Jackson Drug Cocktail: 3 Painkillers, 2 Anti-Depressants

Pharmacies sold equivalent of 69 tons of pure oxycodone in 2010

(NEWSER) - Prescription painkiller addiction is a problem that's only getting uglier, reports the AP after analyzing a slew of DEA and pharmaceutical figures. The report focuses on sales of America's leading two prescription painkillers: oxycodone (the key ingredient in OxyContin, Percocet, and Percodan) and hydrocodone (Vicodin, Norco, and Lortab). Among its more stunning findings:

• Addiction, long rooted in Appalachia and tony suburbs, has begun to spread well beyond those two centers; hydrocodone sales are specifically increasing in the Midwest

Topping heroin, cocaine combined

(NEWSER) - Are prescription drugs more dangerous than their illegal counterparts? In 2008, prescription painkiller overdoses outnumbered deaths from heroin and cocaine combined, according to a new CDC report. Of the 36,450 US overdose deaths that year, 14,800 involved opioid painkillers like oxycodone, methadone, or hydrocodone. That’s a significant increase from 1999, when only about 4,000 overdoses were caused by opioids, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some kind of prescription drug was involved in 20,044 of the deaths. More»

Popular painkillers cause abnormal heart rhythms

(NEWSER) - The painkillers Darvon and Darvocet are being pulled off the prescription drug market because they can trigger potentially fatal heart rhythm abnormalities, CNN reports. The FDA requested that the drug behind both popular brands, propoxyphene, be yanked after a trial study found the side effect. "The drug's effectiveness in reducing pain is no longer enough to outweigh the drug's serious potential heart risks," says the FDA. More»

Plus, more dirt on yet another Jacko doc

(NEWSER) - As a timeline of Michael Jackson’s final hours began to emerge, Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyer was was quick to question it, calling it “police theory” in a statement yesterday, the AP reports. “Dr. Murray simply never told investigators that he found Michael Jackson at 11am not breathing,” after allegedly giving Jackson Propofol and then leaving the room. More»

(NEWSER) - A British doctor friend of Michael Jackson fired off a letter to President Obama—or "Barack," as she calls him—pleading for tougher laws for "unethical doctors" who ply patients with drugs. Dr. Susan Etok, who says she turned down more than $800,000 from the King of Pop for controlled substances, tells the president that the Jackson family supports stronger protections. According to her, no one doctor killed him; rather, it was multiple doctors supported by "organizations that had an interest in Michael's finances." More»