The OxyContin Express

check out This one's on the white house.

cash pay doctors have been around forever.....i suggest you all check out "This one's on the white house. it takes it a step further and paints a gross picture of where the health care system is going.

Mariana and her crew did an amazing job documenting this circumstance. It reminds me of the 1000+ marijuana dispensaries here in Los Angeles. Yet, the marijuana users aren't ending up in dead, in rehab or having families torn apart.

This is a major problem.

I'd love to take the men and women struggling with their addiction down to the Ibogane rehab center in Tijuana, Mexico as I've known many who have gotten clean down there.

Great story. Keep it up Mariana. You're amazing.

Wow, great piece of journalism!!

growing up in south florida suburbs surrounded by rich kids, i kept wondering why 'adults' and 'real people' 'out there' hadnt heard of this shit yet, while it seemed so prevelant everyday. 5 years ago i was 14 years old and neighborhood kids selling 'bars' of roxys everywhere. im just so glad i stuck to weed and my sister never got hooked to roxys before i knew how dangerous it was, yet ive lost far too many friends to rehab and ruined lives. ITS STILL FUCKING GOING ON, WELLINGTON IS FULL OF BASEHEADS.

hopefully this story helps shut down this mess,

thanks mariana

I have been around this thing. I have seen it. It's ugly, sneaky, and will continue to spread. More and more people are getting word about how things go down in Florida and i know more and more who make the trip back and forth. Fortunately the piece snuffed out the real problem. Which is the simple "supply and demand" issue that can get any business booming if the latter is high in numbers and handled efficiently. It's a problem, yes, but there are a-lot of rich guys with degrees and friends sitting fat on their money watching this spread. That doesn't make it right by any means. But it's sad to think there is a system out there that is so focused on numbers, profits, and revenue that it blinds itself to cause and effect. More specifically the "cause" being allowed to legally dodge it's actual real effect=death's...i mean "11 people a day". Thats alarming and i am going to be honest and say that number will transfer to the mid-west as well as increase.
*this piece was frighteningly true from the beginning to end* it's sick to see this world around you that you live in and see everyday on tv like this...

The free system www.biocriptrx.com will not hurt a real pain patient! Florida will be posting all the cancer patients information on a WENSITE! ITS CALLED NASPER read it! How in the world will a cancer or AIDS patient ever find a job again? This Bill passed will hurt many people in Florida and until you have the cancer or AIDS or whatever say what you wish however the facts are 100% that one day your name, personal information and medical records will also be posted on this website!

This law will only hurt REAL PAIN patients who have cancer and on the tail end of life! Until you can't live without pain meds you will NEVER understand! Never, to not sleep for weeks at a time, for a mother to have her kid playing jump on her and the kid see her cry, until you, and most of us will oneday fully understand real pain you just won't know. Now to post a pain patient with cancer medical records and personal information on a website. well here goes any chance of finding a Job, and oh yea every door close around them as due to one sided New they will be viewed a PillBillies drug dealers, what a way for a cancer patient to live the last few years,

This issue has so many sides, it could not possibly be covered in one episode. I suggest that Current do a series of half-hour shows detailing every side. Good work though.

This is crazy. Todd cares nothing for the PAIN he is causing his mother and daughter.
I am glad the law was passed. Thank you, Mariana, for helping pass this legislation.
The men who were following you should have been arrested. The FDA and the Florida legislatures should be investigated for corruption. Jesus, please protect Mariana Van Zeller. We love her with Eternal Christian Love.

Wow. What a great Vanguard (as usual). We have pain clinics like this here in Houston, too. You can go in for the first time and walk out with 150 Somas, 150 Xanax, and 150 Loricets (sp?) for about $200. The only difference here is that instead of OxyContin, here, its promethazine codeine syrup. I've actually seen people walk out with several bottles at a time--- one time a huge sketchy box of red bottles. Then, they turn around and sell this shit for about $20 an ounce.

The Oxycontin Express should be no surprise to most of us. Until we work to END America's War on Drugs, our government will continue to perpetuate drug addiction by taking advantage of the American people and capitalizing on (and encouraging) their addictions.

I am a chronic pain patient, and have been taking opiates daily for the past 4 years. My condition is progressive and there is no cure. Before experiencing for myself the medical system that deals with pain issues, I would never have imagined myself dependent on drugs for what quality of life I have. I think an issue that hasn't been addressed on this subject is the fact that there is very little choice available to patients except opiates. Meanwhile, the drug companies spend their research and development money on things like Viagra, and prescription eyelash grower. Isn't that pretty crazy?

This video is absolutely amazing. My question is, how are the manufacturers making so many pills? They must know there arent 20 billion surgeries going on.

The Database used in 32 states is Not real time. The pharmacy needs to know before they hand that bag of pills to a patient not 14 days after. Also it's nothing more then a website with ALL your personal information and medical records on it. In fact you can have a $8.00 an hour check out person who can use the NASPER database to look up a police officer or movie star or you! Www.bioScriptRx.com will stop this. No one cal "lookip" anyone without the real patient standing there.as it uses biometrics like a finger scan. It Does not use a website and runs in Real Time. Today the doctor shopper is using up to 20 fake IDs a month or more. NASPER does nothing to stop fake ID. So the Bill passed in Florida is not going to do a thing to stop a pill drug dealer. It's only going to hurt the real patients. Think about it. How will you feel if the kid Nextdoor can look you or better yet your mother up on a database. On fact one was hacked and millions of patients records were taken. My question is why do they all use a database system that is 8 years old when we have real time biometrics out there? Can it be that they want this to happen???

The NASPER system passed in Florida will NOT even slow down the pill drug dealers or poll millsThe dealers use up to 5 Fake ID's a day! There is a Real Time system that can Stop this within 30 days at zero cost! Its free! Bioscriptrx uses biometrics in place of ID. Its a real time program so the doctor or pharmacy will know before the dealer gets his greedy hands on the pills! This system has been around and why are we not using it? www.bioscroptrx.com

Mariana,

While the subject matter for your story is real, the junkie is laughable at best. You made up the junkie, and you made up parts of the story. No one smokes oxys the way that he did it and I imagine that there is more made up non sense if I look for it.

Amazing. I hope Broward county gets fixed and fixed fast. Stories like this, show an underbelly of the level at humans can stoop to. The only thing that can be positive that I'd like to add to this thread is that if anyone out there, addicted to drugs, to consider reading Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth" and "The Power of Now". It's a long shot, and for many it's likely an uphill battle that seems unwinable. But there is concepts that people need to understand. Forces that are at work within our society, within our very own minds that alter our perceptions and behaviours. Understanding these processes, allows you to better control your life. Drug addiction, or the life that leads one to this situation is all part in parcel of the process/forces mentioned above. It's never too late if you start now and commit to it.

Amazing. I hope Broward county gets fixed and fixed fast. Stories like this, show an underbelly of the level at humans can stoop to. The only thing that can be positive that I'd like to add to this thread is that if anyone out there, addicted to drugs, to consider reading Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth" and "The Power of Now". It's a long shot, and for many it's likely an uphill battle that seems unwinable. But there is concepts that people need to understand. Forces that are at work within our society, within our very own minds that alter our perceptions and behaviours. Understanding these processes, allows you to better control your life. Drug addiction, or the life that leads one to this situation is all part in parcel of the process/forces mentioned above. It's never too late if you start now and commit to it.

Dear Mariana - Great reportage BUT personally I don't like the comparison "South Florida, the Colombia of prescription drugs"... That line is awful. Please do not use that kind of labels... I was planing to 'share it' on my facebook status because our story is powerful but I don't like that specific line... Please keep the good work!

Florida needs that database BADLY

looks like somebody's tryin to make some moola here...

i am right here IN FL. - HAVE HAD RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH SAME VIA APRIL ACCIDENT. HOW CAN I HELP?. I'M A FORMER TEACHER AND PSYCHOTHERAPIST- ADDICTIONS SPECIALIST. PLEASE CONTACT ME 407 260 5168 CELL 407 242 5444. THIS EMAIL ADDRESSS.

This was a GREAT show, I have to hand it to you. However, I do have one problem. Why not one time in all the work you guys did and all the danger you put yourself through to come up with this episode did you never say that the deaths from overdosing were by choice of the user? Why does it always have to be the doctor or the System or The Man? Why not the person who conscientiously makes the choice to start doing a drug and eventually overdose?

