So I Went back to Ohio...
Declaring a Public Health Emergency Over Oxycontin

Peter Finch may have shouted the line "I'm mad as hell -- and I'm not going to take it anymore" in the movie Network, but Ohio is madder over an OxyContin epidemic killing their kids.

Chief Charles Horner of Portsmouth, Ohio and Lisa Roberts, RN, Public Health Department -- both are saying to pill mill docs and drug dealers -- "Get out of Dodge now" -- "You are killing our kids." Photo: Marianne Skolek

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - Scioto County, Ohio is considered a pocket of Appalachia -- a segment of the country thought by some to be 'lower class' -- maybe even an uneducated class-- but Scioto County is losing families -- in particular their kids to prescription narcotic drugs -- namely OxyContin.

Overdoses have quadrupled over the past decade, reports the New York Times, and are now the leading cause of accidental death, ahead of even car crashes.

One in 10 babies born in this Appalachia area of the country tests positive for drugs; the most popular among the area's addicts is OxyContin. The only difference between Scioto County, Ohio and many other areas of the country is that these perceived "lower class or uneducated" people are fighting back.

Moms and dads of dead kids are marching on pain clinics -- or pill mills -- and the City of Portsmouth Council has banned any new pain clinics from opening.

So much for the stigma of living in Appalachia -- the rest of the country should have the courage and tenacity that families in Scioto County demonstrate in the fight to keep their kids alive.

Florida has also fought back and is to be commended -- parents can make the difference in this war on prescription narcotic drugs.

Ohio, meet Florida and Georgia and Maine and Massachusetts -- organized and working professionally and staying credible -- you can make change in this country.

There is no "under-treatment of pain" in the U.S. and Canada -- it is purely a marketing ploy being used by the maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma through their lobbyists and funded pain societies, i.e. American Pain Foundation.

Working together, you can dispel this lie perpetrated by Purdue Pharma, a criminal pharmaceutical company whose goal is to push narcotics for every type of pain -- including mild and moderate -- on adults and even children.

"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead

The Scioto County Courthouse in the state of Ohio.

Lisa Roberts R.N./ Public Health Nurse, Portsmouth City Health Department, Ohio calls the prescription drug epidemic "a form of terrorism -- domestic bio-terrorism - and the FDA is in charge of this. Why won't the FDA reclassify OxyContin for severe pain only? -- America is under attack." Roberts and Portsmouth Police Chief Charles Horner are not sitting back and letting drugs kill and ruin families in their community anymore. With very little sleep, their message to every state in the country regarding the OxyContin epidemic in Ohio is "Get out of Dodge -- no pill mills -- no prescription drug pushing physicians and no drug dealers -- we're taking back our community." