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OXYCONTIN ABUSE
OxyContin Abuse is becoming a wide spread problem in America. OxyContin is
a leading treatment for chronic pain, but officials fear it may succeed crack
cocaine on the street. The DEA says it is only a matter of time before every
community in the country is confronted with the problem of OxyContin abuse.
No prescription drug in the last 20 years has been so widely abused after its
release, federal officials say. Rather than ingesting the pill as indicated,
people who abuse OxyContin use other methods of administering the drug. To avoid
the controlled-release, they chew, snort, or inject the medication to get an
instant and intense "high".
Improper prescribing practices by unscrupulous physicians are a way of diverting
pharmaceuticals, according to law enforcement sources survey by the NDIC. The
abuse of OxyContin, as with the abuse of most prescription drugs, creates a
cycle of health care fraud. For example, a corrupt physician writes a patient
a prescription for OxyContin for a nonexistent injury. The physician bills the
insurance company for that, and subsequent visits. The patient uses a portion
of the OxyContin and sells the rest for a substantial profit. The Huntington
Drug and Violet Crime Task Force reports "There are too many doctors supplementing
their income by writing improper prescriptions."
Oxycodone is an agonist opioid. It is thought to be one of the most effective
pain relievers available. Unlike the other analgesics, opioid agonists have
an increasing analgesic effect with increased doses. Meaning that the more you
take, the better you feel. Other analgesics, like aspirin or acetaminophen,
have a threshold to their effectiveness. You can see why OxyContin has become
one of the leading painkillers of abuse. It can potentially provide up to four
times the relief of a non-opioid analgesic.