I know it might not be something to say around the mother of the son who overdosed, but somewhere in the episode, wouldn't it be a good idea to point out the fact that users are the one who kill themselves and not anything else?

It's kind of like all the activists want our gun rights taken away but nobody ever says that it's the human being that pulls the trigger.

If we stop blaming everything else but the actual source of the problems we have then wouldn't that be a step in the right direction?

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On a different note, I guess the next big thing we'll start seeing in Florida is the opening of tons of rehab clinics once that new law goes into place right? LOL. Not that that would get as much attention from Vanguard, but it would still be interesting to see what happens when all the doctor shoppers get busted and the effect that has on the rehab facilities. All the doctors writing all these pain med prescriptions will probably be the ones opening up the rehab clinics. We'll just have to see...

In any event, thanks for a great episode. EXTREMELY eye opening and entertaining all together.

Oh my god. I live in Miami and this is so true. The drugs of choice here are prescriptions. They're the cheapest, the easiest to get and the "safest." Aside from the usual cocaine and Mary Jane, Oxycontin, Xanex, Hydrocodone, Demerol, Adderal and Robitussin (Robo's) are the new hipster drugs. The majority of kids, i've noticed, cringe at the idea of taking pills but, the ones that do, love it and live by it.

Big up. Solid work.

Did todd pull off this 'oxycontin' or did he die?

I really feel sorry for his mum after all the tragic...

Politicians ought to take this problem seriously.

I work in a pharmacy in California, Oxycontin and Percocet are hot items. I remember a simpler time when we just worried about Vicodin and T3's.

Well, today was a horrible pain day, but as soon as I am able, I will respond to some really ill-informed posts here. I dont expect to change small minds, but were I not to speak up, I would be doing an irresponsible thing, allowing those who are uneducated about these matters to read so much inaccuracy without scientific facts to rebut the knne-jerk hyperbole.

Everyone Be Well...post to come -d

The Labs producing Oxycontin should be shut down, the chemists should be arrested, and the doctors prescribing excessive amounts of this drug should be prosecuted. Synthetic drugs should be banned, and we as a society should re-learn the how to extract and use the medical properties of Plants again....Pharmaceuticals is big business, that's all, Money 1st people 2nd, its the American way. Babylon (baby london) is falling down....

Finally....looks like current maybe headed back in the right direction again...:) Very Poignant Doc...

Maybe tomorrow if I have no pain spikes like the one keeping me awake tonight, and if Im not exhausted, I will have some educational tidbits regarding the power, half-life, addictiveness (both physical and psychological), length of physical withdrawal, speed of onset and other fun medical/chemistry facts regarding the entire range of opiates and opioids ad their effects on mu vs kappa receptors and the whole 9 yards....but for tonight, im hoping exhaustion wins out over agony....so au revoir to all that.

Oh and I will also throw in techniques for surviving withdrawal when youve driven 500 miles for a family visit and left your medications on the kitchen counter.

All you have to do is pay the added shipping and handling (in memory of Billy Mays.

There is one group of people you have left out of your story, this would be patients with through pain management issues. Like myself, I am a 33 year old who was injured while serving in Afghanistan in the United States Army. I have had 8 different surgeries and still suffer from acute pain. I have been treated by pain management Doctors since my injuries in 2002. My first Doctor was a pain mgnt specialist in the Army till I moved to Florida. Once I moved to Florida of the clinics I would go to include Veteran Hospitals the Doctors would tell me that they would like to prescribe my high dosages of Oxycodone but feared that they would be targeted as a “Pill Mill”. It is my feeling that the true victims of all the recent laws concerning pain killers are the people who really need them.
I have 2 choices I can continue to pay high prices (even with medical insurance through the Military I received with my medical retirement) to see a pain Doctor who will prescribe a useless amount of a low dose pain killer, or go to a pain Doctor that has been labeled a “Pill Mill” to receive the medication I need to be able to function without tolerating sever pain.
Now I do not “Doctor shop” I only see 1 Doctor I use my Health insurance to pay for my meds, and I tell my reg. doctors I see what meds and amounts I am taking. I just think it is sad that I have to feel like a criminal to receive the required medication to coop with my injuries.

Through personal experience, I can say that oxycodone in higher doses is BY FAR the most euphoric and addictive opioid. It has often been compared to heroin, but in my experience it is much more addictive. Withdrawl from heroin is no fun, but pales in comparison to that of oxy. Oxy's w/d is much longer lasting, and much more painful. Oxycodone specifically dilates capliaries in the brain, thus withdrawl causes painful constriction of these vessils. Withdrawl can be so excruciating that no matter how badly a person wants to quit, they will not be able to.
The best answer at this point is to get on a methadone program, or do a buprenorphine detox. Methadone maintenance may be the only answer for the most severely addicted, as after an extended period of use the user's brain is changed on a DNA level. Getting clean without methadone results in the person becoming deeply depressed, as their brain is no longer able to make its own " happy chemicals" known as enorphins. Thus the saying goes, "Once a heroin addict, always a heroin addict."
Opiates are a necessary evil, and a double edged sword: A gift ffrom God to the sick and dying, and a curse to the healthy.
We must all be mindful of our own physiological weakness to the opioid-class of drugs...
When you CAN stop, you don't want to, and when you WANT to stop, you can't.

great video very informative on what's going on around us

If anyone wants to clean their lives up, get on Suboxone. It's a life-saver, literally. But, you have to really want to quit and get clean.

Look for a medical Dr. that will prescribe you Suboxone. The drug clinics just want your money and force you to go to "therapy". DON'T do it. It's only a trick to get your money.

All you need is a true desire to get clean and a good medical Dr. who knows about Suboxone.

This is the fault of the corrupt US govt. They create mass amounts of the most addictive substance known to man (opiates) and make it legal for the Dr. to prescribe them; getting millions of people addicted and destroying their lives.

Yet, if you smoke marijuana, they take you to jail. The US govt is the world's largest drug dealers but, they will take you to jail if you buy your drugs from anyone but them.

A woman has the right to choose if her unborn baby lives or dies but, if you do drugs, you go to jail.

I hate this country and everything it stands for. This bogus "War on Drugs" is ruining lives and destroying families.

It will all come to a head eventually though. History proves it.

FUCK the US "government" and FUCK law enforcement too.

Uh, cbell...did you have the hiccups when you hit send on your post?

This was an outstanding report!

I am a chronic pain patient who has been taking opiate medications on a daily basis for over six years. As a result, I am physically dependent on these drugs, and will experience severe withdrawals if I simply 'stop' taking them...

However, there is an important distinction between physical dependence, which will ALWAYS occur after taking these medications on a regular basis, and addiction, which might be described as the combination of both physical AND psychological dependence. The addict is involved in non-medical 'abuse' of the drug for the sake of its mood-altering effects, leading to psychological cravings and the sort of drug-seeking behavior seen in this video... The addict is ALSO subject to the effects of physical dependence, which are often made worse by the high doses typically involved.

I myself have been to some questionable, dodgy-looking pain clinics, but was AMAZED by the almost unreal situation in Broward County, and the fact that so many people travel back and forth just to obtain drugs there. The report also did a great job in illustrating how lax regulations in Florida affect rural communities hundreds or thousands of miles away.

One of the things that seemed really sad is the corruption of the physicians working in these places. One always tends to trust their doctor, and it's disappointing to think of MD's acting as nothing more than legal drug dealers... I suppose if you have hundreds of people waiting in line every day, each one paying $300 or more - in CASH - it's hard for some to resist...

Although this is a excellent report, there were some things that were NOT correct, and lessened the credibility of the story... For example:

- The idiotic statement that "oxycodone is the same as heroin", offered by some unidentified guy (a policeman, perhaps?) is simply ridiculous, and NOT responsible journalism.
- The question posed by another talking head, "How much pain can they possibly be in?" showed total ignorance of the issue of tolerance. Tolerance is simply the fact that opiate medications become progressively less effective, meaning that more (and stronger) doses are needed over time. In my case, I started with 5-mg of hydrocodone three times daily, but due to increased tolerance I now take 30-mg of oxycodone five or six times a day... for basically the same level of pain... (To be fair, the guy in the video was probably right when talking about an addict, but a REAL pain patient would recognize the lack of knowledge.)
- The 'death by overdose' statements don't take into account the fact that opiates are actually among the safest drugs ever developed. It is VERY difficult for someone who has developed a tolerance to overdose, even at extremely high levels. (In fact, most medical texts state that there is no "maximum dose" for an opiate-tolerant patient.) Remember the guy who took up to thirty 30-mg oxycodone tabs EVERY day? (To be fair, someone who has not developed a tolerance would surely end up in the hospital if they were to take even ONE 30-mg tablet, and could find themselves in SERIOUS trouble...) Most pain clinics prescribe the so-called "holy trinity", which includes a muscle relaxer (usually Soma) and an anti-anxiety drug (usually Xanax) along WITH the pain drugs, and these combinations - often mixed with alcohol and/or sleep medications (Lunesta, etc.) - can be deadly... However, it's NOT normally the pain drugs themselves which are responsible...
- Finally, I have to wonder about the Kentucky sheriff who runs around persecuting small-time drug abusers - what does he think he's accomplishing? We see him search the home of an unemployed 53 year-old man - for the sake of 20 or 30 tablets... We listen to mothers who've never seen their children, and then learn that he has almost 200 people locked up in his jail which is designed for less than 80... Who benefits from THIS attitude?

All in all, though - GREAT article, very well done and informative..

Hmmm...let me see, some of you ask why people do this to themselves? Did you pay attention to this episode? Doctors we are supposed to trust people are prescribing it to their patients. It's not the dealer on the corner, it's the dealer who went to med school for 8 years. We lock up the dealers who sells drugs on the corner but these people who are highly educated and have taken an oath to protect us just keep on writting the scripts. Addicts need treatment not prison for what they have been turned into. I don't get it you lock up the couple selling their prescription outside of the clinic but the doctor goes unscathed when he should be in jail and the couple should be going to rehab. It's easy to see why this country is in the mess it's in when you see a great piece of journalism like this. This is not Florida's problem, it's the United States problem. Let's get these people the help they truely need instead of wasting tax payers money and the court's time.

Hmmm...let me see, some of you ask why people do this to themselves? Did you pay attention to this episode? Doctors we are supposed to trust people are prescribing it to their patients. It's not the dealer on the corner, it's the dealer who went to med school for 8 years. We lock up the dealers who sells drugs on the corner but these people who are highly educated and have taken an oath to protect us just keep on writting the scripts. Addicts need treatment not prison for what they have been turned into. I don't get it you lock up the couple selling their prescription outside of the clinic but the doctor goes unscathed when he should be in jail and the couple should be going to rehab. It's easy to see why this country is in the mess it's in when you see a great piece of journalism like this. This is not Florida's problem, it's the United States problem. Let's get these people the help they truely need instead of wasting tax payers money and the court's time.

Hmmm...let me see, some of you ask why people do this to themselves? Did you pay attention to this episode? Doctors we are supposed to trust people are prescribing it to their patients. It's not the dealer on the corner, it's the dealer who went to med school for 8 years. We lock up the dealers who sells drugs on the corner but these people who are highly educated and have taken an oath to protect us just keep on writting the scripts. Addicts need treatment not prison for what they have been turned into. I don't get it you lock up the couple selling their prescription outside of the clinic but the doctor goes unscathed when he should be in jail and the couple should be going to rehab. It's easy to see why this country is in the mess it's in when you see a great piece of journalism like this. This is not Florida's problem, it's the United States problem. Let's get these people the help they truely need instead of wasting tax payers money and the court's time.

Hmmm...let me see, some of you ask why people do this to themselves? Did you pay attention to this episode? Doctors we are supposed to trust people are prescribing it to their patients. It's not the dealer on the corner, it's the dealer who went to med school for 8 years. We lock up the dealers who sells drugs on the corner but these people who are highly educated and have taken an oath to protect us just keep on writting the scripts. Addicts need treatment not prison for what they have been turned into. I don't get it you lock up the couple selling their prescription outside of the clinic but the doctor goes unscathed when he should be in jail and the couple should be going to rehab. It's easy to see why this country is in the mess it's in when you see a great piece of journalism like this. This is not Florida's problem, it's the United States problem. Let's get these people the help they truely need instead of wasting tax payers money and the court's time.

Hmmm...let me see, some of you ask why people do this to themselves? Did you pay attention to this episode? Doctors we are supposed to trust people are prescribing it to their patients. It's not the dealer on the corner, it's the dealer who went to med school for 8 years. We lock up the dealers who sells drugs on the corner but these people who are highly educated and have taken an oath to protect us just keep on writting the scripts. Addicts need treatment not prison for what they have been turned into. I don't get it you lock up the couple selling their prescription outside of the clinic but the doctor goes unscathed when he should be in jail and the couple should be going to rehab. It's easy to see why this country is in the mess it's in when you see a great piece of journalism like this. This is not Florida's problem, it's the United States problem. Let's get these people the help they truely need instead of wasting tax payers money and the court's time.

Well I can tell you when there are several different drugs mixed it is not hard to O.D. Nobody is bagging on people with chronic pain just the fact that these Doctors are the drug dealers. My nieghber was told he had to go to a pain clinic rather than have a "risky" surgery. So instead he was doped up all the time to the point he literally fell down so many times he hurt his back again. He had to rehab himself against the Doctors advice to get of the drugs and really do something about his back. They are giving these drugs out first before looking at all there options and trying to solve the problem. This should be a last resort not the first.

Amazing article - Broward County is obviously a hotbed of crime...

On the other hand, as one who does suffer chronic pain, the attitude that EVERYONE who takes strong opiate medications is an addict really disgusts me...

Some of the misinformation here is utterly amazing - I especially thought that the "it's basically heroin" statement was incredibly irresponsible. Oxycodone is NOT heroin. (Both substances belong to the same class or 'family' of drugs, that much IS true... but the ignorant do-gooders making these sort of statements really hurts the credibility of the article...)

Another exaggeration concerns the overdose myth... It's actually VERY difficult to overdose on any opiate/opiod medication, for the user quickly builds a tolerance to higher doses - think about the guy who takes thirty 30-mg doses, or 900-mg in total... EVERY DAY...

At the same time, for a 'new' user, one who is not tolerant to the drug, will see a strong effect from ONE 5-mg tablet, and could be close to death if he/she took one of the 40-mg Oxycontin tablets, for example. At very high doses, breathing becomes suppressed, and you certainly CAN overdose and die, but most of those who do are people who have NOT taken these drugs before ...

I also suffer 24X7 pain and take two oxy a day which is often not nearly enough to take care of the pain. Partly this is due to the nature of my injury, my level of pain can often go to extreem on a moments notice. I do not have the luxury of a support system to take me to the local VA ER so I sometimes try and ration my oxy for just such occasions. It sometimes helps because I am not an abuser. It also means that I suffer more pain than necessary.

What some posters on this site do not seem to understand is that chronic pain suffers who take these medications are not pain free. I take mine when the pain incresses to levels that effect my ability to deal with normal living. Last week I did not realize my ear was infected until the ear drum blew out (weird sound) and started bleeding and seeping. That is the level of pain tolerance I and other suffers have now.

My ex used to rob my oxy and doctor shop in my name when I was laid up. It is one of the reasons we seperated. I had pain and she was an alcoholic with an addictive personality, and a mean person to boot. I would see five pills in every thirty pill perscription. So I've seen and felt the problem of addiction as a victim though not as an addict myself. This occurs far more often than you may think, especially with older people who cannot even speak for themselves. This is nothing less than physical abuse and is never addressed as a crime against that person. It is often however, addressed as a drug crime against the person stealing the drug, as it should be, but the cruelty and torture is an even bigger crime.

Ok, now Im done. Ive gotten many great and thoughtful statements and questions on this topic. I have had a smaller group of crusaders that know exactly what I need than I expected.

I am however going to contact Current vanguard and ask thm to go a step farther and do a story on the "other victims" those of us that suffer a a result of the impact caused by abusers, and the state of Florida in general.

For those of us in clinical need of such treatment, there needs to be that other voice to say that though people choose to misuse these drugs.

There is an enourmous amount of people out there that rely on such meds, just to be able to do something besides watching the world go by from their hospital beds. (sometimes we live what resembles a somewhat ordinary life)

I get it both ways. I am also unable to drive due to epilepsy, so that compounds my problem. I am blessed to have a network of friends and family to make sure to get me to my medical appointments. That is a wealth more than any amount of treasure could ever equal. Bad part is, I am terrified of anyone else's driving other than my own.

rwmacevoy hits it on the head. Is it your belief that removing all opiate medications is the answer? Get real. If that were to happen, there would be a far higher death toll from the absence of it, than there is from the presence of it. You need to read a whole lot more to throw around accusations regarding others views on this subject.

