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Many people who develop an OxyContin addiction started taking the drug because of an injury, accident or surgery that caused severe pain. However, as I wrote in an earlier blog, some “experts” say that about nine percent of those who take prescription opioid painkillers for chronic pain over an extended period become addicted.  Of course they are using a narrow definition of addiction and they also seem to be saying that, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, these painkillers are really not that bad. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to OxyContin addiction.

Whatever the addiction statistics, a great many who take OxyContin or other opioid painkillers are, at the very least, going to become physically dependant—they experience severe withdrawal symptoms when they try to either reduce the dosage or stop taking the painkillers. And whether addicted or dependant, there’s a good chance they’re going to need OxyContin detox to come off the drug safely and without intense withdrawal symptoms.

Where do you go for OxyContin detox? Here’s what one client had to say after their stay at Novus Medical Detox.

“Novus is the greatest detox center and the most comfortable. I realized that my OxyContin addiction was my fault and nobody else’s. I also realized I want to stay clean and hope for the best for myself.  I will be attending rehab after Novus, but Novus did an excellent job of preparing me for my rehabilitation. Novus has a very successful program in my eyes and I would suggest Novus to anyone that has a problem with drugs and alcohol. My stay has been wonderful and the nurses, counselors, cooks, housekeepers and owners are very sweet.”

Getting off OxyContin can be painful. If you or someone you care about needs help, or simple needs to know whether they need OxyContin detox, contact Novus to find out what it involves and whether you need it. If so, they can also tell you how to get started.

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Many people have taken the controversial rapid detox route for addiction to alcohol, heroin, OxyContin and other opiates. Not only is a rapid detox not rapid at all, recovery from the procedure can take weeks or months, it is also dangerous – which is why the procedure is controversial. To make matters worse, Garden Grove Hospital has just been fined $25,000 for endangering patient safety by using an anti-nausea drug called Droperidol during a rapid detox procedure. According to California regulators, the hospital used the drug in a manner “likely to cause serious injury or death to patients” - one more reason to go through a medically supervised OxyContin detox, or one appropriate for whatever drug you’re using.

Droperidol can cause serious heart irregularities and even death, according to the FDA, and it is approved only as a last resort and only with cardiac monitoring before and after treatment. At Garden Grove, neither the pharmacy or nursing staff said they knew about the restrictions on using the drug, and they never monitored patients’ heart rhythms. One patient received three doses over two days with no cardiac monitoring whatever.

There are safe ways to detox from drugs. Rapid detox is not one of them. If you or someone you care about is suffering from OxyContin addiction, addiction to alcohol or any other drug, choose a safe OxyContin detox that doesn’t involve such risks. Addiction is bad enough, don’t risk the person’s life further by putting them through a detox program that uses drugs as dangerous, or more so, than the drug to which they’re addicted.

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Hard to imagine your kid as a drug dealer? Here’s the story of one teen who developed an OxyContin addiction after a car accident caused injuries requiring three surgeries. The pills were prescribed for the pain but, according to his mother, he got to the point where he couldn’t get out of bed without them. His mom had no idea he had a problem. After he went into rehab, his mother saw the many messages – one every 20 minutes – on his phone. Instructions from people, many of them adults, who were going to deliver OxyContin and other drugs to him – he was to distribute them, and keep some for himself. That’s how he fed his own OxyContin addiction.

How this could be happening right under his mother’s nose without her even having a clue it was going on is hard to say, but had she figured it out earlier, had she been aware of how easily the need for OxyContin can turn into OxyContin addiction, there’s a possibility that she could have gotten him through an OxyContin detox early in the game, and drug rehab if needed, and he never would have resorted to criminality.

The young man was also being threatened by drug dealers – he was told that if he quit dealing, they’d hurt his mother. Apparently his mom wasn’t worried about herself, but she did move her son to another city to keep him safe. He went to drug rehab and managed to survive OxyContin, and is now in a safer environment, but the family is split up.

If you have a friend or family member who is prescribed OxyContin or other prescription painkillers for a legitimate reason, make sure you are aware of how much they’re taking, how long they’re taking them, and so on. They may need an OxyContin detox to stop taking the drug, and they might even need drug rehab, but they will have their life back.

