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October 6, 2008 9:24:43 PM CDT

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Americans Double Use of Pain Meds

Posted Aug 20, 07 9:40 AM CDT in US,  Business,  Science & Health 

(Newser) – Retail sales of five major painkillers rose a whopping 90% from 1997 to 2005, a new AP analysis of DEA statistics shows. The increase is driven by Oxycodone, the chemical used in OxyContin, which has seen sales increase nearly 600%. Causes include an aging population, huge new drug marketing campaigns, and an increased willingness by doctors to prescribe the meds.

With the increase is coming a corresponding spike in painkiller abuse, particularly of oxycodone. "I'm concerned, and many people are concerned, that the pendulum is swinging too far back," a New York doctor tells the AP. On the other hand, some doctors say fears of abuse are causing them to be targeted for providing medicines their patients desperately need.

Source Associated Press

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Retired U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. James Fernandez, 54, of Fredericksburg, Va., holds a tray containing part of the daily prescription medicines he uses to overcome his severe pain, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007....   (Associated Press)
OxyContin tablets are seen at Brooks Drugs in Montpelier, Vt., in this July 19, 2001, file photo. Americans are living in a world of pain, and they are popping pills at an alarming rate to cope with it....   (Associated Press)
Laura Krietemeyer, a neurologist who suffers from chronic pain brought on by neurofibromatosis, is seen at her house in Dublin, Ohio, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007. Krietemeyer says that Ohio doctors are now...   (Associated Press)
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