200,000 Lbs of Pain Killers Consumed
August 21, 2007, Associated Press
Headline: Pain Killer Use Rises Sharply
August 21, 2007, N.Y. Post
Headline – Farmingdale – L.I., N.Y. Tops Painkiller-popper List
What to make of these eye-popping headlines? For starters, ban all pharmaceutical advertising on TV, print and billboards. The liquor and cigarette industry have and although I do not know what benefits have resulted, I do know this. Out of sight out of mind.
Here is the Wall Street Journal’s Associated Press Article:
Painkiller Use Rises Sharply
People in the US are living in a world of pain – and they are popping pills at an alarming rate to cope with it.
The amount of five major painkillers sold at retail establishments rose 90% from 1997 to 2005, according to an Associated Press analysis of statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration.
More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores during the most recent year represented in the data. That total is enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person in the country.
Oxycodone, the chemical used in Oxycontin, is responsible for most if the increase. Oxycodone use jumped nearly six-fold from 1997-2005. The drug gained notoriety as “hillbilly heroin,” often bought and sold illegally in Appalachia, but it is a big seller in small cities and their outskirts, including suburban St. Louis, Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
An aging population, heavy marketing by drug makers and changes in pain-management philosophy were among the reasons found for the increase in medication.
As age increases, so does the need for pain medications. In 2000, there were 35 million people older than 65. By 2020, the Census Bureau estimates the number of elderly in the U.S. will reach 54 million.
Drug makers, meanwhile, have embarked on unprecedented marketing campaigns. Spending on drug marketing has gone from $11 billion in 1997 to nearly $30 billion in 2005, congressional investigators found. Profit margins among the leading companies routinely have been three and four times as high as in other Fortune 500 industries.
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Thomas’s Remarks
Pharmaceutical marketing has gone from $10 billion in 1997 to $30 billion in 2005. The profit margins are clearly in the hundreds of billions to run a marketing campaign of that magnitude over 8 years.
Painkillers are not conducive to a healthy active lifestyle. When I have taken a pain killer, all I want to do is lay down. Could it be that the pharmaceutical companies have contributed to the nations obesity epidemic.
The DEA, FBI and law enforcement agencies across the globe are combating illegal drugs. The death toll from this battle over the past 30 years is in the hundreds of thousands. Yet here in the good old USA, it is okay to be addicted to pharmaceutical drugs.
You can be sure our elected officials will do little to stem the tide of rampant legal drug abuse in this country. Why? There are millions of lobby and campaign money for our elected officials.
While I do dare to claim the pharmaceutical industry is to blame for this explosion is pain killer drug use and addiction. Let us not forget these drugs cannot be had without a prescription from your family physician, dentist, etc. Whom by the way profits handsomely from the commission he/she earns off of each prescription written. Sounds like a cartel, a drug cartel.
In all fairness, if I were recovering from an auto accident or some serious operation, would want some temporary relief from pain absolutely. Could there be so many people in pain.
I have four pins and two plates in my ankle dating back to 1992. I am in pain everyday. Not all day, but everyday sometimes for hours. However, I am not popping painkillers. When I was in the hospital for 16 days in 1992, I was injected with painkillers daily. I admit it was soothing and relieving. However, when I was discharged I was addicted. I was also handed prescriptions with one for, you guessed it, painkillers. I knew I was addicted and I knew now that I was home. I needed to do something about it. I went cold turkey, I freaked out for 4-5 days, but made it. Did I need pain medication, yes. Was it necessary, no. I went without it. I have learned exercise, good food and even inflammation reducing foods are my savior along with occasional physical therapy.
At www.infinitehealthresources.com, in the Resource Center and the Health Store, much info is available on pain management and non-toxic remedies for such pain. Please allow me to clarify one thing, otherwise I can be sued, I am not offering medical advice. Only a medical doctor with a prescription pad can do that.
Pain medication, all of them, codeine, vicodin, oxycotin, meperidine, morphine and many others are all from the opiate base. They are especially addicting. These drugs have side effects that are not nice. All opiates offer the user the ability to be nasty, irrational and often forgetful. Who are these new breeds of drug addicts? Are they my local police, sanitation, bus driver, cab driver, plumber, or lawyer? I mean 200,000 pounds of this stuff was sold in 2005 alone. Am I in danger? This might appear to be a melodramatic. But give this issue a little thought.
One thing is for sure. We Americans need a little relief from Big Food, Big Pharma and big government. I am all for free markets and the capitalist way. We are paying a price via our health from all the chemicals offered in our food, mainly fast food, and pharmaceutical companies. When does it stop? It must start individually. Visit www.infinitehealthresources.com and read the thousands of articles on disease, health, and good eating habits. Visit the health store at www.infinitehealthresources.com and view some of the products that can jump-start you and your family to a healthier lifestyle.
Remember the old drug saying, “Just Say NO!”
Thomas Affatato
Infinite Health Resources does not at any point, for any circumstances suggest that you do not follow or stop medical advice of your physician. We do not advocate any drugs that has not been prescribed by your physician, nor suggest that we are medical doctors nor are we giving medical advice. Infinite Health Resources is here purely as a resource. |
