Posted on Jan 02, 2013

Even though the drug companies don't want to admit it, one thing is certain: painkiller addiction is on the rise.

All across America, and especially in the Appalachian region, men and women are finding themselves stuck on opioid painkillers like OxyContin. They're losing their jobs, experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms, and seeing their families fall apart.

Celebrities aren't immune, either. Remember the cases of Rush Limbaugh, Matthew Perry, and Cindy McCain.

A recent article from the Washington Post shines a light on why this might be happening, and why the drug companies seem so determined to sweep the problem under the rug.

Says one addictionoligist who treats painkiller addicts in Portsmouth, OH: "You could say these marketing tactics are merely concerning, but I think of them as satanic. What the data are telling us is that these drugs are ruining people’s lives."

Consider these disturbing facts:

  • The addiction often develops after a patient takes the drug to help with a legitimate pain.
  • After the addiction takes hold, people get the drugs both from doctors and illegal sources.
  • In most cases, the drug companies fund their own tests for addictive properties of opioids.
  • These companies have been pushing to get opioid drugs prescribed for lesser and lesser pains.
  • There appears to be a discrepancy between drug companies' lab results and published results about how addictive these drugs actually are.

 

Our Kansas City dangerous drug lawyers see this flawed system play out every day: drug companies fund their own studies and do their own research to convince the public their drugs are safe. Sometimes they are; sometimes they aren't. In the case of prescription opioid drugs like OxyContin, they're clearly more addictive than the initial reports suggested.

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Jason C. Amerine
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President and Owner, Castle Law Office of Kansas City