Chronic Pain Patients are likely more educated about all the aspects of theses strong meds than most doctors. Since we are in the condition we are in, education helps to keep us alive, and our community helps to lend support to anyone with questions, doubts or any problems.

There is no such thing as a magic pill, that is pure nonsense. Opiate pain treatment has been used for a very long time, but in terms of clinical use for pain, Morphine was isolated from opium in 1806. There has been no more effective pain treatment since that time, and as the other response stated, the way the body works pretty much makes the amazing non-dependent, no fear pain medicine impossible.

Let's use a fun example. Read what will happen if you were to take over 4,000mg of tylenol daily. I will save you the trouble. Though many people push that daily dosage, that much acetaminophen will kill a liver inside of 2 months. That dose of tylenol is what many resort to if they arent adequately treated for pain.

No one is freaking promoting its use. Read all my posts, and you will learn different. Again we have a person that has no experience in this, watches a tv program, and gets religion over something they are barely aware of.

If someone was repeatedly pounding you in the back with an aluminum bat, wouldn't you want that pain to end? (If you answer, "I'd kick the dude's ass", it will prove your age and wisdom) People live with that level of pain daily, and the ones that do not get adequate treatment usually end up committing suicide. As I posted earlier, 8 people from my support group have killed themselves due to not being able to obtain treatment.

In the real, non-Florida world, every possible option is exhausted before the step to powerful pain killers. Ive been through more tests, than a normal family of 5 would have in a lifetime. This isnt playtime fun happy pills.

It takes testing, experimenting with several combinations of treatments, physical therapy, hydrotherapy, electronic pulse therapy, biofeedback, spinal cortisone shots (in my case) and a myriad of other things that end up costing over 30 grand and do nothing.

Outside of Florida, docs are afraid of dea raids for treating patients properly, while that wretched state flutters along fucking up lives without any worries of prosecution. The docs, and pharmacies are horrible in capitalizing on this gap in law. Florida govt itself is every bit as much to blame as the clinics. They know this is happening, and they do nothing.

I pray you never have a condition that requires this type of treatment, first it is not a fun life, but it beats the alternative, secondly you will have to deal with crusaders who know next to nothing about this therapy telling you how you need to stop opiate treatment immediately.

There is not a single person who legitimately needs this treatment that believes it is for everyone, and we detest abusers for using these meds improperly, and basically ruining the lives of those who seek needed
treatment. Abusers make docs paranoid about all patients. Some are pill seekers, but the ones of us that have legitimate conditions requiring this treatment get looked at in the same light until they jump through a thousand hoops.

I should have made this short and said this very simple statement: Educate yourself.

Look up chronic pain, opiate treatment of chronic pain and other conditions and go to chronic pain support groups and see just how difficult this life is for thousands of people. Perhaps if you see the effects on people in God awful, Crushing pain, it will provide a balance to the abusers you saw on Current.

Great report. As someone from near Greenup and who knows Broward well, I think the reason why these people do it is because they're bored. They have no resources to draw on, there are no jobs, there's nothing to do. So they do hillbilly heroin!

It seems some people are here to defend OxyContin? Granted I don't have a pain condition but come on 1000 of people are dieing, whether you blame them or not, they are DIEING as a direct result of the effects of this type of medication and some want to praise its benefits? They must be suffering to be so cold and have such little empathy or sympathy or whatever its called when people look out for others and are only interested in promoting the "benefits"- Sh*t just make a NEW, non-addictive pain-killer. WTF? Every one wins, and lives!

i live in boca raton and i just wanna say finally someone is showing people the truth about what is going on here!!!!thanks current

Ok, after this I am going to stop posting, though I will respond to respectful questions.

All I want to accomplish with this post is to educate on just one aspect. Since it seems I cannot explain it adequately, google dependency vs addiction. You will get page upon page of sites pertaining to the definition of both. The 3rd item that shows up on that search is: http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/coping-279488-5.html It details the differences very well. Please don't stop there, check all of them you can.

Im not sending anyone on a wild goose chase. The Current story was very good and thought provoking, but it was a story about abuse, not the medicine itself, and how it is responsibly used. It wasn't meant to be a comprehensive study.

Please, before making important medical decisions, educate yourself further than one news story that dealt with a fraction of the issue. It was an important and sad fraction, however many people have had their lives saved, and made closer to whole than otherwise possible due to opiate treatment. Denying a treatment that is needed due to what abusers do is exactly the same as requesting no sedation for major surgery because Michael Jackson abused surgical sedatives. Dont take my word for it...read up on it in great length, especially if this pertains to you or a family member, or friend. Everyone should be knowledgeable about their medical care, but knee-jerk reaction is never a good idea when it comes to health. Be Well All.

i love the responses from real people. but i guess i am not the norm when i say i value quality of life over life itself. meaning if i am ever in a terrible situation ill just end my life, instead of living in pain every day. and why not? i love my life, but i am lucky to be healthy. i have no insurance, but i dont get too sick very often, and if i ended up in a hospital with tons of bills or super pain, i would fucken go to the top and jump off. judge me if you want, but your judgement will never effect my control over my own life. i love the poeple that stuggle for life and give us hope, but all i am saying is i am not one of those brave souls. i dont value life like that. that is why i never have and will never have kids. this world fucken sucks and is corrupt, and will not get better. we spend BILLIONS on space programs, and let countries be ravaged by soldiers that cut the tits off of women so they cant breast feed, so their babies die of starvation. we give peace prizes to a president that chooses NOT to see the Dali Lama, because he MIGHT offend the chinese who make monks eat their own shit in prison defending their beliefs. fuck this world, fuck authority, fuck this life, and fuck anyone who puts money before humans. period. fuckdkcj;laskdjf;laskdjf/;lajdf;alskdjf;laska;lskdfj;alsdkjf;alskdjf;la that is how i feel

I am very glad that I'm not the first one to bring this up. One of the issues that needs to be addressed when discussing prescription drug abuse, is that there's another class of victims besides the addicts. The other victims are those in crushing pain who cannot get access to the medications they need thanks to the paranoia created by those who do abuse these drugs. Doctors are so afraid of being used by an addict that there's an assumption that anyone who attempts to get help for pain is lying.

I have a degenerative spine disease that causes constant, debilitating pain. Without proper medication which includes this class of drugs, I would be "that thing that screams in the upstairs bedroom." I'm not asking to be cured or even free of pain. The pain just needs to be controlled enough that I can live, albeit in a very physically limited way. I use a huge array of non-drug coping mechanisms, but without a regimen of pain killing drugs, I wouldn't be able to participate in things like physical therapy, meditation, traction, etc.

It's pretty much understood in chronic pain support groups that you will lose at least a year of your life fighting to prove that you aren't a junkie so you can get the help you need. The humiliation you will be put through is appalling, as you will be treated as if you are a naughty child for getting sick, that you planned the whole thing just to get drugs. Forget going to the E.R. when you start vomiting from the pain. They will treat you like a big joke. Ha ha, we're not giving drugs to you, you wiley junkie!

You'll wait 6 very long, very painful months to get into a pain management clinic, only to be told that you should be a good girl and stop complaing. "Enjoy life now while you can. Later the pain will be worse." Enjoy? Life? You will cry and they will close the door so they don't have to watch.

Nevermind that you have MRI's that show that your spine looks like a game of jenga, that show clearly that you have debilitating, nonstop pain. You will be blood tested and re-tested trying to prove that you're selling what meds you are able to get (yeah, right. You'll lock those things in a safe to save the pain control they give.) You will be sneered at and forced to bring in your pills to be counted to make sure you didn't take one earlier than prescribed. You will jump through any hoops your doctor demands, including going to quack clincs that do further damage, due to your constant fear that your doctor will cut you off and you will have nothing left of your life but pain. There's always that subtext. Do what we say or we'll leave you without any help. Fight back? Ha. You may have your general practitioner, gynocologist, and your pharmacist trying to advocate for you, shocked by the way you are being treated, but you're too sick to advocate for yourself. You don't dare try to see another doctor instead, for fear of having "doctor shopping" written on your chart, closing the book on what little help you do get.

Your doctor becomes your pimp. You will do whatever they say, no matter how rediculous or even damaging, just to keep them from hurting you. They can't whack you in the spine with a baseball bat if they don't like you, but they can cause the same pain by denying you the medication you need.

