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Thursday, August 07, 2008
On this week's episode of Quis Custodiet?:
A prescription narcotics sting in Florida managed to snag over fifty .gov workers among its eager victims. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh managed to elude the dragnet.
Authorities estimate 130 medically unnecessary prescriptions for OxyContin -- more than 12,000 tablets -- were presented to pharmacies. The drugs have an estimated street value of $400,000, prosecutors said.
Of note, same said pills have a pharmacy value of about $12,000. Impressive inflation that stamp of disapproval grants, no?
OC is a damned useful painkiller, from those whom I know have used it. Problem is, it's hella addictive. I know a cop who hurt his back on the job, was given a prescription for OC, and found, when they weaned him off of it, that he had a monkey the size of Jabari on his back. It took him a couple of weeks to beat it. This from a guy who barely drinks beer. To his credit, he sacked up, declared himself to be addicted (with a very red face), and burned a couple of weeks of vacation time to deal with it.
There's a lot of scrutiny around OC, now, due to its addictive qualities.
Rush eluded the dragnet through overcoming his addiction. His is one of the few addiction cases I can think of where he did not have to hit rock bottom to start on the path to recovery, other than those who immediately recognized and dealt with an addiction at its start, like the policeman noted above. I suppose the social opprobrium, prosecution and cost of defending against it, deafness, and the prospect of losing more than $100 MILLION in future earnings, was enough to jump start his recovery. Would that more addicts could be convinced to stop, with their own lesser but still significant tribulations.
Authorities estimate 130 medically unnecessary prescriptions for OxyContin -- more than 12,000 tablets -- were presented to pharmacies. The drugs have an estimated street value of $400,000, prosecutors said.
ReplyDeleteOf note, same said pills have a pharmacy value of about $12,000. Impressive inflation that stamp of disapproval grants, no?
"If there is a market, it will be filled."
ReplyDeleteOf course, politicians are usually lawyers, not business majors.
OC is a damned useful painkiller, from those whom I know have used it. Problem is, it's hella addictive. I know a cop who hurt his back on the job, was given a prescription for OC, and found, when they weaned him off of it, that he had a monkey the size of Jabari on his back. It took him a couple of weeks to beat it. This from a guy who barely drinks beer.
ReplyDeleteTo his credit, he sacked up, declared himself to be addicted (with a very red face), and burned a couple of weeks of vacation time to deal with it.
There's a lot of scrutiny around OC, now, due to its addictive qualities.
Rush eluded the dragnet through overcoming his addiction. His is one of the few addiction cases I can think of where he did not have to hit rock bottom to start on the path to recovery, other than those who immediately recognized and dealt with an addiction at its start, like the policeman noted above. I suppose the social opprobrium, prosecution and cost of defending against it, deafness, and the prospect of losing more than $100 MILLION in future earnings, was enough to jump start his recovery. Would that more addicts could be convinced to stop, with their own lesser but still significant tribulations.
ReplyDelete