Local doctor sees surprising increases in OxyContin overdoses
by Misty Volaski

OxyContin. O.C. The "miracle" drug. It's the latest thing for teens to get high from.
And die from.
However, for many people dealing with severe pain on a regular basis, OxyContin is the one thing which gets them through each day. Manufactured by Purdue Pharmaceuticals, OxyContin is a triplicate drug, meaning it's fairly difficult to get it prescribed and must go through several channels to get approved.
"It's very closely controlled," said Ojai's Dr. Timothy Williamson. "You need a special prescription to get it."
And that prescription is getting even more difficult to get lately, according to Teri Robert of OxyContinInfoCenter.com. Across the country, pharmacies have stopped carrying the drug for fear of being robbed. After a pharmacy was robbed in Huntington, Va., those with legitimate prescriptions were told not to tell anyone "who didn't need to know" that they had the drug in their possession.
The obsession with OxyContin has completely swept the country, penetrating even the "safest" of communities - like Ojai.
Williamson, who has practiced in the valley and has worked in the Ojai Valley Community Hospital emergency room for the last 25 years, said even Ojai is beginning to have a real problem with OxyContin.
"We are seeing a surprising increase in the number of overdoses from OxyContin (in the emergency room). At least five a month. Often, it's combined with other things."
Where exactly the Oxycontin is coming from is highly debated. But regardless of where it's coming from, it's coming fast and in massive quantities, addicting old and young, male and female, indiscriminately.
"(Some) kids are coming into the office for help. There are lots more that are using than we identify" - perhaps as many as ten times as those who seek help.
So if this many kids - and adults - are abusing Oxycontin, why not just take it off the market? There are, after all, several alternatives.
"I wish we had something to replace it, but nothing is as effective," Williamson said. "For people who need (this kind of) pain control, it would be an injustice to take it off the market."
"Coming clean," obviously, is the hard part for addicts. Williamson said the only realistic thing to do is to get into a rehabilitation facility to deal with the problem. For those who do enter rehab, "They feel like their going out of their minds" and there's nothing they can do about it, Williamson said. The withdrawal symptoms are not unlike a heroin addict's withdrawals, which include shakes, sweating, headaches, vomiting and uncontrollable nervousness.
Long-term studies are not 100 percent conclusive, but Williamson said that brain damage is a possible - though not likely - side effect for both legitimate and illegitimate users. For those who are addicted, he added, the emotional problems are much more catastrophic than the physical.
"As long as (addicts) come clean, the brain is OK. That's not to say there's no psychological damage. That goes beyond the physical damage" and is detrimental to the patient for years to come.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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