Friday, January 25, 2013

Pain Pill Abuse Helped by Doctor Inattention, DEA Says

Bloomberg
The high rates of abuse of hydrocodone combination painkillers such as Vicodin show doctors aren’t taking seriously enough the risks of the pills, a top Drug Enforcement Administration official said. “This drug has got a hold of this society and it’s killing us,” Joseph Rannazzisi, deputy assistant administrator in the DEA’s office of diversion control, said at a Food and Drug Administration advisory meeting today in Silver Spring, Maryland. “There’s so many prescriptions out there and I’ll tell you why. The medical community, in my humble opinion, is not taking this drug seriously.”