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Without changes in the laws, getting prescription drug addiction under control is going to be a long haul. The good news is that yesterday I read an article about a doctor pushing addictive drugs being sentenced to 20 years, and today we have another little drug ring, again with a doctor, that may get the same sentence. If we keep knocking them down quickly – and educate the public so they’re more aware of the dangers of prescription drugs and why they need drug detox, not more drugs, we may actually be able to do something about the problem.

Today’s story involves a doctor, a cop and three others. The police officer and two others allegedly posed as patients, and they apparently recruited others to do the same, and got prescriptions from the doctor. Then they filled the prescriptions and sold the drugs. The doctor was part of the alleged scheme, which went on from 2002 to 2006.

The drugs included OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, Dilaudid, Suboxone and Xanax and, apparently, methadone. Two patients died from methadone overdoses, and another was seriously injured. The article didn’t say if the patients were doing methadone treatment for heroin addiction.

The cop is also being charged with using controlled substances while on the job. Or, at least, while he was in possession of his weapon. He first faced charges in May of this year and has been suspended without pay since that time.

So, we have a doc gone bad, and a cop. The cop obviously has a drug problem of his own. Maybe if he’d gotten into a good drug detox program and handled his own habit, he would have been the arresting officer in this case instead of the criminal.

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The lawyer representing the three Purdue Pharma executives who pled guilty to misleading the public regarding the possibility of OxyContin addiction and abuse said they were innocent bystanders.

Take a look at these photos in the New York Times.  Do they look like innocent bystanders to you?

According to this article, Purdue told the public that the risk of addiction and abuse with OxyContin was lower than other painkillers like Percocet or Vicodin because of the time-release design. This claim became the “linchpin’ of the most aggressive marketing campaign ever undertaken by any pharmaceutical company for a narcotic painkiller. Within a few years, annual sales were at $1 billion.

And now they’re paying for it, although many think they’re not paying enough – a total of $34.5 million for these three guys, but a lot of people want them in jail.

Whatever and however they pay, it won’t bring the people who have died from OxyContin back to life. And it won’t fix the lives of those who have been ruined by OxyContin addiction and abuse - only drug detox and rehab will do that.

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A recent news item tells the story of a wrongful death suit filed by the family of a man who died while undergoing rapid detox. He started taking painkillers when prescribed them by his doctor after surgery and then became addicted. To handle his addiction he chose a procedure known as rapid detox rather than one of the safer drug detox  alternatives.

The family filed a wrongful death suit on the doctor who performed the procedure and they were awarded $35.4 million. In this case, the doctor was negligent – the patient had a history of allergies to anesthetics which the doctor did not investigate. The man died when he failed to get enough oxygen while under general anesthetic, suffered brain damage, and died.

However, the rapid detox procedure can be dangerous under any circumstances. If you or someone you care about is considering alcohol or drug detox, make sure you’re fully educated on all methods of drug detox before you make your choice.

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Officials in Scotland are rethinking methadone as replacement therapy for heroin addiction. The original intention of the methadone program was not to simply “park” addicts on methadone. It was supposed to be used in conjunction with other drug addiction treatment that would actually end their addiction. Instead, 21,000 people in Scotland are being prescribed methadone by their doctors – an increase of over 10 percent in the last three years – without receiving the drug detox and drug rehab treatment they need.

The new drugs minister, Fergus Ewing, told Scotland on Sunday that if he withdraws the methadone program, addicts will simply go back to heroin. So, although he will not abandon the program, he does recognize the need to provide an “exit strategy” to addicts so they are able to shake their habit. He pledged to increase drug rehab services.

Many people on methadone have been led to believe that they need to stay on it for years, or for life. But, in almost all cases, it is possible to beat heroin addiction with a successful drug detox and drug rehab program.

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