The OxyContin Express

and thanks to the abusers the people it was made to help through disease they could not control-like MY husband and many of the people I care about suffering from chronic pain illnesses like CRPS/RSD get screwed -but also when it is blasted on every media there is that those who take these meds are all abusers -there is an additional pain they are forced to feel by the medical community, and society as a whole. EVERYTHING has a potential for abuse. People overeat so should we do away with food or have the government ration it only to people who are the right kind of hungry?

Loved watching this....thank you for opening my eyes to this problem....being a single mom of 2 little men whom travels a lot to Florida I needed to see this. Keep up the great work! I am watching!

Politicians and mothers of idiots want to tell Doctors and patients what meds to take. Enough! Leave chronic pain patients alone. Because of biased one sided reports like this people suffer 10X more than the losers who decide themselves to take drugs. Where is the report on real chronic pain patients who are constantly under prescribed? Oh, I guess Current doesn't want to do that expo huh?

To mudderfukker or whatever your bitch ass name is ... U talked so much shit in ur comment IM DISGUSTED!!!! U MAKE ME SICK!!! i wish i could c u face 2 face!!! My bro just died from an accidental overdose of oxy in LARGO FLORIDA. i live in columbus ohio and never even knew how bad this DISEASE (which it is) was for him!!! Yes it was HIS DECISION 2 take the oxy but THE DR WHO PRESCRIBED HIM OVER 200 OXY pills plus 120 1 mg xanax the day b4 he died DOES HAVE A FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i dont give a fuck wat UR BITCH ASS IS SAYING the dr who prescribed those drugs in those amounts to a VISABLE ADDICT HAS A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!! not my parents WHO DID NOTHING WRONG !!! they ciuld not force a 30 year old to DO OR NOT DO ANYTHING!!!! I can go on and on and on but i sure do PRAY THAT IF U HAVE CHILD(ren) they are just as PERFECT AS YOU!!!

what a racket for cops and lawyers/courts. They are busting users when they should be raiding the clinics RIGHT THERE. The sheriff should be filing charges against the clinics, one way or another. But no, he profits from the drugs trade too and keeps his job. They are all disingenuous scumbags. I have no respect for hypocrites and bullies. They should all be locked up for organized crime. They have served NO justice and are part of the problem. Cops suck they are Assholes.

I moved here from Idaho and was in pain management there for 3 years so when I switched over here (Florida) I had quite the rude awakening...I always believed my pain was so bad that I was once hospitalized in a mental ward for being suicidal because to me the pain was just "not a life worth living." I agree and I am learning that there is quite a problem here but something really needs to be done to help those of us who have legimate pain! I don't want to be on 12 medications! Especially oxycodone! I am educated and articulate but unfortunately have alot of medical problems. Straight up, I CANNOT function without the use of narcotic pain medication and to be in a legimate pain management program only to not be able to fill my medication when I need it is both frustrating and depressing. We need a voice too. I cringe every month when I go to my local chain pharmacy wondering if I'll hear the all too familiar "we're out," as you're looked upon with distain as though you were a drug addict fresh off the street. What do I do then? Look forward to days of being sick on the couch in the kind of pain that I can only describe as "just as bad as coming out of surgery with no anesthetic." I have crunched up and spasmed so hard from this pain I've actually loosened a tooth. If it takes giving my medical records to the pharmacy or having some special Doctor's reference on file at the pharmacy I'd gladly do it! I have also been there almost a year and that should also account for we customer's being "first up at bat for our medications" so to speak. Here is the real problem...Disability and Medicaid! If the government doesn't want me taking the medication then stop with the cuts and operate on me! Fix the cause instead of the symptom! I can't tell you how many disabled people are being herded into pain management like cattle because Doctor's don't want to operate on anyone who can't pay the full price, so they med us up and hope we'll lay around high all day and not care! Now that's what I really call a "life not worth living!"

i just want to say its a shame to see this happening to other people i found my best freind dead of a o.d. from percocets that were given to him from doctors and street dealers he once said he took them to shut up the voices in his head he had schizophrenia so he was self meddcating he was in his 30s it still pains me....

Has Florida's policies or legislation changed in regulating the distribution of pills since this film was made?

