OxyContin Awareness


Name:Heather Email:[email protected] State:South Carolina Type:Death Story Date:9/7/2006 7:16:47 PM	My Brother passed away on aug 29th,2006 from a overdose of oxy. He was 20 years old and had everything going for him. His death is a shock to us and his abuse of the drug. I hope someone reads this and thinks twice beofre popping that pill. Its no joke, lives are lost.

Name:A Concerned Physician Email: State:AZ Type:General Comment Date:9/6/2006 4:43:40 PM	The posting from Michael Long on 9/4/06 illustrates the immense problem of the public misconception about the appropriate use and misuse of OxyContin. Assuming that this is a person who really needs this drug, he is obviously frustrated about the scrutiny he must go through to obtain it. However, his anger is misdirected and clearly illustrates the erroneous beliefs and objectives of the pro-opioid movement [as spearheaded by Purdue]. He talks as though OxyContin abuse is always a "choice" of users to get high, without understanding the mechanisms of addiction and the profound effects of this drug on the brain, particulary in those who never needed it in the first place. Many of these patients were prescribed OxyContin by their providers for any type of pain, most of whom were misled to believe that it is safe. He blames the addict and not those responsible for starting and maintaining the addiction. Furthermore, there is no understanding or empathy for the many young people who have taken the drug at private gatherings and died, most of whom had a false sense of security that the drug was safe and could be taken with alcohol. He believes that the problem can be atrributed to "faulty upbringing" and that the families of the victims now want to prevent those that need the drug from obtaining it. As you have stated, the root cause stems from the greed of Purdue and their supporters in promoting [for profit] the widespread use of OxyContin while ignoring most pleas for its selective application in patients with severe chronic pain only. Unfortunately, this is part of a national corporate trend of marketing prescription drugs to the general population, without considering the consequences of these actions. This may be one of the unusual times in medical history that the true victims and their families of a national campaign promoting the overuse of a drug are being made to be the "bad guys", rather than those who have started the problem in the first place. It is indeed a sad commentary on our free-market society which has become very receptive to misinformation. How can the mounting toll of tragedies and suffering from the overuse of this and similar opioid drugs continue to be ignored or rationalized?

Name:shelley Email:[email protected] State:canada Type:Death Story Date:9/6/2006 1:35:46 AM	My fiance began his journey when a doctor prescribed him perks after having surgery on his hand and when the perks no longer worked he went to morphine. His addiction to morphine led him to steal from anyone and everyone. He decided he wanted to change his life and started going to a meth clinic and thats where deaths door began to open.People at the clinic introduced him to OXYCONTIN and one day someone said here try injecting it it will work much better for you. A year later he had endocarditis (infection that travels through the blood stream to your heart)He was rushed to the hospital where he stayed for 2 months - undergoing antibiotics because he was too unhealthy for surgery. At the age of 40yrs old he had open heart surgery to replace 2 valves in his heart. Shortly after surgery he began using again while still in the hospital, buying oxy's from other patients. One day he was shooting up in the bathroom and heard someone coming and got an air pocket in the needle and he crashed to the floor.Doctors had pronounced him dead until one doctor gave it another try and brought him back.He did get clean of the opiates for4 months but without counselling all it took was for him to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and he was once again on his journey. He was a great man with a lot to offer the world. He was kind and funny and liked by everyone and to strangers there was nothing wrong,and I loved him through it all. For 12yrs I tried to help him. On Aug 24 2006 his roommate had found him at the bottom of a flight of stairs just shortly before I arrived. His sppech was slurred and he was very disorientated-I assumed he had a stroke and called the ambulance. I never went with him in the ambulance that day because I took it for granted this was just another regular trip to the hospital. I called the hospital 2hrs later and spoke with him and we said our I LOVE YOUS. 4hrs he could no longer understand what I said to him. By the next morning the results were in-he had endocarditis again and 2 pieces of vegetation had gone to his brain and burst and he was now bleeding from the brain and because his blood was too thin surgery was not an option.Our I LOVE YOU were the last words we would ever speak to each other as he slipped into a coma and became brain dead within a matter of days. On Aug 28 2006 I stood by his bedside as I had done every day and told him I would always love and he would always be in my heart. The nurses unplugged the machines and with my hand on his heart I felt it beat for the last time. Always with me my angel - LOVE YA

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