“OxyContin Use is Totally Out of Control”
According to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, Americans consume 80% of the world’s pain pills. The powerful pain killer, OxyContin, was introduced in 1996 and was the focus of a Canadian documentary, “OxyContin: Time Bomb,” which chronicles how Purdue Pharma plowed its way into the marketplace, preying on vulnerable pain sufferers, addicts and the physicians trying to help them. It tells the story of how OxyContin became the most widely prescribed, abused, and profitable narcotic in history. Since then, Canada has had the second-highest number of prescription opioid painkiller addictions and the world’s second-highest death rate from overdoses. Tragically, in America, narcotic overdose deaths now surpass deaths from murders and fatal car accidents. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the narcotic painkiller OxyContin for pediatric use, saying it is safe for children as young as 11 who are experiencing chronic pain that cannot be treated successfully with other medications. OxyContin is an extended-release version of oxycodone. Rates of opioid addiction are on the rise, especially in young people. According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 2.1 million Americans are struggling with an addiction to prescription painkillers.