These people are pathetic. Her son died, so now she wants pharmaceuticals banned. No personal responsibility whatsoever. Her other son is smoking Oxy's on camera, just pathetic. Could it be the parents? Could it be the way she raised them? If she cared, why did she let the one that died out of her sight on a Saturday night before going to rehab? What did you think he was going to do, volunteer at the Moose Lodge? Why did he wait till Monday? Get his ass into rehab NOW. But I'm sure he pleaded, and she caved in. Whoops. Very similar to those moronic parents that their daughter raped and killed in Aruba. Do you know why they went to Aruba for High School Graduation? Bc the drinking age was only 17, and her daughter could drink. Well, she did. And when the sh1t hit the fan, and she disappeared, it was a national news story...why? What made her so important? Go to any Post Office, you see a WALL of photos of missing kids...why aren't they on CNN? If I sound pissed, I am. I am a chronic pain sufferer, taking my meds as perscribed, and guess what? they work, and they allow me to work. Same dose for 2 years, as prescribed. Nowhere on the bottle does it say "SMOKE" or "INJECT", it says take one every 4-6 hours, and that's what I do. But it's getting increasingly difficult to get my prescriptions because of these a-holes. Every month as of late, I have to go to several, sometimes many, pharmacies to get my legitimate prescription filled. It costs me hours, gas, and increasing pain as I have to stretch out my meds not knowing when I will get my refill. I sure as hell can't afford to pay $5 dollars a pill at the small pharms, but you know who can? The jerkholes who turn around and sell them for a lot more. Onesided sensationalist journalism like this places all blame on the meds and NONE on the abuser, omits the fact that these meds are effective for what they are supposed to be prescribed, and omits the fact that there are many people with permanent injuries and chronic pain that would otherwise not be able to work. Our Governments knee-jerk reaction? The DE@ decided to restrict production. So now people like myself with permanent injuries and chronic pain have to spend hours and hours trying to get a presription filled. Put the blame exactly where it belongs: the Parents, the abusers, and the the unscrupulous Dr's.
This lady is just like the women of MADD who want to go around preaching and guilt tripping every body who decides to have a few drinks after work.(Obvioulsly, I cannot drink bc I take these meds, so I don't) But I realize others have a choice. And then here comes a mother of someone who died in a DUI crash, wanting everybody to repent and be miserable along with her. Listen, I'm sorry you lost your kid, but take that misdirected anger and do something else besides guilt trip innocent strangers. Oh, BTW, guess what? My permanent injury was caused by a drunk who ran a red light. Imagine that.

Bottom line is no one cares more about you than yourself, in a way I'm glad that the weak are being weeded out, make no mistake this is exactly how the law sees it.

There are so many ways to look at this crisis. I live in east central FL and work in a doctor's office (he rarely prescribes narcotics and never Oxy). I, myself am a chronic pain patient. My husband is an Oxy addict. So, I get to see all sides of this war. Most of our patients are car accident victims, therefore they are in pain and can't get "good drugs" from my doctor/boss. I'll ask what meds they are taking and who prescribed them and lots of times I'll hear "I'm taking Roxi's and I got them 'down south'." Its amazing to me, they'll tell me that they take seven Roxi 30's and five Roxi 15's A DAY! Yikes!

My situation is, even though I have insurance and would like to go to a "real" pain management and get epidural injections, I can't afford the co-pay. So, through a patient I happened to find a sort of pill mill here in central FL. Its not quite as bad as the ones "down south" (no long lines, no security guard) and it appears to be a regular doctor office, but they dispense on site and will pretty much give you what you want. Cash only, no insurance. Keep your monthly appointments, he will touch your back or wherever you say you have pain (that is the "exam"), talk a little bit, write your prescriptions and out the door you go. As much as I think the Roxi's would help me, I've seen what they have done to my addict husband and his addict friends. So, I take six 10 mg Norco a day in addition to muscle relaxer and NSAIDs. Its not really enough, but once you start to build up a tolerance, nothing is enough anyway. I know that I am physically addicted. The doctor has even offered stronger meds and has told me that "you're not really taking all that much". To me, its alot, but I need it to function and I'm afraid to take any more. One of these days, my gravy train is going to come to a halt and its going to be hard enough to get off of the Norco's. I would hate to try to get off of Roxis.

My husband is an addict and so are his friends. And he has made the trip down south with them and the stories that he has told me are exactly like this video. Nothing on this video was shocking to me because I've heard it all. The first time I heard about how pill mills are run and what they dispense and how the patients are treated, I actually cried. They aren't "doctors"! As it was said in the video, they are drug dealers with a license. What happened to the Hippocratic oath? What happened to "do no harm"?! Its appalling to me. I've been lied to, stolen from, had my wedding rings pawned, checks stolen and forged - all for drugs. It's his mistress. So, I'm in the process of a divorce and also bankruptcy because of him.

This is just a horrible, horrible thing. There has to be a way to keep the addicts from getting their drugs so easily, although, if they can't get pills, they will substitute with something else. An addict is always an addict. But there also has to be a way for us chronic pain patients to get what we need without jumping through hoops, made to feel like an addict scum bag and have to beg and be made to feel like a loser, all because we need to function and the addicts have taken our treatment away. There has to be an answer. I just wish I had one.

Has anyone noticed that just this week our governor has decided not to go ahead with the drug database? I thought it was a good idea, a start anyway. But nope. No hope there.

Barkway I agree with you 100% Florida could have stopped this long ago

....and just as with the false "war on (illegal) drugs," who does law enforcement target? The victims. Prisons are big business, as are all the programs hanging off the "justice" system. If they arrest & shut down the source(s), all those jobs & money go too.What do they care if millions of lives are destroyed?

