Peoria Illinois Weighs in on the Havoc Wreaked by Opiates

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A good article in the Peoria County Star highlights the deadly spread of opiate abuse in what is perceived as an “all american” city.

Opiates abuse, which the article refers to as “a scary trend,” is way up in Peoria and Dr. George Hevesy says he is concerned about doctors over prescribing narcotic painkiller drugs like Vicodin, OxyContin, and Percodan.

We have been covering the painkiller epidemic for a while now and it is our goal to bring awareness on as many fronts as possible .  Add Peoria, Illinois to the list of cities that are being negatively impacted by the “silent epidemic” of prescription drug abuse.…

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Oxy Addled Ontario Shuts A Doctor Down

Dr. Alan Redekopp was disciplined by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario because he increased a patient’s narcotic drug prescriptions by a factor of 1o in the year preceding her overdose.

Donna Bertrand was the patient who (it is almost certain) was selling the drug.  The reason it is almost certain she was selling the drug is because a 19 year old overdosed on prescription medication in the same apartment as Donna Bertrand – but a few days before.

Dr. Redekopp is still allowed to practice but has to display a sign in his waiting room stating that he is banned form prescribing narcotic drugs like OxyContin.…

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Cool Looking Prescription Drug Dropoffs

There is a new initiative to try and provide easier alternatives for people to dispose of prescription drugs.

Let alone, the issues of addiction and overdose, pharmaceutical drugs are harmful to the environment if they are not properly disposed of.

Pictured are a couple of the “drop boxes” that will be used in New Jersey…

What do you think the potential is an ambitious drug seeker will try to get into one of these? We know from the article that at least one of them is going to be inside the lobby of a police station… which should greatly reduce that likelihood.…

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Good Article about Columbia S.C. Prescription Drug Summit

This morning we all passed around a good summary of the “South Carolina Prescription Drug Abuse Summit.”

The article, which appears in Oregon’s Salem News (article here), does a great job summarizing the content of the summit and also critiquing it and making suggestions. Marianne Skolek is the author of the article and if that name sounds familiar, it is because she is on the front lines of the prescription drug epidemic, fighting for “the victims of OxyContin and Purdue Pharma.”

South Carolina is in the heart of the area of the U.S.  that is being the most negatively impacted by OxyContin.  OxyContin is also known as “hillbilly heroin” because of the prevalence in areas like the Appalachians and also along the “Oxy Express” freeway through the Southern U.S. into Florida.

The very existence of a Prescription Drug Abuse Summit …

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Meet the New Killer – Same as the Old Killer

Obituary writers, morticians, crime scene detectives and the like should familiarize themselves with this phrase: “death was caused by fatal overdose of OxyNEO.”

Purdue Pharma has shown what a powerful marketing strategy team you can hire when you profit mightily off of destroying thousands of families by marketing a drug like OxyContin a.ka. “legal heroin”.

The latest ploy the PR wizards at Purdue Pharma have announced is the discontinuation of OxyContin in 2012 and the launch of OxyNEO. Hmm, wonder if this will fool anyone as the drug continues to be abused and cause addiction and overdose well into the future.

We have been covering the destructive swath OxyContin has carved through the heartland of America including reporting on Purdue Pharma’s halfhearted attempts to minimize the damage by releasing sticky OxyContin that was supposedly harder to abuse (but still just …

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Doctor Sold Prescriptions at Starbucks

It was never our intention to to become a watchdog website that would use our outlet to humiliate unethical doctors criminals.

Yet recently we are reading some stories that compel us to provide as much of a “comeuppance” as we can to shady and unethical doctors like Alvin Ming-Czech Yee of Mission Viejo (medical practice was in Irvine).

This “doctor” sat in a Starbucks Coffee Shop and sold prescriptions for OxyContin –  also known as”legal heroin” (or also known as “the prescription drug that is shattering families in record numbers).”

Again, let us reiterate that Dr. Yee would perform his examinations in Starbucks. the “examinations” would last about a minute. Yee would meet up with a dozen people per night in Starbucks throughout Orange County.  The “examinations” drug deals consisted of taking blood pressure and asking patients addicts …

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OxyContin Ring Sells 1 Million Pills on the Street

In Los Angeles, 14 people have been charged with running a scheme to obtain OxyContin pills through insurance fraud and distribute them on the street for millions of dollars in profits. The drug distribution ring included two doctors and the operators of a clinic owned by Lake Medical Group.  Members of the ring are suspected of reselling more than 1 million OxyContin pills on the street.

According to federal officials, the clinic’s doctors wrote fraudulent prescriptions for the powerful painkiller and billed Medicare and Medical.  Most of the prescriptions were written for patients who did not need a painkiller.

Members of the ring are also alleged to have committed identity theft and used stolen Medicare beneficiary information to obtain OxyContin.  Among those charged were Dr. Morris Halfnon, aged 88, Dr. Eleanor Santiago, aged 73, and pharmacist Theodore Yoon.

The …

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Doctor’s Role in Fatal Prescription Drug Overdose

In Orange County, California, coroner records show that accidental prescription drug overdoses are on the rise, from 130 in 2006 to 266 in 2009.  One of these fatalities was Jarrod Barber of Laguna Niguel, who overdosed at age 19 on a combination of:

  • Opana – a powerful narcotic painkiller
  • Seroquel – an anti-psychotic medication and
  • Klonopin –  (Clonazepam) an anti-anxietymedication

According to a report in The Orange County Register, Barber began to smoke excessive amounts of marijuana and abuse prescription drugs following the cancer death of a close friend.   He obtained prescriptions for Clonazepam and Seroquel from Dr. Paul D. Corona, a Laguna Niguel doctor who has built a practice by writing prescriptions for mood-stabilizing drugs.

Corona, a general practitioner who now specializes in the treatment of mood disorders, is a self-described “guru” who promotes the use of mood-stabilizers …

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Doctors Call for an End to Long-Term Prescriptions for Opioid Painkillers

In response to the growing problem of prescription painkiller abuse in the U.S., three California doctors are calling on their colleagues to rethink the use of narcotic prescription drugs as medication for patients who experience chronic pain.  In the U.S., opioid painkillers including OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin are now prescribed more than any other drugs.  According to the doctors, up to 20% of patient visits to physicians result in a prescription for one of these opioid drugs.

Dr. Deborah Grady, Dr. Seth Berkowitz and Dr. Mitchell Katz have published their plea as an editorial in the Archives of Internal Medicine.  The doctors state that 20-40% of adults report non-cancer chronic pain and that opioids have become the most common form of treatment even though few studies are available that examine the use of these drugs for the long-term treatment of …

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Increase in Doctors Facing Criminal Prosecution Related to Drug Abuse

Dr. Conrad Murray is currently facing trial for involuntary manslaughter for administering a powerful anesthetic that led to the death of Michael Jackson.  Murray is part of a growing trend of doctors who are criminally prosecuted for medical malpractice.  According to Reuters news service, fewer than 40 doctors faced criminal charges for malpractice between 1809 and 2000.  Since 2001, there have been at least 37 cases – almost as many as in the previous 200 years.

The majority of the cases since 2001 involved doctors who have overprescribed prescription painkillers and other controlled substances.  Many doctors have been charged under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, which allows prosecution of physicians who knowingly prescribe medication outside the usual course of professional practice or for non-medical purposes.
Prior to the case of Dr. Murray, the most famous prosecution of a doctor …

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