OxyContin - the popular painkiller known as hillybilly heroine on the streets - is no longer available in Canada, but health-care workers say doctors, manufacturers and government officials need to team up to tackle pill addictions. Starting Thursday, Canadian manufacturer Purdue Pharma will roll out another painkiller called OxyNEO instead of OxyContin.
The new type of oxycodone is supposed to be harder to abuse and can be swallowed as a whole pill but not crushed or injected to get high.
The medication, which is produced by drug company Purdue Pharma, is also no longer on the list of drugs doctors can prescribe. Oxycontin has also been removed from the Health Canada program that pays for prescription drugs for First Nations members.
For someone who needs Oxycontin as a painkiller, a prescription for Oxycontin can still be filled during March, which is being called a transition period. But doctors are now asked to prescribe OxyNeo, instead.
As of Feb. 28, 2013, a period of one year, doctors will have to make a special application for patients to get OxyNeo. Only patients being treated for cancer pain or palliative care will be eligible without a special application. In all other types of chronic pain, the doctor will have to prove no other medication has worked for the patient.
Addictions worker fears onslaught of Oxy withdrawal.
ReplyDelete"People involved with a special drug withdrawal program at Dennis Franklin Cromarty School are bracing for the end of OxyContin."
"A pilot project at the First Nations high school has helped about 40 students through withdrawal from the drug."
“I think they're going to turn to another drug,” the 19-year-old (ex-Oxy addict) said. “They're going to be sick, they're going to be withdrawing, they're going to be doing crazy stuff.”
http://tinyurl.com/76tp2n6 (CBC)
Did doctors prescribe this vast ocean of Oxy to native people; on fly-in only Reserves? How did these ten thousand or more new addicts happen??
"Nishnawbe Aski Nation Chief Stan Beardy says thousands of residents of Ontario reserves are addicted to the drug, which is up to twice as strong as morphine. The organization, which represents 49 First Nation communities in northern Ontario, estimates close to half its members are addicted to OxyContin."
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/7v2p5vt (CBC)
Staggering level of addiction!
How did half of a given population in this country, in extremely remote locations, get severely addicted?
Will someone explain all this to me before we go on?
In the end, this will all turn out OK; as they're lucky enough to be mass-switched to methadone, it's the right answer for now. Usually, no Oxy addict could access the methadone program, but it will work.
In the meantime, how on earth did this huge catastrophe occur?
Very good questions. How did half of a given population get addicted to Oxycontin? Sounds like yet another pharmaceutical scam. Unfortunately, your right about getting switched over to the methadone program. No doubt other doctors and pharmacists will continue to exploit that program by refusing to decrease the dosages. How did they all get doctors prescriptions to the drug in the first place? That is worth finding out.
ReplyDeleteIts too bad some people have to screw it up for the rest of us.Iv been using oxy's for two years and i dont have any problems with them.i take them for my back but not daily.maybe one every second or third day in the morning and by the time its worn off my back is stretched out and doesnt hurt for the rest of the day.im not going to lie,i have taken more than one at once and i didnt like the feeling of it but i guess lots of people enjoy it.i do hope that whatever they replace it with works as well and doesn't have acetaminophen in it like the rest because its really hard on the stomach.
ReplyDeletei honestly feel instead of slowly getting rid of it that doctors should have to prove that a person is in need of such a strong pain killer.if caught giving to people that are really not in need of it then maybe losing the ability to prescribe any major drugs for a certain time period.(i have seen people with sprained wrists prescribed oxy's more than triple the strength of the ones i take,over kill..)
another thing too that i think could be a good idea is just like that methadone crap maybe they should make it so you have to go to your pharmacist in the morning for your pill and only give you a cpl at a time if your going to be away for a cpl days at least then people wouldnt be able to abuse it.
Unknown, if you have been using Oxy's for 2 years, you ARE an addict. Honestly, you should get some help for it. Opiates cause pain in order to get you to take more; this happens a lot. Your back pains might just be your addiction calling to you.
ReplyDelete