A spotlight illuminated two dosage cups, one marked 8 AM and the other 8 PM. She had struggled with back pain since age 14, when she was thrown from a horse while practicing for an equestrian competition. On that day in , her physician said he had something new for her to try.
He told her to take OxyContin every 12 hours. Only the next pill would relieve her suffering. The change had little effect. For a year and a half, she spent each day cycling through misery and relief. Sometimes, she said, she contemplated suicide. Before OxyContin, doctors had viewed narcotic painkillers as dangerously addictive and primarily reserved their long-term use for cancer patients and the terminally ill. Purdue envisioned a bigger market. Sales reps pitched the drug to family doctors and general practitioners to treat common conditions such as back aches and knee pain.
With Percocet and other short-acting drugs, patients have to remember to take a pill up to six times a day, Purdue told doctors. The marketing succeeded in ways that astonished even Purdue executives. It dwarfed them. The success of OxyContin brought a whole new level of wealth. Other drug companies began marketing their own narcotic painkillers for routine injuries.
OxyContin accounted for a third of all sales revenue from painkillers that year, according to industry data. Rates of addiction and overdose have soared alongside the rise in prescriptions. News coverage of these problems in Appalachia and New England in the late s made OxyContin notorious. Purdue dispatched representatives to Virginia, Maine and elsewhere to defend its drug. They blamed misuse of OxyContin and insisted their pill was a godsend for pain sufferers when taken as directed.
David Haddox, told a reporter in The U. Justice Dept. The company eventually rolled out a tamper-resistant version of the painkiller that was harder to crush and snort. Subscribe today for unlimited access to exclusive investigations, breaking news, features and more. But in all the scrutiny of Purdue and OxyContin, the problem of the drug wearing off early was not addressed. In reports to headquarters, they wrote that many physicians were prescribing it for three or even four doses a day.
Lawrence Robbins started prescribing OxyContin at his Chicago migraine clinic shortly after it hit the market. But insurance carriers often refused to cover the pharmacy bill for more than two pills a day, he said.
Over the years, he wrote insurance companies more than 25 times on behalf of patients who he believed needed OxyContin more frequently than every 12 hours, he said.
In some cases, the insurers relented. When others did not, Robbins switched the patients to another drug. In this letter, a Purdue regional manager writes that he is concerned about doctors prescribing OxyContin at 8-hour intervals.
Sales reps should visit those physicians and convince them to go back to hour dosing, he writes. Data analyzed by company employees showed that one in five OxyContin prescriptions was for use every eight hours, or even more frequently.
Purdue held closed-door meetings to retrain its sales force on the importance of hour dosing, according to training documents, some included in sealed court files and others described in FDA files. In a petition to the FDA, attorneys for the state of Connecticut described the alarm inside Purdue when some doctors began prescribing OxyContin at more frequent intervals.
There is no ceiling on the amount of OxyContin a patient can be prescribed, sales reps were to remind doctors, according to the presentation and other training materials. After some physicians began prescribing OxyContin more frequently than every 12 hours, Purdue summoned its sales force to special seminars.
As this presentation shows, company officials were concerned more frequent dosing would hurt business. Higher doses did mean more money for Purdue and its sales reps. Commissions and performance evaluations for the sales force were based in part on the proportion of sales from high-dose pills. In this memo entitled "It's Bonus Time in the Neighborhood," a Purdue sales manager told her staff to talk up stronger doses of OxyContin in conversations with doctors.
The sooner you seek treatment, the greater the chances for a successful long-term recovery. She has always had a passion for literature and the written word.
Upon graduation, Jena found her purpose in educating the public on addiction and helping those that struggle with substance dependency find the best treatment options available. All of the information on this page has been reviewed and verified by a certified addiction professional. Theresa is also a Certified Professional Life Coach and volunteers at a local mental health facility helping individuals who struggle with homelessness and addiction.
Theresa is a well-rounded clinician with experience working as a Primary Addiction Counselor, Case Manager and Director of Utilization Review in various treatment centers for addiction and mental health in Florida, Minnesota, and Colorado. She also has experience with admissions, marketing, and outreach. As a proud recovering addict herself, Theresa understands first-hand the struggles of addiction.
There is no limit to what Theresa is willing to do to make a difference in the field of Addiction! Mallorca, Spain. Athens, Greece. Andover, MA. Wakefield, MA. Boston, MA. Quincy, MA. Canton, MA. Falmouth, MA. Ashby, MA. Baldwinville, MA. Ottawa, ON. Bethlehem, CT. Calverton, NY. They may also prescribe opioids for chronic pain, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC recommend trying other medications first.
Using opioids for long-term pain significantly increases the risk of addiction. Acetaminophen, the other ingredient in Percocet, is a non-opioid pain relief medication that can reduce a fever. Over the counter, it is branded as Tylenol. Because it contains acetaminophen, Percocet may also help with fever-related symptoms, such as chills, muscle aches, and fatigue.
Percocet and oxycodone can cause many of the same side effects, since oxycodone is an ingredient in Percocet. Opioids such as oxycodone are highly addictive. In , people died of opioid overdoses each day, making opioids the leading cause of drug overdose. The risk of addiction is higher when a person takes opioids to manage chronic pain, which requires longer-term use of the medication.
This increases the chances of tolerance, dependence, and addiction. Because Percocet also contains acetaminophen, it carries more risk of side effects than oxycodone alone. The most notable additional side effects of Percocet are liver-related problems, such as dark urine. In , the FDA recommended that prescription-strength, acetaminophen-containing drugs, such as Percocet, be removed.
The agency cautioned that these drugs could cause liver damage and liver failure, especially when a person does not use them properly. Later, in , the FDA advised drug manufacturers to limit the amount of acetaminophen in prescription drugs to mg per tablet or less. They also stated that boxed warning labels would be added to the packaging of these drugs to highlight the risk of liver damage.
People should never take Percocet and other drugs that contain acetaminophen, including over-the-counter versions, such as Tylenol. This can severely damage the liver. The extended-release form is only available as the brand-name drug OxyContin.
This article helps you understand the differences and similarities between these two drugs and how they work. Read more: All about opioids and addiction ». OxyContin is a brand-name version of the extended-release form of oxycodone. They are different versions of the same drug. OxyContin and immediate-release oxycodone belong to a drug class called opioids. A class of drugs is a group of medications that work in a similar way and are often used to treat similar conditions.
Immediate-release oxycodone and OxyContin both bind to receptors in your brain and spinal cord. When they do this, they block pain signals and stop pain. Immediate-release oxycodone is used to treat moderate to severe pain, such as from surgery or an injury. OxyContin is usually reserved for longer-lasting pain from the late stages of a long-term disease, usually cancer.
Doctors may sometimes add immediate-release oxycodone to treatment with OxyContin during brief moments when the pain becomes severe. Both immediate-release oxycodone and OxyContin are powerful pain relievers.
They both have been shown to be highly effective at treating pain. Oxycodone immediate-release tablets are available as generic drugs. They usually cost less than OxyContin. Your insurance plan may also prefer generic oxycodone over OxyContin. This means they may cover only one of the drugs or only generic forms.
You should call your insurance company to ask if one drug is preferred over the other. You should also call your pharmacy to see if they keep these drugs in stock. Not all pharmacies carry these drugs.
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