There will be months where you won't be able to control the pain well enough to get out of the house but once in that 30 days. Don't worry though. In a year or two, and after you've done every wacky thing they'd told you to like a good little child, they will finally trust you enough to treat you. You'll finally be able to sit up most days and even go out a few days a week with your cane. You'll still never know an hour without pain again, god knows you'll never be given the meds to control the pain that well, but you'll have the pain managed enough to have some kind of limited life, which is all you wanted in the first place.

Don't forget about us when covering this issue.

This year I was diagnosed with a herniated disc. My regular physician sent me to a pain specialist (I live on the northern east coast). The Dr. prescribed me 240 30 mg Oxycodone IR. At first I took them as prescribed, but soon my history of drug abuse surfaced, and I started abusing my pain meds. I cried when I saw this episode of Vanguard. At one point Todd says that at his worst he was taking 30 30mg. Roxys a day. At my worst I have taken 50 – 60 in a day. It really shook me to the core to think that his wife died just from two pills. My parents have found me slumped over, food still in my mouth many times. I go through cycles, I get my script filled, it lasts me from a week to a week and half tops. Then I go through withdrawal for a few days, with the help of subutex. But even with the subs it’s not very pleasant. Then I count down the days, usually in pretty severe back pain and the sweats until I can get my meds again. Recently I have been filing in the gap with an "illegal" drug, one that I told myself I would never, EVER do. I have told my doctor that I am addicted, and he told me that we will have to cut down the meds very slowly, but that has yet to happen. He has never asked me how the drugs affect me, never sent me for bloodwork, just keeps on giving me the drugs. I'm not saying that its totally his fault, but I do believe he wants me to keep coming back for his financial gain. You know, if you are caught with several plants of marijuana on your property, the DEA is ALL OVER YOUR ASS!!! Where are they now? Why are they not in Florida, investigating an epidemic that KILLS 11 people a day (and that’s just in Florida). It's insane!! Our tax dollars are being wasted on a drug war that CANNOT be won, and, at least as far as pot goes, does not kill people (it actually helps many people with chronic pain). Let's see the DEA wage war on doctors who profit from getting their patients addicted to drugs that multi billion dollar pharmaceutical companies want them to prescribe. Even better let's see the DEA wage war on the pharmaceutical companies themselves. It will never happen. At least a drug dealer on a street is honest about what he does. These doctors are wolves in sheep’s clothing. I will fight my addiction, I don't know if I'll win, but I will try. It sucks that I actually have chronic pain, but I believe that has to be another way to deal with the pain. Wish me luck, and best of luck to those who are fighting the same battle as me.We are not criminals. There is help out there (I hope). You rock Current TV. I liked you from the start. 

Rick, I applaud your sense of compassion on this issue. The one problem that blurs compassion is this: I myself am a legitimate chronic pain patient, as I detailed in earlier posts, and the last thing on Earth I would do would be to give or sell pills to people, no matter their condition. Why? because I am not a doctor, and I cannot know what someone's tolerance is. If they take the medicine you give or sell them, there is a very very real possibility they could die, and regardless of what the law would say, I would never want someone's death on my conscience, no matter how compassionate for other I feel. refer to my earlier posts if you like, anything else I would say about this is already in those posts

i felt the story was very compelling but you glanced over a huge issue. If this drug is so addictive and dangerous why are we prosecuting the victims? Why are we putting them in jail? This makes no sense at all? Why didnt you ask that question? When the police officer said "its harder to stop the doctors and clinics, so we go after the small time users and dealers" i couldnt believe it. He should have said, "my job is not to think, it's to fill prisons, and with mandatory minimums, the judge doesnt have to think either." Some company is making a drug legally, distributing it legally, doctors are prescribing it legally, and it is sold legally, getting people addicted legally, then someone sells one to someone else and they go to jail. wow.
The sad part was the cop with the cast on and the leg brace pretending to be in pain, getting someone to HELP him, and then arresting them for it and possibly ruining their lives. if i had some pain pills and some guy was all bandaged up i would give him some pills, or sell him some if i was low on money, and im the bad guy. System of a Down was right, they are trying to build a prison system. 90% of the people in that jail had drug related charges, so sad.

Not sure if anyone on here noticed or if Vanguard or Greenup sheriff did, but @ about 17:20 into the show, when they are at the clinic that followed them, a maroon truck is sitting there that is from Greenup.
on the rear it says "Nichols Flag Service". it is one of their escort truck. it even has their phone number with the 606 area code. just a coincidence?

I just found out on 10/18/09 that my Mom was prescribed OxyContin by a doctor at Kaiser in the San Fernando Valley. I told her about this video and she immediately stopped [she only had it for about a week and a half]. Now we are deciding what action we are going to take next: confront doctor with documentary; confont hospital management; start with a petition off the bat to call for a hospital ban on these medications; etc... I feel this doctor endangered my mother's life and in all likelihood is prescribing this regularly. Thank you Current for your help saving my Mom's life.

Truly compelling. I'm glad Vanguard is back.

Great piece, well done! Thanks for shedding some light on the sunshine state. I had no idea that this was going on in Florida. Very eye opening. Time to change the state laws and crack down on the clinics. Help the sick don't just through people in jail.

This is difficult to watch without crying and I'm in a library.

I want to congratulate Mariana and Current on this excellent story. I am a true chronic pain patient. I've had 3 back surgeries with fusions and 1 neck surgery. I had to close a Photography studio that my Wife and I built from the ground up and we both loved, because of my pain. I have tried everything to reduce my pain level to a bearable level. I use ice packs 24x7. I also get massage from my wife and go to a professional medical massage therapist. I have tried acupuncture, Healing services, bio-feedback, Tens -electronic stimulation. There are times when it feels like my spine is pushing out through my skin like in an Alien movie and I almost go insane from the pain. I have been on narcotic medication for 9 years now. I live in PA. I must visit my doctor every 3 months in order to have my prescriptions renewed. He checks me for any signs of abuse. I am given just enough medication. If my doctor thinks I am abusing the meds, he can cut me off at any time. I have regular blood test to check my levels and also to check for liver failure. If I were to sell any, I would only hurt myself. The ease at which people can get prescriptions in Florida blew me away.

I am a moderator of a chronic neck and back pain users group on the internet. There are many people out there suffering because Doctors won't prescribe pain medication because of concerns of abuse. I am blessed to have a doctor who works with me. We keep my narcotic dosages as low as possible because I started at age 40. I'm 49 now and once you max out, there is nowhere else to go except a morphine pump. I can't believe the amount of meds these people take. I take 1 20mg Oxy at night, (2) during a 24 hour period max. I also take 5 750mg Vicoden in a 24 hour period. That is the maximum I can take without liver damage.

Someone is obviously paying off law enforcement and the legislature in Florida, the amount of "Pain Clinics" is insane. Since he is a possible 2012 presidential candidate Governor Charlie Crist should be asked point blank why his state is the number one prescription drug mill in the country.

As I watched the story, I wondered how Todd and the others came up with the money to pay these pain clinics cash. I guess they all pay for their own addiction by selling to others? As someone truly in chronic pain who would love to work it really pissed me off to hear Todd say that Doctor shopping is his full time job!

I get looked at like an abuser when I pick up my 3 month prescription of 90 Oxy's at the local pharmacy, now I see why. I didn't realize that people were smoking, snorting, and injecting them.

One other thing, when my daughter was young and had her friends coming to our house we kept all of our prescription drugs under lock and key. This kept away the temptation, plus I knew there was enough there to literally kill them all, several times over. You can't have narcotics out in the open like that.

Thanks again, I love current TV and look forward to watching more of this seasons Vanguard.

I can't say much other than this blew my mind. I watched it on T.V. earlier today though, I had no idea you could watch the whole thing online (shows what I know).

Because it infuriates me that so many billions of dollars and prison time have been wasted on the war against marijuana when outrageous stuff like this is going on! Florida should be ashamed of itself to have allowed this to go on...

Sorry, to say, but I feel I have to. It is soooo sad that these addicts are treated like criminals, the WAR on DRUGS comes home, when science knows that this type of addiction is medical condition not a psycological issue. Ignorance is dangerous and Americans are too ignorant of the brutal tatics the U.S. drug policy uses on people, destroying lives and families with the unrealistic motive of "winning" over drugs. [Insanity: doing the samething over and over and expecting a different result.] Putting people in prisons is going to create a whole class of criminals in this region [already has]. How do people think slums come to be? There is a pattern to dismantling a middle class demonstrated all through history, here is an example clear as day.