That kid had a prescription to carry and possess the drug. The minute he altered it or abused it he violated his rights to use it or posses it. Why is it ok to let this great reporter who allowing him to abuse the drug in her vehichle?< and why is she removed from any ARM of the law? This was a one sided piece that didn't even prove he got any pills from the old lady after the doctor refused to see him. A junkie is a junkie but her condoning his actions makes her criminally involved and i'll be writing my congrees woman to make sure my voice is heard.Here is the real truth: The fight is over money Anesthesiologist see theyre losing alot of money in pain management field and theyre trying to discredit the pain management so you will have to see an Anesthesiologist for around 2-3k bucks who will fill your spine with enough cortisone that the bone will decay. This is about money(period) ( again if it wasn't why did she allow him to abuse the drug in her car) the kid dying is a hype story.They don't care who died or who dies_look at what the reporter did in the minivan as PROOF. If she cared she would have taken the chance and filmed him on a corner and NOT IN HER CAR They never did release what his girlfriend died of did they? She took one pill of how many medications, alot of this piece was fluffed and puffed and manipulated. WE have asked in the post but they wont respond to the cocktail she had in her?I wan't to know why that kid was altering a drug in the back of Mariana Van Zeller minivan and she allowed it? So how far is she willing to harm her community she is trying to protect. What a bunch of crap. She allowed him to alter a controlled substance with no care for his welfare yet this is a piece about making a community better and the love she has for her peabody. God help her if that kid died in her minivan.She really cares my arse.Thye want to be on the cutting edge but half the stories can be covered under colonialization and how the world still acts like we are back in the 18th century. Cutting edge stories they take the small stories covered by major issues and cover them and that makes them cutting edge bite my shorts. PS do not reply to this too debate if cortisone shots do damage to bones i feel they do and will state this as MY opinion. If ya want to blas t me for anything else feel free.ASk yourself this why this drug? why can i get a gajillion morphine pills. Why this drug? because its not the drug its about money and who will get the business in the end. Don't believe me start reading creditable places to get your news not here.I challenge anyone from this publication to buy this drug on the streets or from a pain management clinic without a doctors consent. Get ya cameras rolling boys.Peabody for idiotic one sided stories that takes that award and makes it useless in my opinion. I have seen expose where they film them doing drugs but not on thier private poroperrty it is always on the streets, yes a car is private property she might as well had him in her own home allowing him to abuse the drug to get an award.

I've written on this topic before, but there have been about 200 posts since then and I wanted to respond to some of the posts I've seen lately. I'm a big fan of Current and Vanguard. I especially enjoyed the episode on the lack of sewage management in many areas of the world. But anyway, back to this one.

Florida obviously has a serious problem, but much of the country has the opposite problem--the chronically ill, living from day to day in pain beyond what most people have ever experienced for even a few minutes, can't get the meds they need without jumping through an obscene number of hoops. In support groups for people with the genetic disease I live with, it's commonly understood that you will spend at least a year in hell, with uncontrollable pain, being denied necessary pain meds while you spend that year proving to your doctor that you are not a junkie. Nevermind that your blood tests are clean aside from what little has been prescribed. You'd better do every last thing your doctor tells you to do *without question*, even if the non-drug options they force you into actually cause more permanent damage instead of helping.

I agree that there needs to be a reasonable amount of intervention to keep things from getting out of hand as it obviously has in FL, but we also have to stop treating the physically ill as if they are guilty until proven innocent. It's not fun to be treated as if you've been a naughty child simply because you are severely ill and require pain management. We have got to stop punishing the sick this way. People actually *do* die from being denied necessary medication. Not everyone can sustain that first year (or more) of constant searing pain without relief while they're treated like criminals until the doctor decides they've sufficiently proven themselves to be worthy of medicating. A lot of people choose suicide over the pain. It's just more than they can live with.

But before we blame the doctors, they have to protect themselves too. Outside of South Florida, doctors are constantly afraid that they'll be accused of giving out pain meds too easily. It's a compound problem, but the addicts can't be absolved of their guilt either. The addicts are torturing the sick as much as the doctors who withhold needed medication. More, actually.

I would have liked to see this episode made less one sided. It would have been a better one had they followed a pain patient with little hope of recieiving the meds they need as they try to survive without them. With proper pain meds a lot of these people can live somewhat normally. Without them, they get to live as "that thing that screams upstairs", relying on others to bring them food and water, having to have someone else dress them, and that's when they're having a *good* day and aren't busy thrashing in bed and wailing. On the meds, they can walk, talk, bathe, do the dishes, take care of their pets, etc. They're still kept in pain (the meds don't make it go away, really, just reduce it to a workable intensity), but the pain is liveable as long as you don't get crazy and hop up and down, walk a 5 k, or try to sit fully upright too long.

These meds are serious stuff, but so is living in constant pain. Let's see both sides next time.

