Read about Florida's Oxycodone Prescription epidemic, also known as The Oxy Express. The statistics show that during 2009 Florida distributed 523 million doses of oxycodone, up 100 million from 2008. To put these numbers in some perspective, the next leading state for 2009 was Pennsylvania which accounted for 267 million doses for 2009 — almost 50% less than Florida. However, California leads in Oxy-related deaths.
I have long been concerned about Big Pharma and the "accidental addict" that is often created behind chronic pain symptoms, insomniacs, and those suffering from other mental health concerns. In other words, physicians attempt to treat (which means manage) a symptom such as sleeplessness, or back pain, with Oxycodone or Xanax. These are mental health conditions, as well as physical conditions, that benefit from top-to-bottom assessment and require a whole treatment strategy. The ideal therapeutic approach to managing pain involves diet, mental health counseling, lifestyle changes, education, AND, sometimes, medication - but that approach is time-consuming, labor intensive and often more costly. Sleeplessness, for example, is an issue for many Americans and best treated from a larger lens, e.g. meditation, exercise, lifestyle changes, and SOMETIMES medication. Of course, lobbying of physicians and how/what they dispense is an ugly secret that the FDA is struggling to address, in addition to which meds. the FDA approves.
I have long been concerned about Big Pharma and the "accidental addict" that is often created behind chronic pain symptoms, insomniacs, and those suffering from other mental health concerns. In other words, physicians attempt to treat (which means manage) a symptom such as sleeplessness, or back pain, with Oxycodone or Xanax. These are mental health conditions, as well as physical conditions, that benefit from top-to-bottom assessment and require a whole treatment strategy. The ideal therapeutic approach to managing pain involves diet, mental health counseling, lifestyle changes, education, AND, sometimes, medication - but that approach is time-consuming, labor intensive and often more costly. Sleeplessness, for example, is an issue for many Americans and best treated from a larger lens, e.g. meditation, exercise, lifestyle changes, and SOMETIMES medication. Of course, lobbying of physicians and how/what they dispense is an ugly secret that the FDA is struggling to address, in addition to which meds. the FDA approves.
I sense a correlation in Florida's increase in pharmaceuticals to their elder population, an on-going national concern that seniors are being over-medicated, often taking contraindicated medicines.