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Prescription painkillers are among the most highly addictive drugs around. Many people have tried to get off them by themselves, but it’s almost impossible. In fact, 95% of those who try can’t make it through withdrawal. OxyContin addiction, as well as addiction to other opiate painkillers, is one of the most difficult to conquer. Not all drug detox centers are really equipped to get someone through an OxyContin detox, or drug detox for many other prescription drugs. Here’s the story of one businesswoman who came to Novus.

“For many, the decision to come to a place like Novus can be a scary one and you may be apprehensive and wondering what is in store for you. Speaking from personal recent experience, please rest assured that you are in really good hands.  Every single person who works at Novus genuinely cares about you and wants to see you succeed and they will work very hard with you to help you regain your health and your peace of mind. You have definitely made a good decision in coming here! I felt very much at home. I am looking forward to returning to my pre-painkiller days of optimum health. Thank you for helping me achieve this important goal in my life.”

If you’re having a problem with OxyContin addiction, or addiction to one of the many other dangerous prescription painkillers, give Novus a call. They can get you through an OxyContin detox, or a detox for any other drug, successfully.

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Doctors over-prescribing pain medications has become a major source of prescription drug addiction and dependency. Family doctors do it, pain management clinics do it, and doctors who just want to make a little extra money do it. And more and more people are showing up in drug detox programs trying to handle their addictions to prescription drugs, especially opiate painkillers.

A new study conducted by the Federation of State Medical Boards and the Wisconsin Pain and Policy Studies Group concluded that doctors’ “understanding of pain management issues, especially regarding addiction and the legality of prolonged opioid prescription, has improved over the years.” Now there’s a move to use the information in this study to ‘discuss’ the possibility of “unwarranted criminal prosecutions” for over-prescribing.

I’ve read many, many articles about doctors who have been prosecuted for over-prescribing prescription painkillers and I don’t think I’ve seen one story yet that sounds like the doctor is innocent of the charge. While a doctor may be accused of wrong doing by a patient, it takes a lot more than one patient complaint to lead to prosecution. Often there have been numerous complaints, and sometimes their patients have died. Why didn’t the docs get them into drug detox when things got out of hand?

Doctors may feel compelled to ease pain, but their first obligation is to do no harm. It’s understandable that there are times that prescription painkillers are medically necessary but, if that’s the route a doctor’s going to take, he should also be prepared to take full responsibility for getting the patient off the drugs through a drug detox program.

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Florida got a little more than $2 million as its share of the Purdue OxyContin settlement but it looks like none of it will go to funding the drug detox so desperately needed for those who need to overcome OxyContin addiction and abuse.

$1.2 million is reimbursement to the Florida Medicaid program, and the balance goes to the federal government as reimbursement for its share of Medicaid costs.

The prescription drug addiction situation in Florida has become a major problem: According to state medical examiners, five people die from prescription drugs every day. And the most common culprits are OxyContin, Vicodin, and related drugs.

You may not be getting any of the Purdue money, but if you or someone you care about has been taking one of these drugs, it’s best to find a Florida drug detox program that offers medically supervised withdrawal. I know you probably think ‘it can’t happen to me’, but I’m sure most of those five people who die every day thought the same thing. Find a drug detox program that can help you.

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Prior to the release of OxyContin, other prescription painkillers like Vicodin and Percocet had become household words. But, they were addictive. And they were abused. Purdue took advantage of this hole in the market – i.e. the need for painkillers that were less addictive - slipped OxyContin in there, claimed it was less addictive and had less potential for abuse than other drugs, got it approved by the FDA (what????), and started a marketing campaign that was a total lie. Now admissions into some drug detox and rehab centers are primarily for OxyContin addiction and addiction to similar prescription painkillers.

I’m sure doctors all over the U.S. were relieved to know they had a painkiller they could prescribe for their patients that would be less likely to cause addiction, and would be less likely to be abused.  Now many of them are seeing waiting rooms full of addicted patients who they’re trying to get into drug detox and rehab.