It makes me sick. I grew up here and i only wish that i could do something to stop this. maybe one day enough people will wake up and maybe then we can stop it together.

I WOULD JUST LIKE 2 SAY THAT MY HUSBAND HAS TO TAKE OXYS CAUSE HE HAS BEEN RAN OVER 4 TIMES. SO YES WE LIVE IN FLORIDA,BUT HIS DOCTOR NOT A DIRTY ONE IF HE(THE DR.) THINKS UR A JUNKIE U R OUT WITH THE COPS TAKING U OUT OF HIS OFFICE!!! SO I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TY ALL U JUNKIES TRYING TO FUCK IT UP FOR PPL THAT DO NEED THEM. MY HUSBAND TAKES THEM HOW HE SHOULD, BY MOUTH!!! SO THATS HOW I FEEL. IS IT GUNS THAT KILL PPL OR PPL THAT PULL THE TRIGGER. SAME WITH THIS IF U DO THEM WRONG U KNOW U COULD DIE. BUT U JUNKIES JUST MESS EVERYTHING UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Add a flattr button. Loved the video, was in Florida and wondered why everyone was taking prescription meds. Now I get it...

I'll hit you some cash for making this if you add one.

tammytyne. . . .It is a completely SUBJECTIVE call but most physicians, pharmacists, etc. . .are consciously, sometimes subconsciously-- doesn't matter- AWAREand act upon that awareness {pick up cues/ signs/ verbal or otherwise that indicate if a patient is indeed, authentically in need of pain management or is in need of the drugs as a sult of an addiction . . .Education is helpful. Those of us who have educated/ have worked in the field of addictions are currently inundated w/ requests for same. An. . There are no guarantees so a subjective call coupled with empathic understanding and the courage to question= compassionately usually yields sound/ sometimes high results. Those who find they're addicted to this AND no longer need it FOR THE PAIN yet seek it out to 'treat' the feelings involved in the addiction process would be wise to acknowledge just that and get off the med. immediately as it's not going to be avail. that much longer. Remember: The medication is an analgesic . . . an OPIATE . . . derived from the OPIUM POPPY . . . .THE LARGEST OPIUM PRODUCING COUNTRY ON THIS PLANET IS . . .where? Afganistan. We are NOT going to be there forever. Connect the dots!

We've pushed hard for expediency in legislation via Reps in Tallahassee . . . NOW we are having to go b a c k . . .and formally point out / then request that knee jerk responses NOT be acted upon because it's as if -- as the adage goes-- "throwing out the baby w/ the bath water"-- which is to say tha/t NOW even legitimate pain management clinics, doctors, etc. . . .are fearful/ anxious simply BECAUSE of the hurried, topical, knee jerk responses; broad generalizations, assumptions. There IS a legitimate need for pain management; not every pain patient is a "druggie" nor deserves that label; and the suspicions/skepticism surrounding securing their meds . . . There are physicians who actually are empathic, indeed compassionate and seek to legitimately treat those in need of said treatment so again, in the RECOUNT State, there's little room for moderation/ a narrow 'middle of the road' and it is very, very difficult to maintain balance in most arenas of life. In sum: No amt. of sunshine is worth the stressors in living in the State much less the political turmoil/ chronic chaos and frankly, blatant ignorance & lack of awareness. .The State by-line is "The rules are in Florida" so that's at least one thing that's 'spot on' . . . {minimized if anything!}| . . .

Finally someone who is responsible and understands the situation. I applaud expensiveguy for his wisdom. He is right. I don't like taking pain medication, I have to. I don't get high, most of the time I get sick. And most of the problem is caused by the media and some politician who whats to jump on the bandwagon. We have enough problems having to live this way without this crap to contend with. I know doctors and pharmacies that are harrassed by the DEA because they handle pain patients and give out pain medicine. I usually do not wish harm to other people but in this case I hope someday these "crusaders" will have to feel the pain some of us live with, and not be able to find anyone to treat it.

People don't understand that a REAL pain patient doesn't get high from the Meds. The Med are used to kill the pain. When you don't need the pain Meds you get euphoria. If anything the REAL pain patient will get tired. I really wish people would understand this. Also any real pain patient hates taking pain Meds. I have a few pain patients and due to my policy a doctor shopper doesn't want to come to my offices. I have yet to find a patient who likes to take pain Meds. They need them to work, live and raise a family. I've also found that most pain patients are always fighting within themselves to stop taking the Meds. I've seen many that try to quit many times a year just to go back on when the pain controls their life!

I wouldn't wish a pain patients life on anyone. The Media sells the news. They blast pain centers due to a few bad ones. At my office we have 3 retired DEA agents to run backgrounds We use bioscriptrx tracking system that matches a finger print to the Med. The system checks in real time to see if the patient is going to any other doctor. We are in NADDI.org and learn advanced ways to stop a doctor shopper or drug dealer. We work with the State, City and Federal Task Force. We research the prison/police records for anyone who sells pills and enter this information into our data base so if that person shows up at our office and bust them at the door. We do not see any patient under the age of 30. We do other Tx and testing outside just a MRI. We do not see any patient outside 30 miles from our office and will not see a or ever have seen a out of state patient. Last and this really tells you everything. You will not see 40 to 100 patients waiting in my lobby. At any onetime you may see 10 patients in our lobby.

