Prescription Pain Medication Abuse and the ER

Abuse of Pain Killers Overloads the Emergency Room

Houston has one of the country’s highest rates of emergency room visits for prescription pain medication abuse. Many patients come to the emergency room for overdoses involving hydrocodone. According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, an estimated 305,885 people went to the emergency room nationwide in 2008 for overdoses and other issues connected to prescription drug use. This is an increase of 111 percent from 2004.

Often, the opiates like hydrocodone or oxycodone – Vicodin,. Oxycontin and Percocet –are to blame for the visits. Many of the problems happen because people mix the drugs with other medications or alcohol.

"It’s a problem in the city, it’s a problem in the suburbs and it’s a problem in our rural areas because prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs are easier to get and there’s less of a stigma," said Dr. Mark Escott, an emergency physician at Ben Taub Hospital and an assistant professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

"People have a perception that it’s less dangerous because they don’t have to go to a drug dealer to get them," Escott said.

Nationwide, about 60 percent of the cost of the emergency room visits are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. In 2007, this cost taxpayers approximately $700 million dollars.

"If they’re coming in for an overdose, it’s very expensive. First we have to sort out what they’ve taken – what’s the offending agent. A lot of these folks end up in the ICU," Escott said.

Many patients have suffered liver failure because of the acetaminophen that is mixed with hydrocodone products. Others have psychiatric issues connected to the addiction.

In Houston, about 3,900 people went to the emergency room for prescription drug abuse. Of that number, only about 317 were later referred to opiate detox or a drug treatment center.

"It’s a big problem, and we have to take more steps to address it or we’re going to create what we call ‘frequent fliers’ – people who keep going back to the emergency rooms for overdoses," said Mel Taylor, president and CEO of the nonprofit Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston.

"Ultimately, if you keep doing this long enough, people die. That’s the outcome other than recovery," Taylor said.

Visits to the emergency rooms for prescription pain medications increased between 2004 and 2008 – 52 percent in Houston, 79 percent in San Francisco and 294 percent in Denver.

Last year, almost 250 people died of prescription drug overdoses in Harris County, Texas (Houston). A June report from the Food and Drug Administration said that prescription drug abuse poses "significant financial costs to society in addition to the costs to individuals and families."

The FDA is considering a ban on some types of pain pills that contain acetaminophen.

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