Thursday, April 05, 2012

Painkiller sales soar around U.S. and fuel addiction – USATODAY.com

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Nationwide, pharmacies received and ultimately dispensed the equivalent of 69 tons of pure oxycodone and 42 tons of pure hydrocodone in 2010, the last year for which statistics are available. That's enough to give 40 5-mg Percocets and 24 5-mg Vicodins to every person in the United States. The DEA data records shipments from distributors to pharmacies, hospitals, practitioners and teaching institutions. The drugs are eventually dispensed and sold to patients, but the DEA does not keep track of how much individual patients receive.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2011-2012/timebomb/

Watch Full Episode Video Problems?
Broadcast DATE: Friday, March 9, 2012
45:00
Time Bomb

It was touted as a miracle pill: a narcotic pain reliever that could change the lives of people suffering from chronic pain, but with little -- so its maker claimed, and thousands of doctors believed -- risk of addiction.

Since OxyContin was introduced in 1996, Canada has recorded the second-highest number of prescription opioid painkiller addictions -- and the world's second-highest death rate from overdoses.