The media would never do a story on our center. It will not sell papers. Most of the doctors are good doctors. It's the few you are reading about. It the few who grab the headline news. The media will have you think that every pain center is a pill mill. Not the case!

I am glad you are healthy and drug free. I don't take pain medicine because it's fun because for me it isn't. I take it because I have to. I cannot walk without it. Sometimes the pain is so bad I don't know what I'm doing. I almost killed someone in a pain rage after three days of undescribable pain. There is no "facing the pain" for me. It's take pain medicine or kill myself, and most likely someone else. Some people have pain that no surgery can fix and no amount of good feelings is going to make better. I was hurt because I was a fireman helping other people. Now I need help with the pain and all I get is a hard time. If I have to live on pain medicine it's no one's business or concern but mine. It would be nice if I could get my medicine, live a normal life, and not be treated like a criminal because of it.

I get tired of hearing this crap. I have to take this stuff to be able to walk, therfore I am treated like a criminal when I go to the drug store, it's near impossile to find a doctor to give me medicine. Everytime the government attempts to fix this all that happens is that it makes it harder for folks like me, not for the ones in the film. I certainly don't need the government telling my doctor what to give me. Education would be a good start to solve this problem instead of more laws and government intervention.

http://FL.an

I am watching the show Oxycontin Express and am Outrage that this is going on.. I am on Oxycontin 20 mg daily for Chronic Pain from spinal surgery in 1998 and its been 1 tough rough road for me. I have had dr's telling me that I am a druggy
and after going to a crediable pain managment specialist and a 2nd 3rd MRI's
I even had to sign a pain contract with my regular DR. not to Dr shop
etc.
all this .............to get my pain medication
and I have to go in every month to get a new prescription. and its only good for 90 pills every 30 days.

I think the Goverment and Dr.s of FL. need to get the Law Changed in FL.and changed quick!!! this is really Sad.
this is just a pain clinic pushing drugs!!!!!! just for the GREED of $$$$$
make it very difficult for the honest people that truely need pain medication to get it

TY for your time.

great documentary.im living in the sunshine state, and seeing this is daily life. and it shouldnt be.

Cheers to the filmmakers. Very nice work.

oooh and as far as the police arresting the addicts instead of the doctors... many people wouldn't be in that predicament if it weren't for the dirty docs, but it's the addicts who do time for it?

I'm a recovering drug addict who's drug of choice was oxycontin and this story was amazing. I can only imagine how many rehabs they have down there. People can't see what it's doing to them, it's sad. And it seems like no ones doing anything to stop it...

Im in chronic pain for a while after back surgery, full hip replacement hernia surgeries and a few more health problems I thought this story was done well my wife and I are in late 50's we went to get our RX filled and you could see these young kids wasted filling a RX for oxycontin, oxicodone,couldn't be more than 20 and doctors are giving them heavy narcotic's they seem to not have any problems that would require that much medication's and the only place I can point a finger to is the doctors themselves, I was under the impression that they took an oath to not do bad to their patient's but when your prescribing those kind of narcotic's to kids that young in those quantities no wonder these kids are dying at an alarming rate. What happens if these kids get into a bad accident and really do need pain meds what do you give them for pain then since their resistance is so high how do you comfort them, induce a coma? No I say greed on the part of the doctor is responsible trying to make the quick buc's at the expense of our kids

this woman is a great journalist!

I am so amazed, on CNN two minutes ago (and I guess 6 months behind the times) they just had a brief piece about oxycontin addiction in Kentucky. However, they fell back on the same old stereotyping, indicating that drug addicts are violent and criminal. According to CNN, the reason these drugs are a problem is that the addicts murder and attack doctors. There was also no mention at all of the legal procurement of theses drugs and coordinated distribution networks that have developed. They highlighted blatant prescription fraud at an individual level and violent theft. There was no mention of the toll the drugs take on addicts bodies or their families. Watching CNN, you'd think that oxycontin users are totally outside of regular society, when, in fact, they are deeply integrated within it.

This is why current TV is so valuable. Thank you for a very good but scary report.

thank you vanguard! i love your stories. i get excited every time i see there is a new one.

Here is some new news that just cam through. anesthesiologist are fighting for the control of ongoing pain management. SO don't fool yourself with this biased heart string piece. This is about fighting over money. SO while your on the phone with your legislature ask them who's going to be putting in a new pool?
I really hope none of you horn tooters ever get injured badly. For those who keep saying i can't see how it is biased I guarantee this kid is a garbage head he will take anything and everything to get a buzz. I also don't get smoking it? was that for the camera cause it looked like he was wasting it, can't have that now can we? Why doesn't he just do meth like every other respectable addict, that's dirt cheap and a quicker way to kill yourself .

