Pubdate: Fri, 08 Jul 2005
Source: Bradenton Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2005 Bradenton Herald
Contact:  http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradentonherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58
Author: Jeremy Borden, Knight Ridder Tribune News Service

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE SOARS IN U.S.

WASHINGTON - Prescription drug abuse has skyrocketed among young teens and 
the American public in general compared with other kinds of drug abuse, 
according to a report released Thursday.

The report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) 
at Columbia University found that 15.1 million Americans, or 6 percent, 
admit to abusing prescription drugs - more than all other forms of drug 
abuse combined. About 6 million people, the second- highest amount, admit 
to abusing cocaine and 4 million admit to abusing hallucinogens, the 
third-highest number.

Some well-known drugs are the most abused, the report found. Pain relievers 
OxyContin and Vicodin and depressants Valium and Xanax were abused the 
most. Ritalin and Adderall, commonly prescribed stimulants that are 
supposed to help concentration, are also among the most abused prescription 
drugs.

The 214-page report is the result of a three-year, $1.5 million effort on 
what CASA called America's biggest and fastest-growing drug epidemic. The 
center said the report was the first of its kind.

"We hope this report will be a wake-up call to Americans," said Joseph 
Califano, CASA's chairman and president and former secretary of health, 
education and welfare during Jimmy Carter's presidency.

Among the report's findings:

* Between 1992 and 2003, when the U.S. population increased 14 percent, the 
number of people abusing controlled prescription drugs jumped 94 percent.

* Between 1992 and 2003, the report found a 212 percent increase in the 
number of adolescents ranging from 12 to 17 years old who abuse 
prescription drugs. In 2003, the report found that 2.3 million in this 
group - 9.3 percent - reported abusing a controlled prescription drug in 
the year before.

* About 43 percent of physicians - who often have little time to spend with 
patients - do not ask about prescription drug abuse when learning about 
patients' health history.

* From 1992 to 2002, prescriptions for controlled drugs increased more than 
150 percent.

The report detailed a litany of reasons for the surge in abuse, finding 
that drugs are more readily available and often overprescribed.

Doctors may be partly to blame, Califano said at a news conference at the 
National Press Club.

"So much of this is ignorance, carelessness" on the part of doctors, he 
said. Califano described overfilled waiting rooms and overwhelmed doctors 
who may prescribe drugs like OxyContin for moderate pain when it should be 
used only for more severe circumstances.

Purdue Pharma, a Connecticut-based pharmaceutical company, commissioned the 
report and paid for the bulk of it. It signed a contract saying that it 
would have nothing to do with the findings, however.

The report criticized pharmaceutical companies - and Purdue Pharma 
specifically - for aggressively promoting OxyContin. Susan Foster, CASA's 
vice president and director of policy research and analysis, said Purdue 
Pharma was promoting the drug to doctors to use for moderate as well as 
severe pain. Doctors, she said, are often taking the bait.

"If (doctors) only have 10 minutes to deal with a patient . . . they may be 
prescribing a controlled drug to someone who has a problem."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom