ScienceDaily recently did an article called Doctor’s Offices Can Help Stem Abuse Of Oxycontin, Other Narcotic Painkillers, summarized as, “a new study shows how doctor’s offices and clinics can identify patients who may be diverting or misusing narcotic painkillers such as OxyContin, and steer them to help, while preserving access to the drugs for patients who truly need them to control their pain.”

To me, this sounds like a really nice dream with a ton of potential for failure, lawsuits and a growing mistrust between doctors and patients. Doctors don’t want to go to jail for unwittingly helping someone sell their medication or abuse their prescriptions. On the other hand, people need to manage their pain and for every person who misuses the drugs they are prescribed, there is another one who has a legitimate need for the painkillers and still others who aren’t getting a dose high enough or a medication strong enough to handle their pain.

Do what did they come up with to better police the prescription drug situation? A “policy that logged and carefully screened all patients who were receiving the drugs for non-cancer pain,” as well as a contract of sorts between prescribing doctors and opioid painkiller receiving patients that both are required to sign. The study showed that 35 percent of the 167 patients that received opiates either turned in dirty drug tests that revealed the use of illegal street drugs or turned up on state prescription records showing that they were receiving multiple opiate prescriptions from various doctors simultaneously. Recipients of OxyContin or oxycodone were twice as likely to abuse their prescription as recipients of other opiate drugs.

The study author is Jennifer Meddings, MD. She says, “Many of us in the clinic were surprised at what we found, because a doctor’s job is first and foremost to trust the patient as they tell us about their pain, but in order to confront this issue and protect our ability to prescribe these drugs to the patients who truly need them, we need to have a uniform approach for all patients.”

If they can come up with a way to effectively help those who are abusing pain medication rather than simply turning them away, belittling them or reprimanding them, then this could be the beginning of something great. The threat of abuse from patients who are drug-seeking as well as legal repercussions for the prescription abuse of their patients are turning many young would-be doctors away from a field that is already severely lacking in qualified professionals. However, strict regulations can turn those who are legitimately in need of pain management to illegal sources for their medication, which only increases harm.

I don’t envy the position that the medical community is in. Anyone have any ideas on how to handle this problem?

Percocet is the brand name for a drug that combines oxycodone and acetaminophen. This same combination but in different strengths can also be found in the brand name drugs, Roxicet, Tylox and Endocet, but Percocet is by far the most popular prescription painkiller.

Unfortunately, it’s pretty easily prescribed: get a tooth pulled at the dentist or a couple stitches at the doctor’s office and head home with a bottle of Percocet (or at least a script for one). Take them for too long and you end up with something much worse than that: a physical dependence upon Percocet, otherwise known as Percocet addiction.

Now, the acetaminophen in Percocet is relatively innocuous. Though you can overdose on the drug and it can kill you, my understanding is that it would take a couple of weeks and it’s a long, slow, painful death. The oxycodone in Percocet, on the other hand, can end your life with a single overdose depending upon your tolerance. It also impairs your ability to think clearly, to make good decisions and your hand-eye coordination. Driving is extremely dangerous under the influence.

So what’s it like to go through a Percocet withdrawal? Not fun. Just like all opiate painkillers, your body comes to depend upon a certain amount of the drug in your system at all times. When you stop taking it without warning, your body kind of goes into shock, which translates into withdrawal symptoms that are nothing nice. It’s like the flu with fever, sweating and chills, runny nose and eyes, anxiety, nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea…. I could go on and on. In short, it’s not fun. But there are ways to get off the Percocet without experiencing the withdrawal symptoms that go along with a cold turkey Percocet detox.

Taking advantage of buprenorphine in the form of Suboxone and Subutex is one way to bypass the most fierce symptoms and, in some cases, avoid them altogether. Depending upon what dose you are at and how long you have been maintaining your Percocet addiction, your Suboxone detox will be shorter or longer. With a treatment plan, you can be off it and complete drug-free in as few as six weeks. Check it out!