OOps.l. Sorry 'bout the typos but didn''t edit my 'dissertation' below :-) Apologies! BUT fingers flying feverishly across keyboard -- and IT'S EASTER which I hope to celebrate. . .:-/ Wanted to say that it has helped me to show this film to virtually HUNDREDS OF folks/ groups .. . .Every little bit helps. Also epidemic among elderly folks-are indeed selling their 'scripts -- to buy groceries. . . .Sad -- but we can all work together. . .STRENGTH COMES IN NUMBERS. i was best able to get off hydrocodone by forcing myself to exercise - but could only exercise in water for months . . .bec. it was minimum stress on body/; muscles . . .tendons, bones . . .producing maximum, results. Toward the end of taking the hydrocodone, I found I wanted more, more getting less, less results . . .and alarms began ringing in my head ....Withdraw'l was severe but now O V E R. Hopefully, never again!!!

All this prior to seeing Vanguard show. . . When losing a child I was overprescribed benzodiazapines . . .Ativan . . .to "help with your nerves" even when I said I didn't want them {he was an old, old doc. who firmly believed in medications-- some do, some don't and it was a long, long way from Fl. where 'scripts were not normally given out freely. Losing a child tho, thought this doctor, warranted "minor tranquil'rs" . . . .Tough path!

I found aft. three yrs. I COULD NOT stop on my own . . It took me TWO YRS. to get off Ativan . .so that began my journey into researching; learning about addictions then back to school . . .into clinical practice with addicts.

Nothing seriously awry in the comments. . .I became interested in the epidemic overprescrib'g of pain meds aft. a catastrophic auto accident last yr. -- never even had a fender bender prior-- but aft. this accident, having excellent insurance coverage, I was offered dilaud'd; methadone; morphine, oxycodone which I turned down taking -- took. hydrocodone and I assure you it was living hell to withdraw from even that. . .Being hugely politically active, too, I am currently now on the phone, pc.. etc. . .all day, every day talking to everyone in
this film, including Congresswoman Kelly S., Dr. Silverman, etc. . .to help bring about PRIOR TO WHEN THE BILL IS STATED TO BE ADDRESSED, ATTENTION AND AWARENESS TO THIS EPIDEMIC of overprescrib'g . . .

RESULTS? DOH-- Florida, in Tallahassee, held the first hearings relative to this epidemic LAST WEEK.

CNN -- 6AM every a.m next week on THE GOOD MORNING show . . .airs:
PRESCIPTION DRUG ADDICTION EPIDEMIC! Watch.

FACT! fact that Our local hospitals = record deaths now due to overdoses -- particularly among young people. I don't begrudge anyone LEGIT. pain mgmt. . .but this has now overtaken "meth" as the number one ADDICTION. It is not accidental that the legalized drug cartels also known a PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES are pushing this drug . . .via their "parent" Companies, INSURANCE COMPANIES . . .NOR is it accidental that we are at 'war' -- in a pre emptive illegal war on IRAQ btw, now Afganistan . . .who just 'happened' to be the world's LARGEST PRODUCERS OF OPIUM. . .the base product from which all ANALGESICS are derived!! It's political, folks. It provides me w/ a new cause; i.;e. to help inm all ways possible to help curb this "shameful" epidemic. . .And it's no "accident" that Florida is the "RECOUNT' state and is now currently supporting the economies of at least FOUR OTHER STATE ECONOMIES . . .I won't stop. Having had the horrific accident last yr. I was stunnmed at how many phhysicians CALLED ME . . .via referral TO TREAT MY INJURIES. . .

I've found countless pharmacies in calling . . .checking to see if they'd fill a " . . .'
prescription that I'd lost . .but I will bring it in when I find it . ." Out of nine I called, I got four responses of "Sure!"

This cannot go on . . .WE are forming community forums, task forces, etc. .
. .and indeed many, ,many physicians are "engaged in flagrant crimininal activities . . " and it doesn't feel all that secure in Florid any longer. A local pharmacy right up the street was just 'busted' -- making international news-- for selling massive quantities of steroids and pain meds.

IT IS LEGAL DRUG PUSHING and we want our State back . .

L:et's talk!!! I have two children of my own -- one a nurse, one an attorney.
Both are engaged in this 'project' . . .reaching out . . helping . . .and making again, PAIN MANAGEMENT, AVAILABLE FOR LEGIT. PATIENTS who are actually in need of pain management. . .Not unscrupl'ous docs. with DEA numbers who use that license for purposes of G R E E D . It's beyond contempt! If you are interested in helping . .. want to talk . . let's talk
!