The Drug manufacturers are intentionally making enough pills to sustain this epidemic addiction. There sales are off the chart with addicts taking 20-50 pills a day- how much per pill does the manufacturer make? This might be news to ignorant American but the manufacturers have been watching this closely through their obviously OFF THE CHART SALES and stock increase.

The danger of the news is now people think everyone knows about this problem- less than 1 million people watch Current- SPEAK OUT!

just as an FYI, a pharmacist can lose their license if they fill a prescription that turns out to be fake or if they fail to check up on a suspicious patient requesting narcotics and call other pharmacies to double check when their last refill was...or at least that's how it works in Massachusetts

and this is why I would hate to be a pharmacist in FL...dealing with addicts all day long and phony scripts from criminal doctors...terrible!

Very cool piece on Florida. Hilarious that Vanguard uses a 2-second segment from Radiohead in their intro chime.

I'm so glad that this situation is being brought to light. I live in Tampa, Florida and over the past decade, I've seen how it's effected this city and everyone in it.

Just like Ft. Lauderdale, there are tons of pain management clinics and pharmacies on our streets then before. I used to live in a rough area and I was into the drug scene along with the friends I grew up with and the people I worked with. I got out of that mess when I had kids, got a career, and moved far away to a better area. But the neighborhood I grew up in, everyone had pills - using and selling. Pills are so much easier to get then other drugs and was my last resort when I couldn't find anything. I still check up on the people I grew up with... most are in jail for selling or using and the rest spend their time filling out their schedule with doctor appointments and mri's. I knew a couple who bought a house with the money off of selling pills and everything went down hill for them when their 6 month old little girl swallowed a pill and stop breathing. They lost everything but fortunately the girl is still alive today but is now in foster care.

My dad, who is a wonderful man and did everything for us growing up, is sick and he goes to the VA hospital for his medical needs. He gets package after package of narcotics every day! They should of included the VA in all this. My dad is in pain but not that much in pain! My dad is hooked on taking pills now after getting sick 4 years ago and now he can't work because of being so medicated. It's crazy!

I got my tooth pulled several of months ago and all I need was local anes. It was an easy procedure but they prescribe me Oxys for pain relief! After the procedure, I took a Tyenol and I was fine. But yes, they are that easy to get. What my friends do when they go to these clinics, they fill out a medical history survey and they have to fill it out right. Make up allergies and some lies and they got their pills.

And the people that are trying to get off these pills?? Daco gives them Methadone! Which is even worse! Some people lie about being addicted to Oxys just so they can get Methadone because they are so addicting. When I was a little riff raff partying it up, I was at the mall and some guy was trying to sell me Methadone (8 pills for $25 or something) I was close to buying it but when the conversation went on, this guy passed out and stopped breathing! He reminded me of that guy on the video who was smoking the stuff because he talked slow and he was always sweating. He was on Methadone and took to much and was sent to the hospital. Florida, especially Tampa, which is like Miami's little sister... needs a lot of help with this situation.

I feel sorry for the cop in this piece. All the profit down there and all the pain up here says a lot.
It says a lot about the states that allows this to happen. Money is money is money.. nothing else matters.

I have lost many friends to this drug. I do not understand how nothing can be done when our youth are just told they are at fault not these Doctors. If you ask me they are the real drug dealers,and should be the one's in jail.

Absolutely fantastic reporting once again.

I have lived in Miami for my entire life and though I should be hardened to these things by now, this segment absolutely broke my heart. Thank you, Mariana & the Vanguard crew.

Didn't see the related Dr. Phil appearance but I hope one of the outcomes is publicity for Current and Vanguard in particular.

Other than PBS, US television journalism has completely given up doing solid, quality work, and there are more cable "news" networks than ever.

Vanguard, and MarianaVZ in particular, delivers amazing quality, engaging and interesting stories at what I'm sure is stunningly low cost. Thanks.

With every other drug we go after the manufacturer...WHY NOT THIS TIME... I'll tell you why, they own our politicians.

What an incredible story. I was brought to tears watching the OxyContin Express. I truly hope that by shedding light on this problem law enforcement will crack down on these terrible people posing as doctors "helping" our community.

Amazing. Great job. I hope this changes lives.

To me it mirrors Los Angeles in the 80s...a high concentration of illicit drugs in a small area that will essentially, through law enforcement, ethnically cleanse the region. Allow those now filthy rich drug companies to snatch up prime real estate. Truly disgusting!!!!

I don't really don't get it, What's wrong with these people? Why would they resort to drugs ? What causes them to resort to drugs ? A part of their brain maybe ? Maybe frontal cortex to learn new things ? I don't know but they are so much buried in the pain.

Some who have responded to my original comment about the death of my grandson Ryan has some insight to the problem of addiction and that answer is treatment. My son, Ryan's father has started a foundation in association with The Counseling Center, an addiction treatment center in Portsmouth Ohio, called Ryan's fund. The money donated to this fund will pay for treatment for persons with addictions. The fund is just getting started so I am anxious to see how well it goes. It will go to persons who could not afford treatment and the treatment will last for 6 months within a residential center and end in a transitional housing where the person will go back into society gradually.. This type treatment works better than just detox and 30 days. I am a retired Nurse PRACTITIONER, i KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED PAIN MANAGEMENT AND AS extremepain says there is a difference between dependency and addiction, but usually not always there other pain management strategies that help.

I already knew about the widespread Oxycontin abuse in Florida, but good documentary nonetheless.

I didn't know about the trafficking of Oxycontin to the Midwest, however.

I live in Ontario, Canada, and it is a problem here as well. It is a terrible narcotic, and should not be produced any more. I have a friend in her late sixties who was prescribed this drug after a fall and a terrible back injury. She could not take it because it made her sick to her stomach, when she told me what it was she was given, and I could not believe they prescribed this drug to an elderly lady. She took the drug back to the druggist and told her doctor it was way to powerful, she could not tolerate it. So why do they even make something this powerful? My god, next thing will be, addicts will start breaking in to elderly people's residences to steal these narcotics . In drug busts oxy is regularily included in the cache that is discovered. It is a deadly, terrible narcotic.

I saw this last night and it was excellent.

as usual, another poignant story from the Vanguard team. I am so glad that they have brought this incredibly pervasive problem to light. as the daughter of a recovering crack addict, i know how it can ravage a family; getting clean is so much more difficult than one might believe. i can only hope that more is able to be done to try and control this problem.

seriously this show blows my mind and i respect all of you vanguard folks more than anyone else in the media.

THANK YOU FOR THE WORK YOU DO.

am i the only one who sees this as an instructional video to the masses? should anyone be swallowing their oxys still, well here's how to smoke it!!

i realize bringing light to this will spark change in people. but often, that change will just be a new method of intaking their oxy.

people uninvolved in pills will do nothing about this video but pass judgement. the rest? well they're at the store getting foil & straws.

good job people.

Wow, I had no idea that Florida was the center of pain drug prescription and distribution. Really good piece. I'm going to add this to my site if you don't mind. Thank you for your work. Excellent investigative piece and very disturbing.

I have never been more impressed with an episode of Vanguard. Bravo for giving me information on how this drug affects people and why it seems to be totally out of control.

.

That sting operation is wack. The guy shouldn't be allowed to be in a cast. He's evoking sympathy- it's not just a drug deal. Wait I watched it again, he has two fucking casts on. The police are bored and looking to take out their rage.

So..so..sad. From the Parkinsons, to the prisoners in Kentucky. It's frustrating to think that so many lives can be taken just to make a buck. I hope these "doctors" finally get what they deserve. Shame on the State of Florida for not moving with more urgency to stop this problem.

Thank you Current for asking the questions that need to be asked and not turning a blind eye to such a serious problem.

As usual Mariana van Zeller and Vanguard deliver another powerful, insightful perspective on our world. This story has relevance beyond Florida and its "hillbilly" clientele. Mariana van Zeller always seems fearless in her pursuits and I believe this is the essence of her journalistic prowess. After watching "The OxyContin Express" it's apparent that van Zeller leaves no stone unturned and truly represents all sides of the story. Something I haven't seen on any other network.

