By Jason Mullins
Recent headlines concerning a federal raid at an area doctor’s office has prompted one area doctor and his patients to speak out in support of a controversial treatment option for people suffering from addiction to prescription pain medication.

Last week, agents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services entered a doctor’s office in Gate City, Va., that prescribes Suboxone to treat patients who are addicted to opioid-based drugs, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. The raid was part of a year-long investigation into the clinic.  » More

The Huffington Post; Amanda Chan
The number of deaths from prescription painkillers -- opioids, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and hydrocodone -- in the United States has now surpassed that of skin cancer, alcoholic liver disease and HIV, according to a new study published online in the British Medical Journal.

The deaths may be linked with an increase in doctors prescribing the drugs to patients with chronic pain -- like osteoarthritis -- and not just cancer patients, according to the University of Toronto researchers.  » More

Philadelphia (July 22, 2011)—A new study by researchers at Drexel University’s School of Public Health suggests that abuse of prescription painkillers may be an important gateway to the use of injected drugs such as heroin, among people with a history of using both types of drugs. The study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, explores factors surrounding young injection drug users’ initiation into the misuse of opioid drugs. Common factors identified in this group included a family history of drug misuse and receiving prescriptions for opioid drugs in the past. The results support a need for efforts to prevent misuse of prescription drugs, particularly during adolescence. » More