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132 Comments
- Jazzillion, on 10/11/2007, -4/+39I think a better approach than eliminating false advertising for drugs is eliminating all advertising for drugs.
- gwinerreniwg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+22I tend to come down on the pro-drug side, but in this case, I have seen this drug get over prescribed and sold through mail order. normal average people who turn their noses up at drugs get hooked on this stuff when they visit their physicians. moms, kids, young people all types hooked on opiates. stopping them often leads to depression and withdrawal symptoms that are difficult to overcome. Some get vicodin and other lesser drugs with "tylenol" in it, leading to liver damage. Pharmaceuticals are truly the unseen drug crisis in our society today. I wouldn't say it if I hadn't seen it ruin so many.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17Hold on guys, many people who suffer terrible pain ( cancer ) need this narcotic to help them live pain-free lives. Yes i agree that any sort of advertisement for medications is totally wrong, and yes the side effects, and addiction potential should be CLEARLY expressed. But lets not punish those in pain.
- kooft, on 10/11/2007, -4/+20From the article: "Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani played a central role in negotiating on behalf of Purdue with federal prosecutors...". That's good ol' Rudy, always looking out for the Pharmaceutical companies for ya'.
- Error601, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15Yea...all those stupid doctors that don't know basic pharmacology were fooled. It sounds like passing the buck for prescribing pain pills without proper addiction management. Just write a prescription and then forget about it.
- imtigger2, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11My cousin has 4 vertebrae that are fused and it's VERY painful for her. She's gone through all sorts of rehab, holistic healing, etc.... but when it comes to breakthru pain, she HAS to have liquid Oxy (OxyFast) or she blacks out from the pain. Without it, her life would be completely miserable. At least with it, she can function a bit better now and then when it's "killing" her.
I was hooked on the stuff for a while myself. I didn't take a lot of it, maybe 5mg a day (to compare, someone like my cousin would take 20mg doses 3x a day at times), but when I just stop (had to, no more source for it), it sickened me BIG TIME with cold sweats, etc..... Yup, it sucks to be on it, then off if, but it's no different from any other opiate.
To even think for a SECOND that people like me, pharmacists and even doctors had no clue that Oxy was addictive, and to blame it on the company that makes the drug, is totally ridiculous. - tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -8/+17Are you kidding? It's a drug that was taken voluntarily. The company downplayed the risk of addiction and is paying for it. As for the "victims", though, no one put a gun to their head and forced them to abuse this. And es, it was "abuse". The pills were NOT designed to be crushed and snorted. I'm sick of you guys who think drugs are magic pills that kill people and Big Pharma is a murderer. The people who got addicted abused the pills. They have a right to do that, but is that the fault of the manufacturer?
- ChaosIncarnate, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9Well if the doctor suggested they take it it's pretty much the same thing. Since people still trust that doctors actually give a ***** about their well being.
- ddxChrist, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Not at all.
- moxley, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8The real problem is the drug laws in this country. Addiction is treated as a criminal act rather than a health concern; certain drugs (any which cannot be patented and had millions made off of them) have been demonized with willfully deceptive propaganda campaigns which consist generally of hysteria and outright lies - whereas other drugs (those produced by corporate America) are sold for huge profits.
The fact is that the drug war is more of a class war and a way for the government to have social controls by criminalizing people with serious chronic health problems (addiction) and entire segments of society - as well as a way for them to make money on both sides (our CIA is heavily involved in international drug trafficking), yet other government and corporate entities make money on the growing for-profit prison industry as well as on asset seizures.
If drugs were legalized and taxed we'd be a lot better off as a society, (especially marijuana - there is no reason for marijuana to be illegal - and the reasons it was made illegal in the first place have NOTHING to do with safety and everything to do with racism, social controls, and corporate protectionism).
If drugs were legalized and regulated they would lose their counter-cultural allure. People could be educated from the time they are children with the TRUTH about ALL drugs, not scare propaganda - and drugs would be seen as a tool .They would be respected and used much more responsibly. Would there still be addiction? Of course, some people would still become addicts, but it wouldn't be such a difficult hole to climb out of in the way it is today.. It would change the nature of our cities, crime would be cut in half (at least - and I am not even talking about drug arrests, I am talking about violence and theft surrounding the illicit drug trade) Remove the black market influences and prohibition (which history has proven NEVER works) and you remove a large portion of crime as we know it today. We'd need half as many cops - probably less. But as you know, at least in the US things are not trending towards freedom - they are rocketing towards fascism. - Egz4u2, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Why are they to blame when synthetic opium has long been known to be addictive, anyone who went to medical school knows that! Why not ask the antidepressant manufacturers why they decided to spin withdrawal by calling it a "Cessation event"? Why not accept that some people are addicts, they will find something to be addicted to, Alchohol, or whatever.... After a car accident, I was prescribed Vicodin ( oxycodone + tylenol ) for years... I took it as directed, and stopped after some years without any problem. However; I do not have a substance abuse issue, those who do, need to watch out for their own problem - How is it the company is responsible for tricking doctors into thinking synthetic opiods are not addictive? Were the doctors high?
- ASkillz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Oxy & crack are polar opposites. If you want to make a comparison, Oxy is the new heroin.
- Crimsonsoul343, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9You think he really cares? Hes probably a billionaire by now. Whats half a billion gonna do to him. Most drug makers purposely hide the fact the their drug is addicting or that it can have bad side affect because by the time people find out they have more than enough money to pay the fine.
- KatieBee, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7this is a highly effective analgesic utilized by lots of patients for pain management. as with any analgesic, there is risk of dependency, and distribution and care with a qualified physician is paramount during treatment. if the company marketed this product as some sort of "miracle" drug with no side-effects, and that's a shame. it's addictive, just like all the other opiates. but this drug is far more productive in treating pain in patients where nothing else works. unfortunately, that makes it very appealing for those unscrupulous people seeking an abusive high. it's a shame.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Just another reason why Cannabis Should be legal (at the very least for medical use only!)
I mean look at some of the different things Cannabis Can help Without causing addiction... Arthritis, Appetite Loss, Nausea, Cancer Chemotherapy, AIDS Wasting Syndrome, Nausea From Cancer, Chemotherapy, Glaucoma, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression, Parkinson’s Disease, Movement Disorders, Dystonia, Asthma, Brain Injury/Stroke, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Depression, Mental Illness, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, High Blood Pressure/Hypertension, Migraine, Nail Patella Syndrome, Schizophrenia, Tourette's Syndrome. - TheSubStylee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Because someone made a mistake while using Xanax does not mean they did it because of the Xanax. I agree with orientis, stupidity is responsible for that. I've taken Xanax before, and it has helped me immensely with my panic attacks. But using it other than how it's directed is asking for trouble.
- orientis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6You don't need drugs to kill people on the road, stupidity will take care of that for you.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Hahaha, don't people realize by now there's no such thing as a fine?
All they have to do is up the price per pill by $1 or 2 and they'll recover the losses in no time.
This is really punishing those who need them. Unless the govt put a hold on the prices for 3 years so they CAN'T recover the losses, but they won't. - MrTulip, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5you can have severe pain that needs treatment with strong opioids without having terminal cancer. i'm one of those and believe that the industry providing these substances should inform about addiction risk. to deny pain patients their treatment 'just' because they wont die anytime soon is way too harsh. when properly applied a dosage increase offer time isn't nessecary jfyi.
- cp101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5An opiate based medicine with stimulating properties that's twice as powerful as Codeine is addictive?!!? PREPOSTEROUS!
Six Hundred Thirty Four and a Half Million Dollars of Stupid. The people who didn't think it was addictive should be fined for Crimes Against Humanity. The type of stupid that infests this world, *****... - Wobble, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5when i got out of the hospital i was addicted oxycodone/oxycontin and after quitting cold turkey and going through withdrawal i can say it sucked hard. however its about the only pain killer that works on me and when im seriously hurting im thankful for it. if they were to pull it completely off the market id be ***** next time i need some relief in a serious situation.
- beta1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4This is *****. OxyContin is great drug that helps alot of people. Its common knowledge that it can be physically dependent. And if you dont knot that already dont be a dumb ***** and do research for each drug you are going to put in your body.
This is a classic example of how no one wants to take responsibility for what they do. - computergod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4As a drug nerd I am appealed by peoples lack of knowledge on this subject. Taking them as a doctor perscribes them in most cases will result in addiction. tis is true with any addictive drug.
IIRC you would have to take Oxy less then once per week (about every 10 days) to avoid addiction. Anyone with pain severe enough to get these is going to need them much more then every 10 days, more like twice per day. - computergod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Yeah alprazolam (Xanax) is one of those drugs that has physical withdrawal symptoms (unlike say meth). Any drug in the benzodiazepine family like diazepam (Valium) or clonezipam (Klonopin) does. This can make them harder to get off. However, to get an Rx for it enough to take it daily you probably have a legitimate need for it as doctors will only use them as a last resort.