The prosecution for the new OxyContin suit in Kentucky has the right idea: “Make no mistake about it, this is war.” With prescription drug addiction and abuse nearly equal to that of illegal drugs, it’s about time someone discovered and took action against the war on drugs’ new front line: drug companies that spend billions on getting us hooked. Kentucky’s suit, if won, could pay for a drug detox program, and maybe rehab, to help those of us who fell for it.

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OxyContin addiction detox and rehab needs to be paid for, who better than the company that lied to us?

OxyContin doesn’t kill people, people kill people – that’s Purdue Pharma’s stand in the OxyContin suit filed in Kentucky’s Pike County Circuit Court that could result in Purdue reimbursing the state for the cost of drug abuse programs, law enforcement, and prescription payments made through state insurance. And the money could help finance the drug detox and rehab programs so desperately needed by those now suffering with OxyContin addiction.

Purdue says the company takes responsibility for their past ‘misstatements’ which led thousands of doctors and millions of patients to believe that the drug was safe, but the company made it clear that their responsibility does not extend to the damage done to individuals.  “We do not believe, however, that those misstatements were responsible for individuals’ abuse of OxyContin,” the company statement said.

How does their argument hold up? Believe me, there is no shortage of upstanding, reputable citizens who got in trouble with OxyContin addiction through perfectly legitimate means. And some of them will show up in court to bear witness. Others, unfortunately, will be represented by the grieving mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, friends and family who buried them. I would hope the prosecution will also use drug detox, drug rehab and ER representatives and records to help make the case.

Although Kentucky and the Appalachian states were among the hardest hit by OxyContin addiction, they are by no means alone. Americans all over the country need drug detox and rehab because of OxyContin. Hopefully, this suit will be won, and others will follow.

If an individual had inflicted as much damage as Purdue has with OxyContin, that person would be on death row. The very least that should be expected from Purdue is reimbursement for the damage done, and financing of the drug detox and rehab programs that will get people out of the mess Purdue helped create.

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If you think you’re safe taking OxyContin, read this story about a woman who stole tens of thousands of dollars to feed her OxyContin addiction. I’m not surprised to see a story like this coming out of Florida where prescription drug addiction and abuse is rampant. Florida drug detox centers are soon going to be overrun with people trying to get off them.

When you first start taking OxyContin it will probably be cheap, or even free if you have insurance. But once your prescription runs out, you could wind up buying it on the street. And you’ll need money – lots of it. It’s not unlike heroin and other drugs in that way – and in other ways – you often start taking a drug when someone offers you a ‘taste’ or when you get a prescription from your doctor to help with an injury or illness. But you can’t get off it.

Next thing you know, you’d sell just about everything you own to get some or, as in the story mentioned above, put tens of thousands of dollars on a friend’s credit card without permission and have to add jail time to your resume. You’ll also be in desperate need of drug detox.

If you or someone you know is using OxyContin prescription painkillers, be aware that OxyContin addiction, and addiction to drugs containing the same active ingredient, is sending tens of thousands of people to emergency wards. Get them into and through drug detox as soon as possible.

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I just read a follow-up article on the Purdue Pharma execs who pled guilty to misleading the public about OxyContin. One of the statements made in the article was that Purdue does not consider victims of OxyContin to have legal standing because the company’s illegal marketing was directed only at physicians. In other words, they’re passing the buck to the doctors and anyone who needs drug detox or rehab to handle OxyContin addiction is basically on their own. Or, they can sue their doctor.

How shabby can you get? The drug company lies to the doctors about OxyContin’s potential for addiction and abuse. The doctor, in good faith for the vast majority of them I’m sure, prescribes the drug to patients based on the information they are given. And the drug company now says they’re not legally responsible for what happens to the patients.

Obviously this statement is an attempt at CYA for any other suits that may be coming in the future.

If you’re waiting for help, don’t bother. If someone you care about it having trouble with OxyContin addiction or abuse, get them into drug detox before the problem gets worse. One of the deaths from OxyContin was a girl who took only one pill. Don’t mess with it.

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