Wednesday, May 01, 2013

HEALTH - Consequences of Taking Too Much Pain Medication

"Pain and Consequences for Those Taking Too Much Pain Medication" PBS Newshour 4/30/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  At age 22, college football player Austin Box had suffered a slew of painful injuries.  Two weeks after his graduation, he overdosed on a lethal cocktail of pain medications, none of which he had been prescribed.  Health correspondent Betty Ann Bowser reports on the perils of painkillers and the difficulty of combating abuse.


Significant excerpt

THOMAS FRIEDEN, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:  When I was in medical school, the one thing I was told was completely wrong.  The one I was told was, if you give opiates to a patient who's in pain, they will not get addicted.  Completely wrong.  Completely wrong.  But a generation of doctors, a generation of us grew up being trained that these drugs aren't risky.  In fact, they are risky.

BETTY ANN BOWSER (Newshour):  Health officials also cite a cultural shift in the acceptance of taking prescription drugs in general.

TERRY CLINE, Oklahoma Commissioner of Health:  In our society, where we expect a pill to make our lives easier to manage, sometimes, we take the easy way out.

ALSO:

"Prescription Drug Abuse: Top 10 Things CDC Says You Should Know" by Jason Kane, PBS Newshour 4/30/2013

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