed to do so by a medical professional. The poison control center will tell you what to give and how much to give based on the persons age/weight and other stats.
DO NOT give the person anything to eat or drink unless instructed
DO NOT leave the person alone
Try to figure out the time when the drug was taken and what quantity was taken.

Prescription Painkillers Could Be New ‘Gateway’ Drugs

September 2, 2010 by Editor

Detox patients hooked on street drugs often addicted to legal meds first, study found

(HealthDay News) — Prescription medicines are the way that many drug addicts first get hooked, making these legal medicines the new “gateway” drugs, new study findings show.

University at Buffalo researchers interviewed 75 patients hospitalized for opioid detoxification and found that 31 of them said they first became addicted to legitimately prescribed painkillers.

Another 24 patients said their addiction began when they used a friend’s left-over prescription pills or stole drugs from a parent’s medicine cabinet, while the remaining 20 patients said they got hooked on street drugs.

But the study found that 92 percent of the patients said they eventually bought illegal drugs (usually heroin) because street drugs are less expensive and more effective than prescription drugs. Their reasons for continuing to use drugs included to feel “normal,” to feel “like a better person” or to ease emotional pain and stress.

“We are seeing an increase in the number of patients addicted to prescription drugs, so we wanted to better understand how they first got hooked,” study senior author Dr. Richard Blondell, a professor of family medicine, said in a University at Buffalo news release. “This information suggests that there is a progressive nature to opioid use, and that prescription opioids can be the gateway to illicit drug addiction. It also tells us that people who use prescriptions illegally may be at greater risk for subsequent heroin use than those who use prescriptions legally.”

The study was published recently in the Journal of Addiction Medicine. The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has more about drug abuse and addiction.

— Robert Preidt

“The OxyContin Express”

August 31, 2010 by Editor

In this Peabody Award-winning edition of Vanguard, correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to South Florida–the “Colombia of prescription drugs”–to expose a bustling pill pipeline that stretches from the beaches of Ft. Lauderdale to the rolling hills of Appalachia.

“The OxyContin Express” features intimate access with pill addicts, prisoners and law enforcement as each struggles with a lethal national epidemic.

Current.com

Drug Firms Accused Over Medicines

August 18, 2010 by Editor

by The Press Association

Drug companies have been accused of conning the public by hyping up patented medicines with little new to offer while downplaying their side-effects.

An estimated 85% of new drugs offer few if any new benefits while having the potential to cause serious harm due to toxicity or misuse, a study has concluded.

The author of the research delivered a damning attack on “Big Pharma” at a meeting of sociology experts in the US.

Professor Donald Light described the pharmaceutical industry as a “market for lemons” – one in which the seller knows much more than the buyer about the product, and takes advantage of this fact.

“Sometimes drug companies hide or downplay information about serious side-effects of new drugs and overstate the drugs’ benefits,” said Prof Light, a professor of comparative health policy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey, US.

“Then, they spend two to three times more on marketing than on research to persuade doctors to prescribe these new drugs. Doctors may get misleading information and then misinform patients about the risks of a new drug. It’s really a two-tier market for lemons.”

He alleged that the pharmaceutical industry owned companies in charge of drug testing and provided “firewalls” of legal protection behind which information about dangers or lack of effectiveness could be be hidden.

Companies were assisted by the “relatively low bar” for effectiveness that had to be crossed to get a new drug approved, he claimed.

Prof Light presented his paper, entitled “Pharmaceuticals: A Two-Tier Market for Producing ‘Lemons’ and Serious Harm” at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

The study includes data gathered from independent reviewers which suggest that 85% of new drugs provide few, if any, new benefits.

Suboxone/Subutex (Buprenorphine) Facts

August 5, 2010 by Editor

What is Suboxone?

Used to treat users with opioid addiction, Suboxone/Subutex (Buprenorphine) is an addicting opiate drug. Approved in October 2002 by the FDA, the high-dose sublingual pill Suboxone/Subutex has also recently been introduced in European countries as treatment for chronic pain. It can be used both for chronic cancer pain as well as chronic non-malignant pain.

Why is Suboxone prescribed?

Many doctors prescribe this drug for withdrawal and/or addiction without warning the patient about the drug’s addictive nature, and the fact they are trading one opiate for another. Some Anesthesia Detox Facilities (2 facilities at this time) give it to patients for up to 6-12 weeks after the detox procedure, and approximately 99% of in-patient rehab centers are using it. These patients do well while taking the drug, but after being discharged and within 3 days, patients typically suffer from withdrawal and seek help for Suboxone/Subutex addiction.

What are some Suboxone side effects?

Suboxone side effects may include:

Drowsiness, dizziness, weakness
Constipation
Headache, nausea, or vomiting
Slow, shallow breathing
Heavy feeling in the chest
Mental and mood changes
Stomach/abdominal pain
Dark urine, yellowing eyes and skin, vision changes
Symptoms of an allergic reaction include: rash, itching, swelling, severe dizziness, trouble breathing.
Loss of libido
Frequent night time urination
Anxiety
Depression/sadness
Lack of interest (no “zest” for life)
Personality changes

What are symptoms of Suboxone withdrawal?

Symptoms of Suboxone withdrawal can be very uncomfortable and cause patients to revert back to their original drug use. Suboxone withdrawal symptoms can also last up to 2-5 weeks.

Severe anxiety, thoughts of suicide, malaise & severe depression
Diarrhea & sweating
Cramp-like pains in the muscles, leg kicking, convulsions
Severe and long lasting sleep difficulties (insomnia)
Goose bump skin (cold turkey)
Cramps, abdominal pain
Dehydration & fever

How do I choose a Suboxone detox program?

Talking to a trained detox or medical professional is the right first step in choosing the appropriate program. Call the Rapid Drug Detox Center at 1-866-399-2967 or contact us if you’d like to learn more.

Prescription Drug Abuse and Policy Changes

July 19, 2010 by Editor

As prescription drug abuse is on the rise, the Washington State Department of Health reports that overdoses have replaced car crashes as the leading cause of injury-related deaths. From 2003 to 2008, the rate of prescription overdoses and hospitalizations rose 90 percent.

The most prevalent drug overdose and death culprits appear to be Vicodin, Oxycontin and Methadone, all opiods. The overuse of Vicodin can lead to increased tolerance and addiction. One risk of Vicodin addiction includes liver toxicity, which increases for users without a tolerance to the drug. Oxycontin users may suffer from respiratory depression or arrest, skeletal-muscle flaccidity, blood-pressure and heart-rate reduction, coma and death.

As for Methadone, the FDA has issued a public health advisory warning that deaths and life-threatening side effects have been reported for both new users and those that switched to Methadone after being treated for pain with other strong narcotic pain relievers. The drug can cause slow or shallow breathing and change in heartbeat that may not be felt by the patient.

The trend of drug use has evolved since popular use of certain drugs each era – from LSD in the 1960s, heroin in the 1970s, crack cocaine in the 1980s, crystal meth in the 1990s to the current prescription drug abuse.

This year’s latest drug control strategy emphasizes anti-drug programs and encourages health care providers to screen for drug problems before addiction sets in, marking a change in policy. The policy requires early detection of patient drug use and database tracking of physicians that overprescribe addictive painkillers.

Policy reform also allocates drug control budget funds to a 13 percent increase in spending on drug prevention programs. A 3.7 percent increase in addiction treatment was also approved for the budget.

The aim for policy reforms includes goals to reduce the rate of youth drug use and drug-induced deaths by 15 percent, and drug use among young adults by 10 percent. The administration also hopes to reduce the number of chronic drug users by 15 percent.

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