Maryland Doctor Charged with Forging Oxycodone Prescriptions

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:3 mins read

A doctor in Montgomery County, Maryland is charged with writing hundreds of prescriptions for oxycodone (the generic version of Oxycontin) for a patient that doesn’t exist. The total amount of pills he prescribed totaled 11,000.

Doctor Brandt E. Rice, 50, took the prescriptions to the pharmacy himself. The orders were for a patient Named Aaron Rice, who the police relentlessly attempted to find to no avail.

Police say that last December, Doctor Rice, 50, went to a Rite-Aid store with his driver’s license, DEA card and a prescription for Oxycodone in Rice’s name. He also handed the pharmacist with a prepared letter explaining his patient was homebound and suffering from prostate cancer, and the patient has been battling cancer for a decade.

The pharmacist at the Rite-Aid grew suspicious of Dr. Rice’s claims and told the doctor she needed to …

Continue ReadingMaryland Doctor Charged with Forging Oxycodone Prescriptions

College is a High Risk Time & Place for Mental Health & Addiction (Infographic)

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:3 mins read

The connection between addiction and behavioral & mood disorders like anxiety, depression and PTSD is well established.  More and more, government organizations like the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA) are releasing findings that support a strong connection between mental health disorders and chemical dependency.

If someone is already ‘at-risk’ due to mental health challenges the college experience might be particularly risky for them to unwittingly stoke the fire of a latent addiction.  The co-occurring conditions feed into each other in this environment as the student is often experiencing new surroundings, new activities, and new stressors.

College Age Drug Abuse & Mental Health Infographic

We wanted to share this infographic about drug abuse and mental health in college aged students to bring more awareness to this phenomenon.  The stress and …

Continue ReadingCollege is a High Risk Time & Place for Mental Health & Addiction (Infographic)

Hillary Clinton “Very Concerned” About FDA’s Approval of Oxy For Kids

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:3 mins read

While at a substance abuse forum in Boston, Massachusetts last week, Hillary Clinton explained her $10 billion plan to provide resources for confronting drug and alcohol addiction in the United States, but she also had some harsh words for the Food and Drug Administration regarding a recent decision to approve the use of hardcore opioids such as oxycodone for children as young as eleven years of age. 

“I am very concerned that the FDA has approved a form of opioids for children, and I find that absolutely incomprehensible,” Clinton told an audience of addiction advocates at the event.  She said the root of the problem is apparent on its surface. “The heroin epidemic is a prescription drug created epidemic,” she told the audience, explaining that many patients become addicted to prescription pain relievers, only to switch to street drugs such …

Continue ReadingHillary Clinton “Very Concerned” About FDA’s Approval of Oxy For Kids

More Efforts to Prevent Prescription Meds Abuse in California

The United States is the largest consumer of prescription pain killers in the world and accounts for approximately 80% of the world’s consumption of such drugs.

The U.S. prescribes pain killers at a rate that would provide every American one pill for every four hours all day for three weeks. Pain pill prescriptions grew an astounding 600 percent from 1997- 2007 according to the government.
Although that may be good news for the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, in may not be such good news for consumers (or their families and loved ones). Accidental overdose is now the number one cause of accidental deaths in this country, exceeding even the number of deaths in traffic accidents.   Heath Ledger’s tragic and well publicized death is but one of many celebrity accidental overdoses that has garnered significant attention, but the truth is that …

Continue ReadingMore Efforts to Prevent Prescription Meds Abuse in California

Peoria Illinois Weighs in on the Havoc Wreaked by Opiates

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:1 mins read

A good article in the Peoria County Star highlights the deadly spread of opiate abuse in what is perceived as an “all american” city.

Opiates abuse, which the article refers to as “a scary trend,” is way up in Peoria and Dr. George Hevesy says he is concerned about doctors over prescribing narcotic painkiller drugs like Vicodin, OxyContin, and Percodan.

We have been covering the painkiller epidemic for a while now and it is our goal to bring awareness on as many fronts as possible .  Add Peoria, Illinois to the list of cities that are being negatively impacted by the “silent epidemic” of prescription drug abuse.…

Continue ReadingPeoria Illinois Weighs in on the Havoc Wreaked by Opiates

Doctor Sold Prescriptions at Starbucks

It was never our intention to to become a watchdog website that would use our outlet to humiliate unethical doctors criminals.

