America had better wake up to the facts surrounding the liberal prescribing of narcotic medications, and the fact that the pharmecutical companies and the “Doctors” doing the liberal prescribing are only in it for themselves. There are legitimate patients who need these medications, that is understood, but at the same time a person with a toothache should not be prescribed OxyContin. Purdue Pharma would have you believe differently of course, but let’s please keep in mind that they are a multiple felony convicted company.

Florida, for example, loses more people to death and addiction from OxyContin in one year, than the total number of Soldiers we have lost in the Iraq War since it started. That statistic is shameful and should grab the government and the FDA’s attention, but it does not. The new Drug Czar, Gil Kerlakowski has said prescription drug misuse would be a top priority for him – so far he has not delivered. The crimes associated with these dangerous drugs are out of control. Murder, assualt, robbery. When was the last time you read about someone robbing a pharmacy for Bayer Aspirin? You don’t – they get robbed for OxyContin.

The “Pain Orgs” funded by Purdue Pharma that exploit pain sufferers for their own monetary gain, have been drawn into the light as well. The FDA turns a blind eye to them, just as they do the phamecutical companies. Any legitimate pain patient who needs their medication should not have to enlist the help of a “Pain Org” (or is it the other way around?) to get the medications they need. The “Pain Orgs” seem to exist for one thing only – helping pharmecutical companies peddle their dangerous drugs, through dishonest “Doctors”, to unsuspecting patients.

The FDA has only one choice here – ban and / or re-classify these drugs to only those that truly need them. REMS is like putting a band-aid on an arterial wound. It won’t work. This problem is too widespread. The days of the Big Pharma money making, at the expense of the legitimate patient have got to be over.

It is most commonly our licensed practitioners who legally prescribe these drugs that are causing addiction. They hand them out like candy. Although the focus should be on identifying the cause of the health problem the “prescription” solution takes priority in dealing with it quickly albeit unsafe and leading to deadly consequences. Our addiction specialists need to educate everyone, starting with the medical community about what addiction is — a HEALTH ISSUE requiring support and safe treatment. The police also require education and support in understanding the disease of addiction and how to safely approach someone who may be addicted. This education cannot come from a drug company like Purdue Pharma who very clearly only has a vested interest in their profit margin. WAKE UP FDA.

It wasn’t until I entered pain management and was administered oral morphine in a long acting form that I started to get some relief. After 6 months of figuring out a holistic treatment that included “narcotics” (not a word I would use) was I able to get out of bed on a simi-regular basis. I now work as much as I can, thank God for everyday the sun comes up and my wife and children love me for who I am not what has happened to me and what I have to do to take to control my symptoms.

You sir, though I agree with you about oxycontin, are a misinformed fool. You state,”If an individual cannot stop taking a drug due to suffering adverse consequences from discontinuing the drug, I believe that is addiction”. You would be wrong. The body has it’s own pain receptors that handle pain. They are there for a reason. However, when these mechanisms within the body cannot handle the signals sent to them they need a boost from artificial means.If those means are opioids then the body becomes dependent on opioid medication. When you take that boost away and the body begin to revert to it’s original chemical settings. During that period It effects the person in many unpleasant ways.

To classify people in pain as addicts is morally wrong and you should be ashamed of yourself. YES, there are people who abuse their medication and there should be monitoring to make sure that no one does. And if one were to fall into the depths of addiction treatment should be available. But you have gone too far in your assessment of people in pain. You make generalizations that do not include all people in pain. It’s people like you that make it difficult for people in pain to get the relief they need to have the will to live. Unless you think that we (people in pain)should all just die. I would suggest you reconsider your position.

This drug flooded the medicine cabinets of America after being illegally marketed by Purdue, a company convicted of a felony for lying to doctors and the American public about the dangers of this drug to increase profits. Once it was widely distributed, it became increasingly used nonmedically. Young people assume that any drug that is in the family medicine cabinet with a doctor’s name on the vial must be safe. The results have been tragic.

As Mr. Golbom has stated, FDA is well aware of the danger of this drug, the thousands of deaths annually from its use, misuse and abuse, and Purdue’s illegal marketing tactics, yet this company is allowed to continue to market the drug as always, with but a slap on the wrist. IT IS SHAMEFUL FOR A GOVERNMENT AGENCY TO ALLOW THIS TO CONTINUE GIVEN THE HISTORY OF THIS DRUG. The dominating influence of the drug companies extends well beyond the halls of Congress into the very agency that is charged with ensuring the safety of drug use in the U.S.

We now have a new President. Unfortunately, thus far the Obama Administration has not shown that it means business in reducing the unnecessary deaths from OxyContin and other dangerous opioids. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.