Newtown OxyContin Bust Localizes ‘Epidemic’ Of Painkiller Use

By John Voket

Two days before police busted an alleged illegal OxyContin distribution network in Newtown, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta released a report indicating the number of overdose deaths from powerful painkillers more than tripled over the last decade — a trend that a US health official called an epidemic, but one that can be stopped.

Prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and methadone led to the deaths of almost 15,000 people in 2008, including actor Heath Ledger. That is more than three times the 4,000 deaths from narcotics in 1999.

Such painkillers “are meant to help people who have severe pain,” said Dr Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which issued the report. “They are, however, highly addictive.”

In the Newtown incident November 3, Connecticut State Police arrested a local couple after executing a search and seizure warrant and two arrest warrants at the trailer park at 160 Mt Pleasant Road.

According to State Police Lieutenant J. Paul Vance, the arrests were the culmination of a lengthy investigation into the illegal sale of prescription narcotics, namely OxyContin, in the Newtown area.

Eric Chaney, 49, and Harriet Chaney, 49, were arrested on charges of the sale of narcotics and conspiracy to the sale of narcotics. State police seized more than 1,000 OxyContin tablets, approximately 500 Xanax, $130,000 in cash, and assorted drug records.

The CDC report shows nearly five percent of Americans ages 12 and older said they have abused painkillers in the past year — using them without a prescription or just for the high.

The overdose deaths reflect the spike in the number of narcotic painkillers prescribed every year — enough to give every American a one-month supply, Dr Frieden said.

Prescriptions rose as doctors aimed to better treat pain and as new painkillers hit the market.

Dr Frieden and White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, who joined him at CDC headquarters in Atlanta for the announcement, said states need to take sharp actions to reverse the long-running trend.

States oversee prescription practices and can rigorously monitor prescriptions and crack down on “pill mills” and “doctor shopping” by patients, Dr Frieden said.

Doctors should limit prescriptions — giving only a three-day supply for acute pain, for example — and look for alternative treatments, he said. “For chronic pain, narcotics should be the last resort.”

State Program Initiated

A federal drug plan announced this year calls for state programs to track prescriptions. All but two states, Missouri and New Hampshire, have approved them, said Mr Kerlikowske. But a number of states do not have them in place yet or doctors are not using them enough to check on their patients’ past prescriptions, he said.

“America’s prescription drug abuse epidemic is not a problem that’s going to be solved overnight, but at the same time, we’re not powerless,” said Mr Kerlikowske, who urged parents to get rid of unneeded or expired painkillers so they are not misused.

Connecticut’s prescription monitoring program has been in effect since July 1, 2008. Department of Consumer Protection staff collects prescription data for Schedule II through Schedule V drugs into a central database, the Connecticut Prescription Monitoring and Reporting System (CPMRS), which can then be used by providers and pharmacists in the active treatment of their patients.

The purpose of the CPMRS is to present a complete picture of a patient’s controlled substance use, including prescriptions by other providers, so that the provider can properly manage the patient’s treatment, including the referral of a patient to services offering treatment for drug abuse or addiction when appropriate.

Under Connecticut law, information about all transactions for controlled substances (Schedule II–V) dispensed in Connecticut must be reported to the CPMRS. Pharmacies — both in and out of state — submit data twice per month. The data is then cleaned if needed, and added to a relational database.

The CPMRS receives data twice per month from dispensing pharmacies, however, so data within the database may not be accurate or completely up to the day it is being accessed, according to the Consumer Protection agency website.

Other states are taking action as well. Earlier this month, a doctor in Southern California was sentenced to prison for illegally selling tens of thousands of prescriptions for painkillers and sedatives.

Ohio now requires pain clinics to be licensed by the state, and limits the amount of pills that can be dispensed at clinics. Florida also has cracked down on so-called “pill mills.”

Most Deaths From Painkillers

Overall, there were 36,450 fatal overdoses in 2008, including accidental cases and suicides involving illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine along with prescription medicines. About three-quarters of the deaths from prescriptions involved narcotic painkillers.

That’s the year the popular actor and posthumous Oscar-winner Ledger died from an accidental overdose of painkillers and sedatives. A few months later, a 12-year-old girl from suburban New York overdosed on methadone she bought from a 15-year-old boy.

Narcotics also played a role in the recent deaths of a 27-year-old model at the mansion of an Anheuser-Busch heir and of former hockey player Derek Boogaard.

Other findings of the CDC report:

*New Mexico had the highest overdose death rate (27 per 100,000) and Nebraska had the lowest (5.5). The national rate was 11.9.

*Fatal overdoses were more likely in men, middle-aged adults, and whites and American Indians.

*Sales of prescription painkillers are highest in the Southeast and Northwest.

Dr Frieden noted the wide differences between overdose death rates among states. For example, West Virginia’s rate is about 26 per 100,000, while neighboring Virginia’s rate is only 9.

“This highlights the importance of states getting policies right on preventing drug abuse,” he said.

For more on this subject, visit cdc.gov/mmwr

Associated Press content was used in this report.