I dunno what's going on here in the comments, I just stopped by to congratulate Vanguard on their Peabody for this episode of the show. Those of us who have been watching pretty much from the beginning feel very smart today that we were early adopters.

my god get over yourselves.

dear expensiveguy;: Thank U! WOW.Generous. U've personalized my post . . unfortunately. . THEN proceeded to 'direct' me w/ 'schooling' -- which is laughable. You're not privvy to ALL the material I get relative to the subject via FB, personal emailings, etc...so U R by no stretch speaking for all those aka as "WE" which you imply. Ur opinion is just that=YOURS & U do not speak for all. NEWSFLASH: i CAN POST WHAT I CHOOSE, WHEN I CHOOSE, AS IS APPROPRIATELY THEME BASED & VFFENSIVE EVEN WITHOUT 'LOVIN' IT OR LEAVIN' IT" but thanks . . .May I suggest you mind Ur business and read what applies; leaving what doesn't -- alone. :-) As per your further directive to 'get a life= won't dignify that w/ a response. LOL U 2 have choices: Read, delete, avert eyes, change focus . . .whatever. . . .but rapid fire responses to me as if you speak for all 'folks' == complete with sarcasm and demands is absurd: Veerryy mature! OH, ..I'm intimidated NOW! Allow me to cower in shame & humiliation pondering where OH where I went soooo wrong in this life. LOL

BreeJ Let me school you! This is a public form where people post! The replies have NOTHING to do with you or your post! Its called a subject matter! Don't like don't return here! Its that easy! We don't care how you feel or what you think. We couldn't care if you Die!

So next time you post on a public form... Get a life~!

HEY; For those of you who don't bother with simple things . . .like READING ....film credits for example . . .I' m saying this one last time because i'm sick of your half a___sed; narcissis'tic, self AGRANDIZ'MT; DELUSIONAL judgments, criticisms OF ME for simply POSTING THIS LINK. I DID NOT MAKE THIS FILM FOOTAGE; DIDN'T AUTHOR IT; DIDN'T DIRECT, PRODUCE, NOR PARTICIPATE IN IT. IT IS A PRODUCT OF CURRENT TV.; VANGUARD SERIES, MARIANNA -- as above DOES THE NARRAT'G. . .ALL I DID WAS POST THE FREAKIN' LINK SO YOU CAN DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSION. FRANKLY, MY 'DEARS' I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU USE IT OR NOT; NEED IT OR NOT BUT KEEP YOUR HALF THOUGHT OUT NEGATIVE REMARKS OUT OF MY INBOX. GOT IT? if you want to 'talk' AFTER you've paid attention; thought. . . do so but otherwise . . .DON'T BOTHER RESPONDING TO THIS PERSON. CAN'T BE ANY CLEARER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if it takes your pain away, its working. If it takes your mind, family, and morals away, its just getting high. This stuff is killing kids. I've seen people snort it off of the backs of public toilets. It should be administered with much more caution than now, and doctors who are allowed to prescribe these kinds of drugs should be monitored much more closely.

Thanks,for the post.nice one.

COngrats on the Peabody! this was an exceptional piece! hopefully it will influence important changes in florida and the rest of the country.

He didn't get caught, he just couldn't get a walk-in appointment that day. All they have to do is connect to the National database, and it would get shut down.

I don't get what you guys mean by poorly done, biased piece. Florida has 50 of the top 50 oxycodone prescribers in the country. 35 of them are in Broward county. Florida has a major legal drug problem. Did you see how fucked up that "kid" was? He'll be dead soon enough. Lot of people making a lot of money off these guys. Driving 1000's of miles to get your pills? Damn.

You guys that need it, really need it, can still get it. I don't see what the issue is? So the doc's keep a pretty good eye on you. Does that bother you?

This documentary is not moving. The OP has focused on one individual, and ignored the reasons why he uses drugs.

Meanwhile they are making record bust of marijuana, which no one has ever O.D. on by itself. I know I live here in FL. All the other drugs seldom have major drug bust. This to me is a waste of tax money, prison time and our youth.

I' am a chronic pain patient. My doctor drug test me to see that I am taking my meds, not selling them or taking stuff I shouldn't. New Jersey has a database for all controlled drugs. My pain drugs are counted to the day, 28 days between appointments I get 84 pills( 3 a day). Drugs are strictly controlled. Because Florida legislature doesn't want to act on this shouldn't effect me. The Kentucky sheriff should be charging these people on Federal charges and turned over to the DEA

This video is SKEWED that the poor ADDICT has an easy way(?) of getting their fix. Driving 1000 miles is a long way to get their fix. Poor Drew overdosed by breaking Federal law. He was 25 years old! Not a child who by accident got a drug.
Making oxycodone harder for me to get because of addicts, harms me and commentor Veniversum.

I get my prescriptions monthly and my pharmacy always has to order my meds. They are afraid of being robbed.
If this was heroin no one would get up in arms? But these people are JUNKIES too. Mother Nature is weeding out the stupid. This is tough love but I have no compassion for junkies. They wanted to get high in the first place. Most people don't want to get high. Why are we coddling junkies?