Vanguard never disappoints. This is an issue that has been completely ignored by the mainstream media, and I have Current to thank for raising my awareness yet again. Your efforts are greatly appreciated, and I hope the Vanguard team receives the recognition they deserve from the journalism community for doing an absolutely fantastic job with each and every episode. May you continue to bring the microphones to these too-often overlooked, silent stories from around the world for years to come! Thank you!

Why don't these cops bust into the pharmacies and doctors' office? What the hell does attacking the addicts do? 7 years in jail doesn't stop drug problems! Criminalizing this shit won't change anything- creating help for people will. These people are sick, not criminal.

i knew this episode was going to be all about florida.

ok last part...

I also want to say there's one more thing to consider. When this first began, the first doc I saw wanted to put me on Vioxx, just weeks before it was banned, I asked him to refer to the family history area of my chart, and got up and left. Every male ancestor on my Mother's side died in their early 60s of Heart Disease or Stroke. Opiates DO have to be taken with great respect, however, they are one of the world's oldest drugs, which means we know all of the long and short term side effects. Obviously florida is just plug stupid to not have control on that. Cant get a Cuban Cigar, but heres enough lab-made heroin to end your life and ruin your family.

But in the long run, with my conditions, opiates are the most effective, and handled responsibly, one of the safest. I say safest considering how pills are rushed to market now, we all end up being their long-term trial cases, until a few people die, then they pull them. To date my side effects on my medicine are, constipation, and the same effect with urination, due to muscles governing those necessities being relaxed. Usually senna,and a cup of decaf keeps that in good shape. I dont get the drowsiness anymore, until the dose has to increase again, probably 1-2 years from now, and I forget what Im talking about as Im talking, and in the beginning it also made my nose itch like crazy...... but that is about it. Ideal living? Hell No, but its better than not living.

Something on the other side of the coin is, due to not being able to get adequate treatment or relief, many Chronic Pain patients commit suicide. Since I began my online support group 3 years ago, 8 of our group have died that way. Some even take their lives when they are getting treatment, just because the thought of living, in some cases 40 or more years with all those issues is untenable for them. I take a day at a time when it comes to happiness, and I thank God I have a wonderful and strong family, and terrific friends that make my existence Very much worth living. This cold weather is hard on me, but I find if I poke fun at myself about all this, it also helps me keep perspective about what the true treasures of life are.

If you are respectful, I will be glad to answer any questions. I will not respond to rudeness, judgmental posts or someone with a miracle cure involving magnets, copper or anything ridiculous.

Hoping my post finds everyone here well

-d

cont from above... Usually a patient is given an immediate release med for breakthrough pain or spikes. These too can lead a person into feeding the pain rather than fighting it. I feel that combination is exceptionally bad. As many may know if a person simply swallows an oxycontin (contin for continual release) it really doesnt have a "euphoric high." Abusers defeat this by chewing them, crushing and snorting, Id never heard of smoking before and of course some dissolve them and shoot them.

I take 2 long acting medications rather than a supposed long acting med and a breakthrough pill. We have found that to be a successful combination for the type of pain I have, though oddly enough, it does nothing to migraines, so Aspirin is part of the arsenal.

Ive not had the desire to take more than is prescribed. In fact, since you are supposed to refill when you are under a week's supply, I have a backlog. I save them until out of date in case of some freak thing like my doc moving, dying...etc. After the date, I do not flush them...because I worry about that kind of stuff going into a water treatment plant, it may be fine, but I dont risk that, I return them to the Pharmacy for disposal.

One part of the documentary made me sad in a different way than many of you can relate to. In the beginning of my regimen, and anytime the dose goes up due to tolerance... I will have about 3 days where I can be sitting up on my bed, and sleep in the same drooped over posture like the guy spoke of finding his wife dead in. That kinda gave me chills, but again, I have a strong support system, so we all have a part to play in keeping it safe.

The last thing I wish to address is the difference between addiction and dependency. Even some docs dont delineate the two, or really understand it. Here's my best explanation. Addiction means you are using it for reasons other than your condition, and using it more and more to get high, and "seeking" several doctors, although here the computerized network stops that. Addiction is also what is experienced with tobacco.

Dependency happens to everyone on Opiate/Opioid treatment. After having taken these meds long enough, your body no longer produces the amount of natural endorphins, because the brain believes it is being taken care of, so if you suddenly stop, you get sick like I pray none of you ever do. Its only happened to me once, and that was due to leaving my shaving bag on the table at home when we left for a 500 mile trip to my folks. The emergency room staff talked to me as if I were a felon. I understand their reluctance believe me, the seekers have so damaged actual CP patients, it makes you want t cry.

We had planned on a 2 week visit, but when the withdrawals came, it was like looking into the mouth of hell, plus the pain, without endorphins, was dramatically higher than before. My wife and I actually ended up having to leave the kids at my Mom's and fly back home to get my medicines. Thi was after my doctor had faxed all of my info to the doctors down here and everything, but they still wouldnt budge, they were kind enough to give me about 5 sleeping pills so I wouldnt be getting quite so sick on the plane ride. I ended up with 3 days of withdrawals, and again, Id not wish that on anyone. So that is dependency. Not what I or anyone with a brain would choose, but its my only option, and Ive been through every option before a crusader out there tells me their magic cure. Ive had cortisone injections into the epidural canal of the spine that did nothing, though its like a miracle for my ankles. Ive been the whole route, and Im at the best quality of life Ive had since this all began.

continued just once more :)

I am from KY and I have written my congressman and other state reps. What else can we do? Thank you, Marianna!

Doctors and pharmaceutical reps are LEGALIZED drug pushers. Citizens are criminalized while those profiting are sitting pretty. What the *%$*# is going on in the U.S. ?!

Initially I was going to send this t a person on the board, but I decided it would be better to share this.

I feel compelled to respond on this, and perhaps my screen name gives you an idea as to why. I am 45 yrs old, 2 of my 5 children are still at home I have 2 in different colleges, and one who is a physical therapist. I have always had upper back problems from an injury in my early 20s. I have 3 herniated thoracic discs, that all impinge on the spinal cord, but they arent the story.

In late 2005 i felt like someone had shot me in my left kidney, and I couldnt move my left leg. I thought maybe its a kink or something, Id never had low back pain. An Mri detected a lemon sized spinal tumor at L2. It is benign, but 4 Neurosurgeons, a Vascular surgeon and a General surgeon, with the majority of these docs being at Mayo Clinic concluded that surgery would leave me in worse shape than I was already in.

My left leg is 60% paralyzed, but it feels searing lightning bolts of pain really well. I also have epilepsy, and thus the combination of disorders has left me totally disabled. I cannot drive a car, lift anything over 2 pounds (that still sounds ridiculous to this day) Sold my motorcycle, golf clubs, fishing equipment...everything I did for enjoyment is no longer available to me.

Because of the snail-slow pace of Social Security Disability, we lost our home, cars and a boat while awaiting the decision, luckily having my parents, who had a farm we could move a mobile home we bought for $1,500 on (you can imagine how nice it was) My wife was our only income, she brought home $1,100 a month. with then 4 kids at home, you can imagine how our life was. I wont even go into insurance company battles.

We finally prevailed, and I now receive disability and medicare, so though not wealthy, were gonna make it!

Now....pain. For around 4 years now, I have been taking hi powered pain medicines. Physical therapy doesnt help the tumor, and the last attempt at it further burst one of my bad disks. Now my physical therapy consists of hot showers in a chair, and stretching to keep the muscles from knotting.

I see the world mostly from my hospital bed. I can walk short distances with a cane, but i have a powerchair for anything more than 50 feet. I cannot do whirlpool or hydrotherapy of any kind for risk of a seizure, so I really do not have an outcome, only treatment.

I dont like taking any pills at all, never did. I monitor and control this stuff like you would never know. Last winter my weight shot up to 260 lbs...I am 6'3" I had to start taking blood pressure and heart medicine and my doc said, youre going to need more or different heart meds unless you lose 40 lbs. Without exercise, all I have to control it with are calories. Today I weigh 170lbs, got rid of 2 medications, and this weight is easier on arthritic bone spurs in my knees and ankles (thats seemed trivial to mention in comparison). I also stopped smoking 6 months ago...still staying at 170 :)

OK. People that abuse these high powered medicines are pitied, and despised at the same time by those of us in support groups for Chronic Pain. It is not simple at all to get that kind of script here. The doc I go to, Ive known since I was 13. Still we work as a careful team. It took us awhile to find a combination of meds that made me comfortable enough to have some semblence of a life.