Yet recently we are reading some stories that compel us to provide as much of a “comeuppance” as we can to shady and unethical doctors like Alvin Ming-Czech Yee of Mission Viejo (medical practice was in Irvine).

This “doctor” sat in a Starbucks Coffee Shop and sold prescriptions for OxyContin –  also known as”legal heroin” (or also known as “the prescription drug that is shattering families in record numbers).”

Again, let us reiterate that Dr. Yee would perform his examinations in Starbucks. the “examinations” would last about a minute. Yee would meet up with a dozen people per night in Starbucks throughout Orange County.  The “examinations” drug deals consisted of taking blood pressure and asking patients addicts …

Continue ReadingDoctor Sold Prescriptions at Starbucks

Glen Alexander – A Life Ended Too Soon Part I

Glen Tyson Alexander

February 17, 1987 ~ July 2, 2010

Glen always said, He didn’t have a purpose in life.  He did.  He does.

Glen was born in Whittier, CA on February 17, 1987.  He was the youngest of six children (2 brothers and 3 sisters).   He wanted to be born feet first, but instead they did an emergency c-section.  He was the third one of my children to be diagnosed as extremely ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and was started on medication in second grade.  By eighth grade he didn’t want to take meds anymore.  He told me, “I know they make me behave better, but I don’t like the way they make me feel”.  He always dealt with anxiety and depression and was diagnosed bipolar as a young adult.

Whatever his problems were, they didn’t keep his family …

Continue ReadingGlen Alexander – A Life Ended Too Soon Part I

Tragic story of Prescription Drug Overdose

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:3 mins read

Although this story is about methadone and not OxyContin, we find it alarming enough to share on our blog.

Last month, a 14 month old baby girl died of a drug overdose in Elyria Ohio.

On December 17, 2010 the young toddler was with family members in her home in Ohio. They noticed she had stopped breathing and called the police, after she had ingested the anti-addiction drug Methadone.  Methadone is prescribed as a part of a drug detoxification program for opiate addicted users. If not used properly it can have serious life threatening consequences.

Paramedics rushed the baby girl to Lorain County Mercy Regional Medical Center in Ohio. The toddler was pronounced dead in the medical center at 8:32 p.m. The toxicology tests reported that the cause of death for Anthonya Myers was a drug overdose of the strong …

Continue ReadingTragic story of Prescription Drug Overdose

The Link between Violence and Prescription Drug Abuse

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:3 mins read

The Link between Violence and Prescription Drug Abuse

The Orlando Sentinel recently reported on two men who robbed a Tampa CVS pharmacy at gunpoint, beating the manager and escaping with a substantial number of prescription pills.  With the police in pursuit, they crashed the truck they had stolen and then carjacked two different vehicles.  After eluding police, they continued their crime spree for another week, stealing another car at gunpoint and crashing into several cars before being captured by police.  At the time of his arrest, one of the men had over 1,000 prescription pills in his backpack.  Florida police cite this case as another example of how the desire for prescription drugs is linked to violent crime.

According to Phil Williams, director of Tampa’s Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI), prescription drug addicts and dealers “…are so desperate for this …

Continue ReadingThe Link between Violence and Prescription Drug Abuse

Facts about Teen Prescription Drug Abuse

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:3 mins read

Teenage abuse of prescription drugs is on the rise.  According to the Drug Use and Health 2006 national survey, prescription abuse is more common than all illegal drugs combined (excluding marijuana).  These highly addictive drugs have teens under the impression that they are safer than illicit drugs, which makes them that much more appealing.

“Nationally, 3.2 million teens, or one in five, admit to abusing prescription medication at least once.  Without teen education, these numbers are expected to increase.  The National Institute on Drug Abuse has designated November 8-14 as National Drug Facts Week; a health observance week for teens.”

A lot of teens think that because these drugs come from a doctor that they are safer than drugs that come off the streets, however that is not true.  Here are some myths and facts about prescription drug abuse…

Myths

Continue ReadingFacts about Teen Prescription Drug Abuse