Prescription Drug Overdoses On Rise
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- When it comes to safety, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, say it's all about monitoring from the time a physician writes a prescription to when it's filled. News 5 learned Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is proposing a registry for doctors and pharmacists to check before writing or filling a prescription. The goal, to stop abusers and curb the rise in overdoses. Bottled up, prescription medications, are supposed to be a first line of treatment but those potent drugs can be addicting. The number of overdoses is way up over the past few years and that's one reason Governor Bill Haslam wants to make it more difficult to get drugs they don't need. News 5 checked with the Magnolia Ridge Detoxification Center, Senior Vice President Randall Jessee said part of the problem is accessibility. "Many prescriptions are written in emergency rooms, many prescriptions are written in primary care, many prescriptions are written in dental offices," he said. In 2010 the CDC said Tennessee ranked eighth in the nation in drug overdose deaths. Jessee said it's a high people are chasing more and more. "We live in a drug taking culture so there are a lot of other substances that somebody might be using and using opiates with benzodiazepines with alcohol," she said. It's that kind of cocktail that can cause problems commonly seen in emergency rooms. Doctor E.C. Goulding said overdose patients typically fall asleep, suffer respiratory arrest and then quit breathing. But not every overdose is deadly. Doctor Goulding also said the lack of oxygen can lead to brain damage and treatment depends on what the patient took, how much, and their resistance level. "There's medication you can give in the ER or Urgent care that can help get them back," Doctor Goulding adds.What Happens During A Drug Overdose - News
The goal, to stop abusers and curb the rise in overdoses. Bottled up, prescription medications, are supposed to be a first line of treatment but those potent drugs can be addicting. The number of overdoses is way up over the past few years and that's
The data come from a survey of 48 overdose-prevention programs around the country that distribute naloxone to drug users and their friends and family. The prescription-only antioverdose medication has long been available in hospitals and ambulances,
She remains in jail, Kelly said. Irvin's husband died early Feb. 9 at a nearby gas station of a suspected drug overdose. No charges have been filed in connection with his death, but the investigation continues, Kelly said. It's unclear whether Irvin
Statistics show, it's not just stars that die from drug overdoses of prescription medicine. In Utah, it kills more people than car accidents every year. In fact, Utah ranks fourth in the nation for drug overdose. Tom Hudachko from the Utah Department
By Kendra Whittle - bio | email An Evansville doctor says his hospital is seeing more teenagers who have overdosed on drugs. No one has died, but a few have been in very serious condition. Doctor Michael Verive tells 14 News they're seeing a spike in
Science-Based Medicine ยป Drug Interactions, Polypharmacy, and ...
As I write this, the American news cycle is firmly focused on the issue of drug harms. It’s in the headlines not because of the thousands of cases of drug toxicity, hospitalizations, and even deaths that are documented each year, but because of the untimely death of singer Whitney Houston. While the cause of Houston’s death has not yet been identified, prescription drugs and alcohol are suspected to have played a role. If that’s the case, she’ll join a long list of celebrities whose deaths have been attributed to the abuse of prescription drugs. Over at Natural News, Mike Adams has already added her name to the list of “ celebrities killed by Big Pharma “. He elaborated on drug-related deaths back in 2009 when actor Brittany Murphy died, deeming her death to be due to “ Acute Pharmaceutical Toxicity “:
As you already guessed, there’s a fatal flaw in this pharmaceutical approach to sick care: Pharmaceuticals have never been tested in combination with other drugs. So all the so-called “gold standard science” is absolutely worthless at knowing what might happen when half a dozen pharmaceutical drugs are combined in a patient’s body. Brittany Murphy may have been on as many as TEN drugs!
Despite the fact that no combination testing has ever been done on pharmaceuticals, they are regularly prescribed in combination. Obviously, this creates a whole new realm of unknown risk based on the way multiple drugs might chemically interact in the human body.
The more pharmaceuticals you take, the more dangerous they become. While one pharmaceutical chemical may at first seem harmless (even though just one drug can actually kill you), when you start adding a second, third, fourth and fifth prescription on top of that, you’re dealing with Acute Pharmaceutical Toxicity (APT) that’s never even been tested in clinical trials.
Pharmacists are trained to help people avoid the most toxic two-drug combinations, but they rarely have any real knowledge about what happens when you combine three, four, five or more drugs. No one does. The science has simply never been done on that question. It’s no wonder: With all the possible combinations and permutations of pharmaceutical toxicity, it would take literally trillions of clinical trials to test them all.