Docs share blame for OxyContin mess

Mr. Williams is founder and CEO of Environmental Waste Solutions. After seeing OxyContin addiction affect someone close to him and learning of yet another death of a young person in Baton Rouge due to this drug, Williams paid for full-page newspaper ads to focus attention on rampant abuse of the drug in our area.

We have a silent yet growing epidemic of OxyContin abuse in Baton Rouge.

OxyContin is a powerful narcotic intended to treat severe and chronic pain. Counter to the initial claims of the pharmaceutical company that manufactures this drug, OxyContin is highly addictive and carries significant negative withdrawal symptoms—including death. Oxy, or OC as it’s known on the street, has found its way into the hands of drug abusers at an alarming rate.

Unlike marijuana, cocaine or meth, OxyContin enters the market through one source: prescriptions from physicians. My view is that physicians should take some of the responsibility for this epidemic and stop prescribing this drug!

Problems with this single drug are so rampant that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently placed new limits on prescribing it, citing many examples of physicians who over-prescribed it or prescribed it inappropriately.

When I recently learned of yet another young person in this community dying because of this drug—bringing the total to six deaths that I am personally aware of over the past year due to this damn devil-drug—I decided I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I paid for a pair of full-page ads in the local newspaper encouraging our physicians to stop prescribing OxyContin.

That’s not the story. The story is about what happened next.

In the weeks that followed my ads, I have been flooded with letters and phone calls supporting my position and encouraging me to continue my “mission.” I’ve read and listened to countless stories from complete strangers detailing the personal hell that this drug has brought to their lives: lost jobs, marriages, homes and cars; prison time; and yes, death.

I’ve been contacted by district attorneys and narcotics detectives from three parishes thanking me for bringing this into the open. The heads of three drug rehab centers have met with me and shared their horror stories of OxyContin abuse. And a few doctors have told me that they refuse to prescribe this drug.

I didn’t consider this a “mission.” I was just pissed. But now, it is my mission to raise awareness about the dangers of this drug.

Talk to your kids! Better yet, go to the source—talk to your doctor. Ask him to take some responsibility for this Oxy epidemic and stop prescribing it.

Yes, we can make a difference!

Do you disagree? E-mail your views to [email protected].