In Rural Communities, Does Untreated Pain Lead to Overuse and Abuse of Narcotics Like Oxycontin and Vicodin?

One of the axioms of criminal justice and healthcare professionals is that people with untreated pain issues will often resort to the purchase of narcotics out on the street and maintain lives as addicts. It is also widely believed that a percentage of people properly treated with narcotics will develop problems with their control once the drugs are discontinued. In some parts of the country, prescription narcotic abuse is rampant, other parts of the country it isn’t. The most popularly abused opiates are drugs like Vicodin (hydrocodone) and Oxycontin (continual release oxycodone), these drugs are taken orally in their tablet form or they are crushed up and injected intravenously.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the last few years, ETG drug screening has become a popular means of testing for recent use of alcohol. This testing protocol represents an expanded means of testing for alcohol. The interpretations of ETG screening results are tricky and sometimes in the final analysis, unclear.

Read the rest of this entry »

How “The System” Facilitates GHB Abuse-Time To Capture This Invisible Drug.

Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a tough drug to catch, even on the best of days. It is missed in drug related rape cases and instances of drunk or drugged driving due to: Rapid resolution, delayed reporting, delayed sample collection, or lack of awareness of GHB by those requesting the tests. It may also be missed because it is easy to mask with a significant alcohol level; as often one is not looking beyond. It is also highly addictive with a severe, prolonged withdrawal syndrome that few treatment facilities yet recognize. GHB addicts can and have died in police custody during withdrawal for lack of medical care. There are no simple GHB screening tests. It is typically not included in drug testing panels. Thus, GHB remains virtually invisible. Project GHB has worked with 2,000-plus GHB addicts worldwide and is experiencing an influx of addicts desperately seeking help. Most are athletes. Many are chronic pain or mental health patients who turned to GHB as a last resort. GHB is a booming business, especially in the USA and UK.

Read the rest of this entry »

Many MEDTOX clients employ the use of special drug panels that screen for the use of propoxyphene, a Schedule IV narcotic-analgesic. Originally brought to market in 1957 under the brand name Darvon (as well as Darvon 65, Darvocet and Darvon Compound) this drug has become a mainstay prescription option for physicians in the treatment of mild to moderate pain, the FDA notes that over 20 million prescriptions for propoxyphene were written in 2007.

Over the years however, propoxyphene products have become frequently involved with accidental and intentional overdoses. Efforts by critics to ban the drug have gotten the attention of the FDA, an advisory panel recently recommended in a 14-12 vote that propoxyphene be banned. Although the vote was a close one, the FDA typically follows the recommendations of advisory panels.

The MEDTOX Newsletter will notify our readership once the FDA announces its final action on the matter. Drug screen panels that currently include propoxyphene will undoubtedly undergo change once a ban is official. Readers who’d like more information about propoxyphene can obtain it by emailing the Drug Abuse Recognition (DAR) program at DARSProgram@mac.com.

Reproduced with permission from The MEDTOX® Journal