Anyone who has worked in rehabilitation for some time knows that becoming addicted to pain killers is a common way patients become substance-dependent. Unfortunately, prescription drug dependency is one of the saddest forms of dependency since the patient often becomes dependent after seeking some form of relief from doctors for his or her chronic pain that ends in some kind of drug abuse.
Sometimes, patients just do not know what their doctor is prescribing. Other times, they do not fully understand the ramifications of their drug. And sometimes it is another family member or friend who actually gains access to the drugs and begins to abuse them.
Since Gene Duffy opened his Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation center in 1967, they have treated hundreds of patients for prescription drug abuse.
Unfortunately, that number is rising and will probably not decline soon.
A PURE FORM OF HYDROCODONE NOW PROPOSED: ZOHYDRO
Just this month, Zogenix, a pharmaceutical company in San Diego, announced it plans to apply early in 2012 for rights to begin marketing their new drug—Zohydrdo—in 2013. Zohydro would be the first product to package hydrocodone (from the opiate or opioid family) basically by itself. (Historically, hydrocodone has been packaged with acetaminophen to create products like Vicodin.) There are rumors that other pharmaceutical companies are also developing their own pure hydrocodone products.
The mixed form of hydrocodone has already been contributing to the rise of emergency visits. According to the DAWN report from December 2010, the number of emergency visits related to the misuse or abuse of all pharmaceutical drugs has risen nearly 100% from 2004 to 2009. This rise in emergency visits seems to correspond to an article from the National Institute on Drug Abuse that reports that prescriptions for the mixed form of hydrocodone has more than doubled from 1991 to 2009. How much will these numbers increase if a purer form of hydrocodone is regularly prescribed by doctors?
While many patients legitimately need a stronger pain medication and the Zohydro product is designed to be a timed-release pill to dilute its potency, these may not be enough safeguards to counter the risks. Simply having more prescriptions on the market will probably statistically raise the amount of abuse around this drug. And patients can easily get around the timed-release structure to experience a more potent form of the pill.
Video: Watch New Opiate 10x Stronger Than Vicodin Under Development by WLKY.TV.
HELP IS AVAILABLE
If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction to hydrocodone, Oxycontin, or another pharmaceutical drug, consider Duffy’s Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center in Napa Valley, CA. Read more about Duffy’s prescription painkiller treatment options.