Many parents worry their children will experiment with alcohol or marijuana or other drugs. Those are valid concerns, yet we need to alert parents of a parallel drug problem that also has taken root in Indiana and plagues Hoosier families: abuse of drugs that are legal with a prescription.
Unfortunately our state is caught up in a national epidemic of people diverting prescription drugs, especially opioid painkillers, abusing them and overdosing – sometimes fatally. By some estimates, one person dies of a prescription drug overdose somewhere in the United States on average every 25 minutes.
The causes are complex. Medical science, to its great credit has developed powerful new painkillers that temporarily relieve the suffering of cancer patients and those recovering from surgery. Opioid painkillers can be addictive or cause physical dependence.
Due to risk of patient addiction and potentially dangerous side effects, most physicians are diligent about not prescribing OxyContin or other painkillers unless truly necessary to relieve chronic or intense pain.
But the physician who writes the prescription and pharmacist who dispenses it can’t control what happens when the patient stashes the drug bottle in the family medicine cabinet. A patient who recklessly takes more pills than directed in order to achieve a euphoric side effect is headed down the road to addiction or worse.
It’s also troubling when children and teens in a household discover the medicine and swipe a few pills and swallow or sell them. Teens experimenting with prescription drugs at parties – often in dangerous combination with alcohol or other drugs to induce a high – is a serious and potentially lethal problem.
Making matters worse, there are a small number of “pill mill” physicians who, out of greed, negligently overprescribe powerful addictive painkillers to known substance abusers who in turn ingest or sell them.
To combat this vicious supply-and-demand cycle, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office is taking action on several fronts. The Health Licensing section investigates complaints and pursues any medical providers and pharmacists who divert prescription drugs.
My office also formed a Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force made up of police, health officials, pharmaceutical representatives, lawmakers and social services agencies. In addition, we have worked with the Indiana State Police, which schedules convenient drug “take-back” sites where the public can safely dispose of unneeded medications so they won’t be diverted. The next event is Sept. 29 at locations statewide.
Those are solid steps, but it will take a collaborative effort by lawmakers, law enforcement, health providers, drug manufacturers, agencies, educators and parents to slow this escalating problem. Hoosiers can do their part by sensibly securing their medications from those who should not have access to them and by recognizing the signs of possible prescription drug abuse in family members, so that dependency and addiction hopefully can be averted. Please visit our website, IndianaConsumer.com/Rx for more about combating prescription drug abuse.
