OxyContin Awareness - Eddie Bisch

                                                                                                  HY News
                                                                                                                               January 25, 2002

When a beneficial painkiller goes BAD
While OxyContin is deemed beneficial by chronic pain patients, it is also being abused by many teenagers and is extremely deadly.

Carlos Greer [email protected]
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      Millions of Americans are benefiting from the painkiller OxyContin. Often it is referred to as the miracle drug but the drug is also being abused. Abusers are drawn to the drug, seemingly because it produces a heroin-like high.
      "When abused this (OxyContin) is heroin in a pill because you're getting twelve hours of narcotic in minutes," Founder of Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness and Prevention (P.D.A.A.P)," Ed Bisch said.
      Introduced on the market in 1995, OxyContin has notably become an epidemic of abuse. The drug was originally intended for cancer patients and chronic pain (CP) sufferers but, instead has become the number one abused Schedule II drug in the country.
      "OxyContin is a narcotic prescription painkiller form of oxycodone. We need to recognize that OxyContin abuse is fairly widespread especially in states such as Maine, Kentucky, Ohio and it's now in California," expert Dr. H. Westley Clark said.
      "What's interesting is that (OxyContin) abuse started in rural America as opposed to crack cocaine which started in the cities. The drug is working it's way from rural areas to urban areas," healthcare fraud investigator Greg Wood said.
      OxyContin abuse began in Appalachia and is now spreading into more urban areas.
      "Depending on prescription drugs like OxyContin is a mounting problem amongst young people and the general population alike," executive vice-president of MTV News and Production Dave Sirulnick said.
      MTV News and Docs' True Life and CBS News' 48 Hours reported one hour on the controversial painkiller in December. Both broadcasts portrayed Oxy abuse through 22 year old, Troy Swett.
      "I produced four segments of the broadcast. When you are there witnessing the addiction, it's a raw human experience," 48 Hours producer Miguel Sancho said.
      "All I can think about is when I'm going to do them. How I'm going to get 'em, how I'm going to get money to get 'em. If I were to go without Oxys, I'd feel violently sick. I never said I want to grow up to be a junkie, ever," Swett told 48 Hours.
      Swett started experimenting with OxyContin in 1997 and became addicted. Swett was taking 240 mg of OxyContin daily. The painkiller sells on the street for approximately $1 per mg, therefore, Swett had a $240 a day drug habit.
      "He wasn't having fun anymore. He had to face the fact that he was an addict. Troy Swett literally depended on Oxy. When abused, the drug is highly addictive," Sancho said.
      Swett kicked his habit through the controversial treatment rapid detox.
      " This procedure is done with explicit care but there's not a guarantee. There has been reports of people dying from this procedure. The issue is not detoxification. The issue is how to stay off of the drug," Dr. Westley Clark said.
      Rapid detox is a treatment that is supposed to cure the physical dependency on a substance in just four hours. The radical procedure costs anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000.
      "OxyContin is so deceptive. Most kids don't realize that it's a part of the heroin family. Kids fear heroin. Oxy, when crushed, is just as addictive as heroin," Bisch said.
      Bisch's son, Eddie Bisch, Jr., died in February from Oxy abuse.
      " No one here in Philly (Philadelphia) heard of Oxy," Bisch said.
      Philadelphia has more Oxycodone related deaths than any other major city. In Philadelphia, Bisch's son was the 21st Oxy abuse related death within three months.
      "Eddie and two of his friends had heard about this new pill (OxyContin) on the streets. They heard that it was great so they tried it. One kid got sick but Eddie and Jim liked it. OxyContin is the power of eight Percocets. A Percocet is designed to last four hours. A 40 mg OxyContin provides twelve hours of pain relief. When chewed, you're getting twelve hours of medications in minutes and kids are getting high. Eddie started doing it every other week," Bisch said.
      Eddie also abused Xanax earlier during the day and alcohol that night. Mixing drugs with other substances increases the possibility of death.
      "Eddie came home and went to sleep that night. The next morning he never woke up. As I was downstairs and my son lay dead in his bed, the police sergeant came in and said, 'OXY! Kids are dropping dead left and right from this stuff,' I cried out, ' What! Why did I never hear of this stuff until now?'" Bisch said.
      After his son's death, Bisch began researching OxyContin. His research left him in shock.
      "I had no idea about OxyContin before my son's death," Bisch said.
