Oxycontin addition question-
 

Apparently it is a big problem now. I had no idea.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/us/20drugs.html?_r=1&hp


Dumb question though--if it requires a prescription to get, how do they get it?

The prescription comes from a physician, the prescription is filled by a pharmacist, and it still has to be paid for by the patient (or insurance company). This process has a lot of moving parts compared to homemade meth.

Help me out. I am totally lost how anyone can get away with buying enough Oxycontin inventory to sell as drug dealer.

gangs of people go to a willing doctor and get scripts, then they go to another willing doctor and get scripts. no insurance involved. the over the counter price is peanuts compared to the street price

is the doctor usually in on it?

not so much, although I would guess they are lacking some scruples by prescribing. They just get the price of the office visit, from what Ive seen in the news its usually the clinics more than the general doctors with offices and lists of patients

Broad brush not intended, not all docs are crooks, etc etc etc.....

I've personal experience with one individual who had a doc on tap - all he had to do was call for an "appointment," pay the "office visit" charge by phone, and tell them where to fax his new prescription. He'd use whatever name popped into his head, and pay cash for the meds.

There was a documentary about it on TV here in Australia a few months ago. There are several other trade names ;Tramatol, endone. The druggies go Dr shopping to get scripts & then hit the pharmacies quick before the computer system updates that they have already been supplied. Addicts pay $20 ~ $30 per tab in capital cities here in Australia. Some who are on some sort of disability pension supplement their income by selling 1/2 their script quantities. it is just another form of drug trafficking. They have clean well made product to sell. The addicts grind up the slow release tabs to make them a quick hit.

Just saw an article on the news that said that 50 million+ Americans abuse prescription drugs and that more people die from abusing them than die from both cocaine and heroin combined.

I gather they call it 'doctor shopping.'

That was what Limbaugh got hit with a few years back:

http://www.drug-addiction.com/doctor_shopping.htm

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), "doctor shopping" is one of the primary ways that addicts obtain prescription drugs for non-medical use. "Doctor shopping" refers to when an individual visits several different doctors to obtain prescriptions for the same medications, and then has the prescriptions filled at different pharmacies. his allows the individual to obtain more of the prescribed substance than any one physician or pharmacist would allow. Legally, doctor shopping is not a minor matter; it is prosecuted as a felony and is punishable by up to five years in prison.

In 2006, one of the most famous doctor shopping and prescription drug abuse stories came to light. Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh turned himself in to Palm Beach authorities for doctor shopping. From 1998 to 2006, Limbaugh obtained massive amounts of the painkiller OxyContin, both through multiple prescriptions from different health care providers and through illegal channels. Limbaugh began taking painkillers in the late 1990s after an unsuccessful back surgery. By the time he turned himself in to police, he was rumored to be taking up to 30 pills per day. His drug abuse was severe enough to damage his hearing.

A tale from the dark side of my past: I met a pretty but hard young lady when I drove cab in Seattle. She was out on the streets a lot, I'd see her about once a week. She and her mother were into Ritalin and Percocet, the Oxycontin of the day. She claimed to have a doctor and a pharmacist giving her deals in exchange for BJs.

hillbilly heroin.

My dentist tells me that he gets phone calls from time to time from people wanting a scrip for the oxy or hydrocodone. They say they are from out of town and just need it 'til they get back home or some other sob story. He just hangs up. He no longer uses a script pad, they are stolen quite often...everything comes from a password protected prescription program on his computer.

50% of addicts is on prescription drugs...whose the pusher here?

That's probably how Limbaugh scored his drugs too. :D

There you go.

It amazes me the drugs that my elderly parents are given on a routine basis. Dad was on oxycontin there for a period of time. Anyway, I asked my mom which of her doctors was looking at the interaction between all the drugs she was taking and she said the phamicist was watching out for her and that he knew more them than her doctors:rolleyes:.

The active ingredient in this stuff (codeine) matabalizes to form morphine in the body.