Drug Ring Salvages OxyContin and Vicodin Pills from Medical Waste Company

The demand for narcotic prescription drugs is so high that drug dealers will go to almost any length to get their hands on drugs to sell. A San Diego drug ring took this to an extreme by intercepting thousands of pills that were slated to be destroyed and selling them on the black market.

 

Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested John Bonavita and two employees of Enserv West LLC, a medical waste disposal firm. The employees diverted pills that were slated to be destroyed to Bonavita, who sold them to other dealers. As part of a plea agreement, Bonavita admitted to purchasing and reselling 13,000 hydrocodone tablets (a pain medication that’s sold under the brand name Vicodin), 900 oxycodone tablets (another painkiller sold under the name OxyContin), 111 methadone tablets and 350 morphine tablets.

 

The drug…
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Opana Overtaking OxyContin as Most Abused Painkiller

Fort Wayne, Indiana, a medium-sized city of 200,000, has experienced more than a dozen pharmacy robberies since the beginning of 2012. In almost every case, the robbers were after a powerful prescription painkiller named Opana. Less well-known than OxyContin, Opana is the brand name for oxymorphone. Like OxyContin, Opana is an opiate medication that carries a high risk of abuse, dependency and overdose. Unlike OxyContin, Opana is still available in an extended-release formula that appeals to abusers who are seeking a more intense high. According to drug enforcement experts, the rising popularity of Opana can be attributed to a change made to OxyContin that makes pills harder to crush for snorting or dissolve for injecting. Individuals who are addicted to prescription drugs have a tendency to adapt according the drug availability and many are now turning to Opana to feed…
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Doctors Petition for New Prescription Painkiller Rules to Limit Abuse

In an effort to protect the public from prescription drug abuse, a group of 37 doctors and public health officials have petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to change the prescription guidelines for opioid painkillers.

They have asked the FDA to change the labeling for drugs like OxyContin and Opana, prohibiting use of the drugs for treatment of moderate pain, adding a maximum daily dosage and specifying that patients should only take them for 90 days if not under treatment for cancer-related pain.

By changing the labels of these prescription drugs, the group hopes to limit promotion of the drugs for non-approved uses by drug makers like Purdue Pharma, Pfizer and Endo Health Solutions. OxyContin and Opana, which are both extended-release painkillers, are marketed by Purdue Pharma and Endo Health for the treatment of moderate pain to severe pain.…
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Is OxyNEO Just An Invention to Maximize Profits

Canadians have been drastically affected by OxyContin just as citizens the United States have. The instances of addiction, overdose, and heroin use are off the charts since opiate drugs have exploded in popularity.  The announcement of “harder to abuse” OxyNEO from Purdue Pharma seemed like promising news but there are skeptics.

In a recent article in the Canadian new source theStar.com, the question is raised whether or not OxyNEO is really just a timely invention due to OxyContin patent protection expiring.

The article argues that Purdue Pharma was threatened by the inevitable OxyContin generics that would be coming to market since the patent for the OxyContin drug would have expired in November.  Now, the companies who were already in development of “generic” OxyContin face an unsure future as gneric versions of the drug may or may not be allowed to …

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The Seth Foundation – Teenage Heroin Advocacy

We haven’t given proper coverage to the powerful website/advocacy group that was started by the bereaved family of Seth Norcutt.

Website: http://www.thesethfoundation.org

Seth’s story is a ‘must read’  because it is written in a very compelling and moving manner – go straight to that page here.  Seth was like many of those that contact us, he struggled with addiction after experimenting recreationally and getting hooked.  Seth was from the San Diego, California area.

Seth ended up dying of a heroin overdose, but as it says in the story:

Seth first started with simple over-the-counter medications like soma and vicodin and progressed to oxycontin. Why not, at $5 a pill, and readily available at school and from his friends, they were easy. No mess, nothing to hide, and the “Narc’s” at school would never know. That was less than two

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Southern California OxyContin Abusers Switching to Heroin

Drug treatment officials in San Diego County recently reported that the use of heroin by young adults has more than tripled since 2006.  According to Susan Bower, director of San Diego County Alcohol and Drug Services, the increase in heroin use is “scary.”  Admissions for heroin addiction now account for nearly one in five of all treatment admissions at facilities operated by the county.

Many of the addicts seeking treatment have been identified as young men who are switching to heroin as a cheaper alternative to OxyContin.  The black market demand for OxyContin has caused the price to rise to as much as $80 for an 80mg tablet, making heroin an cheaper alternative for addicts despite its deadly reputation. This is the first time in several decades that heroin abuse and addiction has become an issue in San Diego…
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CVS Blacklists Florida Doctors Who Write Too Many Painkiller Prescriptions

In a move that could set a nationwide precedent, CVS recently sent letters to a group of high-prescribing Florida doctors advising them that the company’s pharmacies will no longer fill their prescriptions for painkillers and other dangerous drugs.  According to the Orlando Sentinel, the action has been described as blacklisting by some of the doctors and at least one doctor who received a letter has responded with legal action against CVS.

In a prepared statement, CVS stated that it informed a small group of Florida doctors that their prescriptions for Schedule II narcotics will no longer be filled.  The company was not specific about how many doctors have been notified but stated that the action was taken in the interest of keeping controlled substances out of the wrong hands and preventing drug abuse.  CVS operates more than 700 pharmacies in …

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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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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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Los Angeles OxyContin Pill Mills Raided

The pill mills of Florida have generally been the primary focus of a of media attention. However, we’ve seen some big OxyContin related busts in the southland of California as well:

Smuggling Ring Took Pills Into Mexico

Newport Coast Doctor Gets 230 Year Sentence

Rowland Hights Dr. Tseng – Doctor of Death Sued by Family of Overdose Victim

This week Los Angeles has some news on the Oxy Crackdown because  four medical clinics that were suspected of illegally dispensing prescriptions were raided.

Investigators determined that the San Fernando Valley clinics have been operating as pill mills, catering to addicts seeking narcotic painkillers and other prescription drugs.  The raids were carried out by local, state and federal investigators from the LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the California Department of Justice, the IRS and the FBI.

The investigation was prompted by …

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