I just want to say that I thought that the OxyContin Express was a wonderful look into the drug scene in Florida, yet the video was extremely biased. I'm currently a pain patient taking oxycontin and I find it as a miracle drug. I can actually get out of bed and live a normal life that i wouldn't be able to do without it. No other pain medication helps like this one, and I am considered to be on a high dose. So those snippy little comments about 'who could possibly be in that much pain', well there are some people. I'm not saying that the addicts looking for it were in that much pain but I've met plenty of people that would qualify. Oh yeah, and all the people abusing prescription pain meds? yeah go abuse heroin, its a lot cheaper and stronger, plus it won't leave us legitimate patients with all these problems. Most pharmacies i go to won't even carry my medication because there so afraid of getting robbed, so ya, thanks for your selfishness.

IT is regulated. The only damage is this poorly done piece.People kill themselves everyday on anything they can get their hands on. For Todd's Mom You need to remove him from his enviroment he will either make up his mind to stop or die. I wouldn't write him off even though its hard to believe, he can wake up.he's an addict not a criminal something some people cant grasp. Todd for you think about it , your really not having fun anymore, you admitted it.So wake up and stop, you may fall but pick yourself up again until you get it right. I know it can be done but that's my story.

This was the an extremely biased piece and then you prove it. The guy goes "Doctor shopping" but he is unable to because all reputable places will catch you like he got caught. Doctor shopping will land you in jail very fast ,he also stated that and kept trying to tell you anything can go wrong , and stated every single thing that does usually happen like his track marks etc,,.Low and behold the doctor refused to see him. Then if it so easy to get why did he have to go to an old lady I thought it was on every corner?. I am disabled and these people ruin it for everyone including you and your poor reporting.You also stated the drug is prescribed for terminally ill patients not true,moderate to severe chronic pain look it up. The larger dose( which you mixed your facts for a better story) time release are for terminally ill people only,pain clinics cannot prescribe those and will not. The fact you stated that 11 people per day die from prescription medication does this include those with existing conditions? Correct, they were prescribed medications not oxycodone alone..right?. I also think you did belittle the DEA and they were right to tell cowboy Billy to shut his mouth ( besides if he didn't have these low income people in his jails who would he have?), People with addictive personalities will find anything to get high on, they will suck rat poison through a straw if it will give em a buzz. Here's what you didn't cover. These script writers the DEA knows about or has closed them all down. Doctors are no longer allowed to write pain medications for ongoing therapy, only pain clinics can , That would explain all the clinics. You can only carry the amt you need for the day in the bottles must be marked. Your doctor needs an MRI showing not a slight injury its got to be significant ( also you can have a significant disability that in no way will ever get better the MRI must be repeated every 2 years). You must bring your pills every time you go see your doctor so they can catch you if your selling them very fast, and very easily ( because when Little Johnny shows up with no pills they will refuse to see him) because they give you 30 days so when you see the doctor you should have 2 days leftover. They also look at your all around appearance, like that slurring guy you focused on in your piece would not be seen , you stated his paperwork was not in order. They didn't see him because they saw his appearance, they will tell you to leave the office just like they did to slurry boy. Then you helped stigmatize the drug that does help people with chronic pain by having some fool make a statement that"these are all drug addicts then he reads off a list of drugs not qty or times per day or that persons condition and then states who can be in that much pain?A statement not from a doctor a nobody cop Try Both sides of a story before you make its reputation worse than it is already. I am sure if your mom was suffering it would be a different story or would it didn't that guy before said that everyone taking this medication was a drug addict? Then your Mother if she was taking the medication by his definition would be a drug addict. People in Florida do a lot of bad things from licking frogs, drinking angel trumpets, mix nyquill with orange juice and several other ways they can kill themselves. One last point His Girlfriend who took 2 pills and died ( total lie) her tolerance would have been sky high by that time that 2 pills alone would not have killed her. She mixed it with something else but then your story would have fallen thin..Script writers are being arrested, not all pain clinics are crooked, people who need these medications are not drug addicts. Yet you have demonized the medication in one silly one sided story. Try crossing another countries line and costing us a fortune to liberate you, stay away from journalism,unless you take a class first.

i love your guys' segments. this is real journalism.

I'm from broward county and oxy is a serious problem down there, I'm thankful that Vanguard showed the world the reality of south floridas deadliest addiction

questionable

Just watched "The OxyContin Express." Holy *&%#. Can't Mr. President reform this?

I live in the heart of this, and was also a year long addict to smoking this addictive little bits of heroin essentially, The Dr.'s don't care,

Nasty stuff, a friend's neighbor (who has horrible pain after surgery) is addicted to this and they can't take him off cause he's in pain --and he takes so much now that he said he could become fatally ill if he was taken off the drug. So it seems like a cycle that seems hard to brake? I think our medical system in general treats symptoms of problems and ignores real issues - because it sells drugs and makes the health insurance companies money.

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,