Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Use of Prescription Painkillers Increases.
Purchases of prescription painkillers have soared in Kentucky in recent years, but experts say the trend is leveling off.
Purchases of five major painkillers increased 62 percent in Kentucky between 1997 and 2005, while the nation saw an 88 percent hike, according to an analysis by the Associated Press odf statistics from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The figures are based on purchases at retail stores.
Purchases of oxycodone- the main ingredient in brand name oxycontin- quadrupled in Kentucky in that timeperiod. Sales of hydrocodone , which has quietly outpaced other painkillers in recent years, has more than doubled.
Morphine purchases in Kentucky showed an 88 percent increase, far below the national 154 percent jump. However, purchases of codeine, an opiate, dropped 50 percent and meperidine, commonly sold as demerol,dropped 12 percent.
Kentucky ranks 43rd in the nation in terms of increases in prescription painkiller purchases, according to the AP analysis. The seven staes that border Kentucky were ranked as follows :
Tennessee = 1st
Missouri = 7
West Virginia = 14
Ohio = 30
Virginia = 35
Indiana = 42
illinois= 50
Purchases of five major painkillers increased 62 percent in Kentucky between 1997 and 2005, while the nation saw an 88 percent hike, according to an analysis by the Associated Press odf statistics from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The figures are based on purchases at retail stores.
Purchases of oxycodone- the main ingredient in brand name oxycontin- quadrupled in Kentucky in that timeperiod. Sales of hydrocodone , which has quietly outpaced other painkillers in recent years, has more than doubled.
Morphine purchases in Kentucky showed an 88 percent increase, far below the national 154 percent jump. However, purchases of codeine, an opiate, dropped 50 percent and meperidine, commonly sold as demerol,dropped 12 percent.
Kentucky ranks 43rd in the nation in terms of increases in prescription painkiller purchases, according to the AP analysis. The seven staes that border Kentucky were ranked as follows :
Tennessee = 1st
Missouri = 7
West Virginia = 14
Ohio = 30
Virginia = 35
Indiana = 42
illinois= 50
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 2:16 PM 
