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Cleveland Plain Dealer...
Ohio’s rogue
prescription crisis
By Plain Dealer guest columnist, Mike DeWine, Ohio Attorney General
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Ohio’s families and communities are under siege by the misuse and abuse
of prescription drugs.
A recent execution-style double homicide in Ashtabula County is the
latest link in a disturbing chain of prescription drug-fueled crimes.
The Ashtabula County sheriff said that the trafficking of OxyContin and
Percocet -- the two most popular prescription drugs in his jurisdiction
-- was “running wild.”
Ashtabula County is not alone:
• In Scioto County, the health commissioner declared a public health
emergency.
• In Jackson County, an OxyContin addict strangled to death a
72-year-old woman in a murder-for-hire plot and then spent the $50,000
payoff on more OxyContin.
• In Gallia County, 19 out of 38 people indicted over a period of one
month last summer were charged with possession of or trafficking in
prescription pills.
What’s driving the demand for -- and the abuse of -- prescription drugs?
Most doctors who prescribe medication to alleviate pain have only their
patients’ best interests at heart. However, some patients “doctor-shop”
in an attempt to score multiple prescriptions for painkillers.
In addition, a number of rogue clinics or “pill mills” prescribe and
dispense prescription drugs inappropriately. For example, in Scioto
County -- with only 76,000 residents -- at least eight pill mills pump
out approximately 35 million oxycodone and hydrocodone pills per year
-- an average of 460 pills per resident.
The street value of these drugs is about $1 per milligram, so an
80-milligram tablet sells for about $80. It’s easy to see how the lure
of quick cash can be just as addictive as the drugs.
The consequences of prescription drug abuse affect every corner of Ohio:
• In 2007, unintentional drug poisoning surpassed motor-vehicle crashes
and suicide for the first time as the leading cause of injury death in
Ohio. According to preliminary data from the Ohio Department of Health,
an average of four Ohioans a day -- at least 1,373 -- died in 2009 of
overdoses. Those deaths were from both prescription drug and other drug
overdoses.
• In Central Ohio, babies born to mothers who abused prescription drugs
spend time in neonatology to “step-down” from their addiction to
painkillers -- a process that takes anywhere from a few days to a few
months, and the long-term effects remain to be seen.
• In Adams County, four children were orphaned when their mother
overdosed in May 2008, and their father then overdosed the following
April.
• In Montgomery County, an 11-year-old girl died in 2009 of a morphine
and OxyContin overdose.
The cost doesn’t end with the shattered lives of individuals or the
resources spent by law enforcement. According to a study recently
published in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, during 2007,
almost 700,000 Americans visited emergency departments for drug-related
poisoning. The total cost came close to $1.4 billion, of which Medicare
and Medicaid picked up approximately 41 percent.
Prescription drug abuse and trafficking in Ohio is clearly a crisis --
an epidemic that is bigger than one person or even one office can
combat. Battling it will take a concerted and coordinated effort.
My office is dedicating significant financial resources to the fight. I
recently tapped Adams County Prosecutor Aaron Haslam to spearhead that
effort. We plan to hire two assistant attorneys general to work with
local law enforcement and county prosecutors to support them in
preparing and prosecuting prescription drug cases. And, through my
office, we’ll also use the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations
Commission to pursue those who illegally distribute prescription drugs.
I commend Gov. John Kasich, who recently announced a range of new
resources to combat the problem, including funds for a Scioto County
drug treatment center and access to advanced treatment methods. Kasich
also appointed former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery to advise
a new prescription drug addiction task force, which will work with
state agencies, the Ohio Supreme Court, local law enforcement leaders
and other states. And an interagency group will coordinate the efforts
of participants from all major areas involved in the treatment, law
enforcement and judicial systems.
State government cannot, however, fight this battle alone. The private
sector can reinforce the front lines through prevention and education
initiatives.
Organizations like the Ohio State Medical Board must aggressively
question the continued licensing of physicians who obviously violate
their oath to “do no harm.” Most of the doctors the board has taken
action against in recent years were first sanctioned by another agency.
If the board would step up, be the first to police its members, and
stop waiting for others to take action, it would start becoming part of
the solution.
Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer
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