Some people (like me) can take them daily and get to a point where tolerance does not go down anymore and we can stay at the same dose. They made me apathetic when taking them daily so I had to go back to taking them occasionally. I accidentally found myself dependent on them when not paying too much attention to how often I was taking them, Stopping taking them isn't exactly fun, but it's easy enough if you don't have an addictive personality. It just involves not sleeping much and feeling irritable and anxious for a few days, really not a big challenge.
Interesting that the guy I'm replying to is named "S3dative," maybe personal experience coloured his opinion? - tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4With all due respect, if they're taking it without a prescription, that's their fault; it's not Purdue's responsibility. Sure it's terrible, but Purdue is only responsible for downplaying the risks of addiction, not people who abuse the drug and suffer the consequences.
- beta1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Cancer lasts longer than 7 days, and so do ALOT and most of the legit things its prescribed for.
And btw, ITS NOT THE ***** DOCS OR THE PHARM COMPANY'S FAULT THAT PPL ARE MENTALLY WEAK. Why the ***** should other people have to suffer b/c of a bunch of ***** who cant take responsibility for their own ***** actions... Moron - RollFizzlebeef, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4It was worth it to out Rush Limbaugh as a hypocrite.
Besides, regulation hurts the economy. ;-) - Ellipsys, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Why the hell would anyone think that OxyContin was less addictive? Its a Class 2 narcotic! Its probably the strongest "commonly" prescribed narc. That is to say, prescribed for managing chronic, but not necessarily end of life pain. Once you get above OxyContin its things like Fentinel patches and Dilaudid. Oxycontin may be less physically addictive then these, but its stronger than say... tylenol 3, darvocet, or Vicodin. Its even a little stronger than Percocet, which I take for my chronic illness. A anyone who believed that oxycontin was weaker then the rest of somehow less addictive was an idiot.
- MrTulip, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4i agree with that fine but to take oxycontin off the market would mean to deny a remedy to hundreds of thousands of pain patients. 2 cents
tulip - JaYBrooks, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4I used Oxy for a few months because of a motorcycle accident. The result of that use made me not do anything anymore. I don't even drink alcohol anymore. Two months of being there but not really being there kinda gave a moment of clarity. I could tell that it was very easy to get hooked on something like that.
I don't blame the creators of the medication because it isn't like there is a spot on the shelf (in the usa) for it. It has to be suggested to you from a doctor.
I don't think it is the responsibility of the drug maker to tell you that this prescribed medication is dangerous. That is why it is a medication that is prescribed in the first place.
This should be what the pharmacist and doctor should tell you. That is why there are there. I do think that any doctor/ pharmacist that has ad propaganda (pens, samples, banners) should be the one that is telling you the pros and cons of the medication. - ddxChrist, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Of course. However, that doesn't mean that those who fail to provide all the necessary information on their drug should get off scot-free. I'm vehemently against the war on drugs and the like, but accountability rests within the pharmaceutical company when a detail as important as the degree of addiction potential is concerned (or the doctor, should the information be available). Granted, opioids are no laughing matter to begin with.
- guinpen, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3for oxycodone's intended purpose, cannabis comes nowhere close. you can't substitute one for the other
- computergod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3To be fair, doing that will still make you end up addicted/dependent on it.
- Error601, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Not all drugs...just eliminate mass marketing of prescription drugs. Because you can do it, everyone pretty much has to do it or put themselves at a major competitive disadvantage. Marketing isn't cheap so that just increases the cost of prescriptions.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4When does the government pay for all the ***** lies they've told about pot?
Pfft - swazo, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5My 18 year old cousin is addicted to oxy. He is currently in the methadome clinic.
Odds are, with the route he has taken, he wont survive much longer in the world. Probably be put in jail.
Im pro-drug but these guys are just crooks plain and simple. Hypocrits, they lobby against the illegal drugs but look at them, ***** crooks. - computergod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Just because people are abusing a drug does not make it super evil.
Any doctor claiming they didn't know how addictive it is needs to grow a clue or is more likely playing dumb. It is a powerful opiate, of course it is addictive, how could it not be?
Unlike morphine though you can take it orally with a high bio-availability. This way people can get a powerful opiate high without the stigma of needles. - ddxChrist, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4This is where the stigma that prescription drugs are 'better' for you than illicit drugs are really ends up doing a number on people. At the end of the day, they're all chemicals that need to be documented thoroughly. It is NOT an area where misinformation or a clever lack of information is justifiable. Ignorance, whether intentional or not, leads to serious problems.