      Bisch has founded the P.D.A.A.P and has launched the website, oxyabusekills.com. In addition, he also speaks to teens throughout the country.
      "My goal is to raise the awareness of Oxy abuse. I want teens to warn other teens that if you do choose to experiment then absolutely don't do it with Oxy. No street drugs are good, but some are more dangerous than others and I learned of this one the hardest way in the world," Bisch said.
      Bisch's story was featured on MTV's "True Life."
      "I saw the MTV episode about OxyContin and how it's killing teens and I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked because I was in Virginia over the summer and Thanksgiving and people are using this drug like everyday," senior Heather Carter said.
      Carter has been visiting her grandparents in Clintwood, Virginia every summer since she was five years old. Last summer was when she encountered teens abusing OxyContin.
      "They were white crushed up pills. We were in a house. It was really awkward. We were all sitting around at a table and this girl was like 'look what I have you guys.' They crushed the pills and started snorting them with a straw. I felt really uncomfortable," Carter said.
      The girl that Carter is speaking of was actually, at the time, an incoming freshman in high school.
      "Kids need to made aware of Oxy abuse. This drug is big with teenagers but they have no idea what they're getting involved with. Oxy abuse kills," Bisch said.
      "The media and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) is what has escalated OxyContin abuse. What excuse do those guys have for showing millions of kids how to crutch, cook and shoot up OxyContin who didn't know how to do it before 48 Hours came alone?" president of the American Society for Action on Pain (ASAP) Skip Baker said.
      Baker has launched the website www.actiononpain.org in order to stop the drug war and provide a voice for CP sufferers.
      "OxyContin saves lives. There's so much media attention given to abusers of the drug that the people who are really suffering are completely overlooked. Pain is a very severe problem in America," Baker said.
      Baker is suffering from arthritis. His ribs fuse together with his backbone making breathing difficult and creating excruciating pain. He currently take 1200 pills a month. When he was taking OxyContin, he only needed 120 pills a month.
      "We are the one's suffering. We are the victims because with all the controversy surrounding abusers, CP patients are being deprived of our pain medication because doctors are afraid to prescribe them," Baker said.
      "I can understand how OxyContin is a lifesaver to CP sufferers," former Belleville West student Natalie Shelton said.
      Shelton broke her ankle and dislocated it in three places last May forcing her to have to undergo orthopedic surgery. She had 15 screws and a plate put into her small ankle. To combat the pain, her surgeon prescribed OxyContin.
      "It was the most excruciating pain. At times my ankle still hurts, even now. I took two pills a day and it was the greatest pain reliever but I didn't function normally. I was overly tired. I could be talking on the phone and literally fall asleep," Shelton said.
      Due to not being able to function, Shelton only took the pills for five days.
      "If you sit around all day, I can understand how this drug is a miracle drug but it's not feasible to function," Shelton said.
      Many chronic pain sufferers view OxyContin as a miracle drug. CP sufferers on Baker's site has lashed out against the DEA's war on drugs and the media's portrayal of Oxy abuse. They have even compared it to Hitler's reign.
      "During the 1930s and 1940s, the people couldn't speak out in Germany. They had no power. We have no power. We rely on these drugs and the television and DEA is making them so hard to come by and it's causing a lot of suicides because CP sufferers can't handle the pain. Television and DEA's portrayal is all propaganda. It's devastating. There are more CP sufferers dying from lack of medication than there are addicts," Baker said.
      "Skip Baker's website is radical. My son died. I know that oxy abuse is a problem in this country, and it's spreading faster than ever. We need to make people aware of it," Bisch said.
      Since 1996, there are over 5.8 million OxyContin prescriptions. In 1999, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) reported that there were over 2.6 million nonmedical users of painkillers.
      Abuse of OxyContin has escalated crime. There has been over 36 pharmacy robberies in the Boston area alone. There are lawsuits pending against doctors for accusations of killing their patients by over prescribing OxyContin.
      "Oxy is classified for moderate to severe pain. Moderate pain can be faked easily. People are faking pain, and doctors are prescribing OxyContin," Bisch said.
      On Nov. 1, 2001 the DEA received the Medical Examiner's autopsy report of OxyCodone deaths from 31 states.
      The reports show that 15 percent of these deaths are indeed verified OxyContin. Twenty-two percent were described as likely to have involved OxyContin.
      "OxyContin is a great drug when properly used but dangerous and deadly when abused," Bisch said.