Prescription Opiates: Managing the Present While Preparing for the Future
Opiates, there is a long list of them that is for sure.
There was a time not too long ago when one of the scariest words around was "heroin" but that is not really the case anymore.
True, heroin is still appalling to most people there is something newer and scarier than ever imagined.
Prescription Opiate abuse is the new epidemic but many fear that if this problem is not managed effectively now that the future holds genuine pandemic possibilities.
Currently, prescription opiates such as Vicodin and Oxycontins account for the highest numbers of abuse.
Imagine something being released to the public, in the middle of this epidemic, that has the potential to be as much as ten times more potent than what already exists on the market now.
Little needs to be left to the imagination.
Pharmaceutical companies are approaching the finishing phases of advances for a new opiate prescription drug that will do just that.
As a matter of fact, there is not just one but four of these companies that are putting the finishing touch on their newest masterpieces that promise to be extremely addictive.
The newest addition to the family has been graced with the name, Zohydro.
It is pure, 100% hydrocodone! Hydrocodone is an opiate, the same thing basically as heroin, morphine, methadone, oxycodone, and codeine.
Here's the big problem with Zohydro, it is going to be prescribed for upper level or severe pain relief.
Zohydro is also time released and since it is pure, this could have calamitous consequences.
Most believe that this is unconceivable considering that what already exists on the market cannot be controlled effectively.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has clearly indicated that Oxycodone and Hydrocodone are the two most abused prescriptions in the entire country making this a completely legal market that rakes in ten billion bucks annually.
Are these drugs effective? The answer is yes but they are also over abused, addictive, and deadly.
In an imminent time of danger a new and potentially more destructive prescription drug is going to be unloaded on the massive group that couldn't handle the first, less deadly batch.
Look for Zohydro by early 2013.
The Center for Disease Control is going to need to armor up in preparation for this giant.
The numbers can only swell even farther.
The CDC claims in excess of 15,000 deaths from opiate prescription drugs in the US and in 2008.
In 1999, there were 4,000 of these same deaths.
In many ways it seems as if these numbers are invisible to those that make money from dispensing these dangerous drugs.
The business model is very sophisticated.
Not too many people quite understand the need for another addictive and high powered prescription pain pill.
The best thing to come up with is a potent pain killer that does not have any addictive properties.
The top US states that have the highest death rate from opiate prescription abuse include Colorado, Washington, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, according the CBS News recently.
More people will die, more will overdose, and more will seek emergency room visits.
In the meantime, there will be plenty of current opiate abusers that will anxiously await the arrival of the new "super drug" that is more dangerous than any other prescription drug to date.
There was a time not too long ago when one of the scariest words around was "heroin" but that is not really the case anymore.
True, heroin is still appalling to most people there is something newer and scarier than ever imagined.
Prescription Opiate abuse is the new epidemic but many fear that if this problem is not managed effectively now that the future holds genuine pandemic possibilities.
Currently, prescription opiates such as Vicodin and Oxycontins account for the highest numbers of abuse.
Imagine something being released to the public, in the middle of this epidemic, that has the potential to be as much as ten times more potent than what already exists on the market now.
Little needs to be left to the imagination.
Pharmaceutical companies are approaching the finishing phases of advances for a new opiate prescription drug that will do just that.
As a matter of fact, there is not just one but four of these companies that are putting the finishing touch on their newest masterpieces that promise to be extremely addictive.
The newest addition to the family has been graced with the name, Zohydro.
It is pure, 100% hydrocodone! Hydrocodone is an opiate, the same thing basically as heroin, morphine, methadone, oxycodone, and codeine.
Here's the big problem with Zohydro, it is going to be prescribed for upper level or severe pain relief.
Zohydro is also time released and since it is pure, this could have calamitous consequences.
Most believe that this is unconceivable considering that what already exists on the market cannot be controlled effectively.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has clearly indicated that Oxycodone and Hydrocodone are the two most abused prescriptions in the entire country making this a completely legal market that rakes in ten billion bucks annually.
Are these drugs effective? The answer is yes but they are also over abused, addictive, and deadly.
In an imminent time of danger a new and potentially more destructive prescription drug is going to be unloaded on the massive group that couldn't handle the first, less deadly batch.
Look for Zohydro by early 2013.
The Center for Disease Control is going to need to armor up in preparation for this giant.
The numbers can only swell even farther.
The CDC claims in excess of 15,000 deaths from opiate prescription drugs in the US and in 2008.
In 1999, there were 4,000 of these same deaths.
In many ways it seems as if these numbers are invisible to those that make money from dispensing these dangerous drugs.
The business model is very sophisticated.
Not too many people quite understand the need for another addictive and high powered prescription pain pill.
The best thing to come up with is a potent pain killer that does not have any addictive properties.
The top US states that have the highest death rate from opiate prescription abuse include Colorado, Washington, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, according the CBS News recently.
More people will die, more will overdose, and more will seek emergency room visits.
In the meantime, there will be plenty of current opiate abusers that will anxiously await the arrival of the new "super drug" that is more dangerous than any other prescription drug to date.