Those who legally sell chemicals used in the clinical setting have the responsibility of keeping track of this information. Once that is done, the burden of responsibility is on the practitioner for responsibly distributing and monitoring the use of these compounds. - oflaherty, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3i don't
- melissayb, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2While I dugg this article, I'm not sure how to interpret this information completely.
I -was- one of those people who was on this drug. For about 8 months. For severe endometriosis.
I mixed OxyContin with the faster-acting oxycodone, along with Advil #2 (some narcotic pain relief contained within) during that 8 month stretch of time.
I don't believe I would have survived the pain I was in if I didn't have these drugs available to me. While it would make me "ditsy" when I combined a couple of them to relieve my pain, I was never addicted. I was always accused when people asked me about my pain and found out what I was taking that I was an addict, but I never felt that way.
After my extensive surgery to fix my endometriosis (7 1/2 hours to be exact), the hospital put me on a Morphine drip button. I no longer had my OxyContin, but from what I've been told, that button was much more powerful.
Even though I was in the hospital for 7 days, I weaned myself off that Morphine drip in 60 hours. I just didn't find the pain after that surgery as great as the pain I was in before the surgery. I shocked the nurses every time they came around and asked me if I was in pain (seeing as I hadn't used that button they provide), and I'd ask them "compared to what?"
Anyways, those drugs helped me through a very long time in my life. Many medical staff told me that I am an inusual case, to have been on those drugs that long and never had withdrawals or addiction to any of them. Today, I rarely if ever take a regular Advil.
I understand some people's ability to not become addicted is much less than mine, but I could never tell someone they couldn't have the drug if they were in such serious pain that they needed it. I've been in their place, and as I said, I wouldn't have been able to cope.
I do remember reading the insert upon getting the prescription filled that OxyContin was prone to addiction in some people. And I took that in stride when taking the pills. I do believe that people in general should be more conscientious about what they put into their bodies. - Charlesbian, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Interesting fact on the article.
"Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani played a central role in negotiating on behalf of Purdue with federal prosecutors"
Just might be a glance into his health care policy - krakkinem, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I think you meant to say "heroin."
- Gatesophile, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Just adding my two cents:
I told my psychiatrist that I had a panic attack. I described it to her, and how scary and terrible it was. I have only had one panic attack. I was 16 at the time. Now I'm 17. She immediately prescribed me alprazolam (Xanax, just cheaper, yay generic!). I'm not saying that these don't help with the general nervousness and panicking, but I know for sure that I can't imagine my life without the Xanax now. It's like knowing you are addicted but being fine with it. - computergod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Addictive personalities get addicted to something eventually, be it drugs, gambling, shopping, dieting, exercising, eating. It just happened to be oxy. If they could get it consistently and cheaply then they would actually be fine since it has almost no harmful effects other then the addiction its' self.
- computergod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Agree with you, but I would like to see it work on a system of licenses. Keep most drug use confined to special facilities that keep people safe, but that are also very fun to be at. With higher licenses, you can do drugs outside of of a facility, or maybe even on regular public property.
I really believe that people who are likely to get addicted are a small portion of the population, most people will be able to handle themselves just fine. - Buckeye70, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Exactly. Then this company will come up with a drug that cures the common cold or cancer and we will here the cries "Why do drugs cost so much"
- BSX98, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Are you people really that dense to believe that this drug is what's killing people? Are you saying that the drug ruins lives? No. People ruin their own lives.
My father abused Oxy's. He stopped being a dad and started being a monster that lived with me when I was a teenager. Is this the fault of the drug? No way. He was an idiot that abused a prescription medication. The people who die from taking this, and get addicted to it are not pain patients who use opiates to make their day to day lives liveable. The people who are addicted are users, who administer the drug in a way completely opposite the way it's intended.
The drug doesn't take lives, it makes them worth living for a lot of people. People ruin their own lives because of their moronic search for a newer, better high. - computergod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2It's in a completely different class of drugs and has the opposite effects.
Oh and that website is for search engine optimization or some such crap. Listed and reported. - tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I'm holding my breath for ABT-594, a drug still in testing in Abbott laboratories. It's apparently derived from epibatidine, a chemical (which can be synthesized) from the poison dart frog, Epipedobates tricolor. It's supposed to be nonaddictive and as powerful as morphine (if not more) with none of the drawbacks of morphine.
- computergod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Ummmm, Percocet is just oxy mixed with other drugs so that it is harder to abuse.
Before you ask, oxycotin and oxycodin is the same drug, just with different preparation. -
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