By Deanna Pan

Something was wrong with Cole.

On a Saturday afternoon in mid-February 2011, Danielle Smoot walked into her 16-year-old son’s bedroom and found him curled under his New England Patriots bedspread.

Cole was a kid who could sleep until dinnertime if he wanted, but with school Monday through Friday, wrestling meets on Saturdays and church on Sundays, he hadn’t had much opportunity for that since winter break.  » More

By J.T. Junig, MD, PhD
I appreciate the feedback to my last post.  I had no doubt that the thoughts expressed in the original letter would ring such a chord, as I hear similar comments on a daily basis.  For people new to my blog this week, please review the letter in last week’s post, as that is where I’m starting today.

I had the same ‘love at first site’ reaction to opioids described by many people who become addicted.  My addiction began with a relatively weak opioid — codeine —but I still remember lying in bed as the effects of the substance drifted over me, easing the life-long depression that I had long accepted as ‘just how things are.’  » More

Doctors need access to education and training programs that are free of industry bias.

By Andrew Kolodny; President of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and chairman of the department of psychiatry at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City

Doctors have contributed to an epidemic of overdose deaths and addiction by overprescribing opioids. We didn’t do this out of malicious intent. For most of us, it was a desire to treat pain more compassionately that led to overprescribing. To bring this public health crisis under control, doctors must prescribe more cautiously.

In response to an industry-funded campaign, sales for opioids increased exponentially. Doctors were taught that unrealistic fear of addiction was resulting in needless suffering and that opioids would provide long-term relief of chronic pain. Doctors were misinformed.  » More

By Rob Ollikainen
A state Department of Health study found Clallam County to have the highest per capita rate of opiate-related deaths from 2008 to 2010, while neighboring Jefferson County ranked No. 8.

According to the study, Clallam County had 25 deaths attributed to opiate-based painkillers — methadone, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Percocet and others — or street heroin from 2008 to 2010.

Jefferson County had seven opiate-related deaths during that span, according to the study.

The Clallam County death rate was 11.7 per 100,000 people, and the Jefferson County death rate was 7.9 per 100,000.

King County had the most deaths in the state with 324 deaths but a per capita death rate of 5.6 per 100,000, placing it 16th in the state.  » More

By Rick Nauert, PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
Mood Disorders Up Risk of Opioid AbuseResearchers have discovered that people suffering from mood and anxiety disorders are more likely to use and abuse non-prescription opioids.

The illnesses associated with abuse of opioids include bipolar disorder, panic disorder and major depression. Mood disorders in general heighten the risk for substance abuse. In this study,  investigators made a distinction between prescription opioids commonly used for treatment of chronic and acute pain and opioid use that occurs absent a prescription. » More

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