[J. L. Chamberlain]

Now the question is .. why in the heck are doctors prescribing OxyContin???

Because it's very effective at controlling acute pain. The problem isn't with the drug itself but rather the way most of these addicts are using the drug. Used properly, drugs like OxyContin, Percocet and the rest are perfectly safe. But some folks start chewing the pills or grinding them up to get a jolt of heroin like buzz and that's were their problems start. Once they get hooked on the buzz, they're done.

J

[ladylib]

There was a woman who called Savage's show last night and said that she takes it and takes a lot of it. She said if you take it properly, it zaps the pain and you won't get high on it.

I believe that this is the drug that has the side effect of making abusers go deaf.

It would be ashamed if it's banned, because apparently it's very effective if taken properly.

[nmh]

Wait am minute. You just spouted out the typical blame someone other than the doctor line. The DRUG becames less effective as the PATIENT builds up a tolerance to it SO more is needed and the DOCTOR KNOW THIS - hence your junkie patient is the result. Stop blaming the patient. It IS the doctor who is at fault for prescribing this crap in the first place.

[MistyCA]

I happen to think you are wrong. It is a highly addictive drug that works very well for pain, but it has heavy downsides to it. When you are talking about long term pain that requires the use of a drug for long periods of time, you MUST be concerned about the addictive effects. The problem here is that doctors have not been concerned enough about how to get their patients off this drug. In Rush's case, he was dealing with a debilitating pain that was not going to just go away. He isn't the only person who has been sucked into the viscious cycle of pain relief/addiction.