National Safety Council Issues Prescription Drug Addiction Wakeup Call
Novus Detox Director Applauds NSC's Focus on Prescription Drug Fatalities


    PASCO COUNTRY, FL, September 28, 2008 /Pharmaceutical News Articles/ -- Novus Medical Detox Facility of Pasco County, Florida (http://www.novusdetox.com) Director Steven L. Hayes expressed strong support and approval for the National Safety Council's address to the dangers of prescription drugs at the NSC 96th Annual Congress & Expo this week. NSC President & CEO Janet Froetscher identified unintentional drug overdoses as one of the most significant home and community safety issues leading to an increase in deaths. In 2006, an estimated 24,000 people died in the U.S. from unintentional drug overdoses, which represents a 100 percent increase since 2000. Opening Session keynote speaker William Bennett, television commentator, radio host, former U.S. Secretary of Education and former "Drug Czar," echoed Froetscher's concern about drug overdoses. His comments focused on the toll prescription drug overdoses are taking on our nation and its workplaces.

"Drug overdoses have now surpassed drunken driving as the largest single source of unintentional injury death in the United States." Mr. Hayes stated. "Prescription drugs accounted for half of such fatalities in 2005 according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the numbers have only gotten worse since then. Based on what see at Novus Medical Detox Facility, prescription drug abuse and addiction are skyrocketing. When the CDC numbers come in for 2007 and 2008, prescription drugs will be the fatality leader."

Prescription pain killers (opioid analgesics), such as oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone, are the primary contributor to the rapid increase in drug overdose deaths, Froetscher said. A recent survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) reports that 10.8 million people age 18 and older used a prescription pain medicine for non-medical purposes within the past year.

"We will advocate for additional resources to be directed to research to better understand the problem," Froetscher said. "We also will bring together government, the private sector, nonprofits and other involved parties to develop strategies to address it."

Locking up prescription drugs, frank discussion of the dangers with young people and encouraging medical drug detox programs for those who have become dependent or addicted are among the measures recommended by Mr. Hayes.

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