I dont despise these people personally, but they do make people that actually have legitimate need of such meds lives much more difficult. There are many with legitimate conditions, but there are probably 3 to 5 times that amount of fakes and seekers as we call them. Oxycontin can turn a legitimate patient into an addict for a simple reason. It is supposed to be a time released medicine that lasts for 12 hours. In reality, it lasts about 8 hours, so unless a person is strong willed, they go to the bottle when the pain spikes....contunued....

I cannot believe people would make a trip from Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virgina just so that they can get their hands on OxyContin. I hope whatever Florida is going to pass for monitoring the drug will pass... Good story.

I was shocked, I live in north west Florida and it's not quite the same scenario. I know a least one person who has a hard time getting the medication she needs. And has struggled for years seeking adequate treatment for her degenerative condition. Not addiction actual permanent spinal injury. Still I think people needed to see how serious opiate addiction can be.

That main character, with the wife who died and him still sleeping in the same bed strung out..... All I could say was DAMN. Just watching him and listening to him, it was like wow okay that's hell. I couldn't imagine what that's got to be like other than what he expressed, and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

I pick on Current a little bit, but it's the Vanguard series and the way they go into stories like no one else that keeps me watching.

It's sad that we live in a world where people need to see things like this, unfortunately we do. Hopefully this show and the others like it will wake some people up before it's to late...

Prescription abuse is so wide spread now, I see it everywhere. Even in my remote area of canada, we have pain clinics and corrupt doctors handing out pills to anyone. People are dying while doctors are getting rich. This is one of the many crimes against humainty that has become the norm of our lives, and our generation.

Great peice of work current. But I think we need to open up more pain clinics it helps speed up the process a bit. Boosting the econemy through small business and it helps to get rid of all the pill chasers! (they die ;) More work for the willing! Get off your asses you fucking losers! Great work current, now just to get down to Florida.......

This is the first and hopefully not the last documentary about the problem our society has to deal with everyday...Prescription drug abuse especially oxcycodone. My grandson, Ryan, died June 29, 2009 from an ovewrdose of Oxycontin that most likely travelled to him from these pseudo Physicians and pharmicists in Florida. Ryan was 22 yers old and was intrduced to this

This is so sad. I'm a recovering addict- lucky enough to make it almost 5 years away from this shit now. But it is really evil. The powerlessness is insane. I hope the people in this vid and everyone else suffering from this shite gets a chance at changing. Not many people do but I really hope they do.

Powerful documentary.

Thank You so much for doing a show on this subject.
Our son has had a problem with this for a very long time. We have done so much to help him, that we have very little left. I have called and gone to the places that he has been and told these places to not treat my son again because he does have a problem and that if he dies from all the drugs they have been giving him I will take them all to court. Right a way they tell me that I have nothing to worry about that they will no longer take care him, but then he just finds another place and another Pharmacy, so it is like fighting a very losing battle. One because he feels that he is in so much pain that he must have all the drugs to just get by I would love to get a group together and talk to people to see if we can get something done or we will lose more and more of our children and young adults. Thank You
Please respond

Awesome show! Finally a true documentation on the legal drugging of our youth. As a detective in Florida I have seen so many deaths and so many ruined lives. I hope the show pushes the powers to be to change things, wishful but foolish thinking.

Great show, Thank You for speaking the truth

Wow! This was very interesting and insightful! I love how it was captured, through the eyes of the people who were addicted too such an easy drug-addiction and yet the same people who were ashamed and lost loved ones because of what they were doing while talking about their close loved ones while doing the easy drug-addictions that cost them their loved ones.
It really showed how people were so selfish and just want to give up on everything.
It really shows how pathetic people are, willing to travel to a different state to spend about $700.00 on prescription drugs that are killing them and they're families.
This really needs to stop. They're the ones responsible for law changes, and more punishment on the rest of the Country. I think something drastic needs to happen that can't happen by little laws and regulations but by the people, the people that don't deserve to be responsible for our tax dollars to build you more jail cells, the younger generation to be apart of the aftershock to either clean up or fuse the pandemic of selfishness, our decisions to create and build rehab facilities (that don't work), when we can be using our time and creativity to produce art, music and technology.
Nothing seems or has to be fair anymore. We're giving in to easy, these are people who need attention so bad they have to kill themselves to get it, and we're giving them everything we got.
This needs to stop.

-kayla moon

Iam from Lawerance county ohio.And now live in Scoito county.Its right across from greenup.My brother is hooked on oxys.He lives in Lawerance County ohio.He goes to Fla every week to get pills for the creeps in Lawerance county.I called the Lawerance county shirff. I told him when also the time my the car the lic of the car my brother and another goon was leaving for a pill run.nothing every happened.They say the Judge in Lawerance county along with others are in on the runs.I believe it.greenups Shirff Cooper is the only shirff in the tri state that does anything about the oxy problem here.

I've never realized just how big this problem is. Media in and around Vancouver and Canada in general either revolves around the issue of marijuana (and the legalization debates) or illict drugs and guns being smuggled in by gangs and really hasnt had any significant focus on the issue of abuse of prescription drugs at all, perhaps just because the numbers are lower here. I can't believe that doctors would sink that low and just become legal drug dealers. It saddens me that ethics have gone out the window and the oath is clearly no longer in force.

This documentary has really given me new insight into the world of medicine and it's dark side. Another fantastic piece by the Vanguard team. Thank you for all that you do.

amazing documentary. How come Florida close eyes to ths terrible addiction. Is there any laws?
Super work Mariana. I do hope that this docummentary will open the mind and the eyes of everyone in Florida.
You are a fantastic journalist

wow this was an amazing piece.Living in PA i don't really see this epidemic unfolding.We smoke sticky green:-)..I don't know how those "doctors" sleep knowing that they kill so many people.My mother in law is a Doctor and i see how easy it is for her to get pills when she wants.The distribution system is broken.This plague "should" play a major role in healthcare reform...but of course we all know by now that the real addiction is Money.I wonder how long our society in general will keep beatin around the bush.Money is the source of all "crime" except for the serial killers and rapist.Its time we start working on a solution.So far a resourced based economy has been the best proposal i've seen.I hope i make it to that future:-)

There needs to be a national registry where your name and information gets entered into a database when the doctor prescribes the med/narcotic and also when you get it filled at the pharmacy. It should only allow a person to obtain so many pills in a month. These pig doctor's that are recklessly prescribing these narcs need to be arrested and their licenses revoked. The DEA should start rewarding these addicts and/or dealers for giving up the crooked doctor's information, but I'm sure it would be hard for the addicts to give up their poison and the dealers their $$$$.

Not everyone becomes an addict from pain meds. I had surgery 8 weeks ago and thank goodness for Percocet. It helped me with the pain and I did not become addicted. Aside from the true addicts, I think that people think that their lives will be pain free and so many people think they need a narcotic these days for pain. What ever happened to using ice packs or a heating pad? How about aromatherapy or topical analgesics like Icy Hot? Tylenol and Advil actually work quite well for some. Society has done this to themselves. Everyone wants a quick fix for everything.

I feel terrible for the losses of the people in the video. We need a paradigm shift in this country BAD!!

South Florida you're a MESS!!

Absolutely fantastic and eye-opening episode of Vanguard. One more piece of evidence for why you guys get and present on some of the most fascinating stories out there. Have already watched the episode twice, can't wait for the next one.

It's crazy to think that this issue gets so little play on the mainstream news networks when it is so pervasive. I hope lots of people see this and start investigating the issue further.

An example of a corporation making a poison, designed with highly addictive properties, making $millions$ feeding this epidemic while victims of their product die, go to prison and battle horrific addiction.

Way to go Broward County; I have lived in Florida since I was 13 years old; Broward County specifically since I was 14; and I wish I could say this episode surprised me. This pill pandemic has been going on here for years and years; what is surprising is that this is the first honest look at the problem! Christ sakes! Cops started in Broward County and now we have Police Women of Broward County & it took Current to give a fresh perspective on a problem that is and has been pervasive in Broward; its beyond a joke how easy illicit and prescription drugs are to get here; I don't know anyone who hasn't been negatively affected by the pervasiveness of the drug culture here. It's a sad state literally I live in; but I do want to say thanks to Current for shining a light on the truth; hopefully people will wake up and see that change needs to happen be it through new laws; or simple a change of heart; I do believe change can start with a conversation. Kudos to y'all!!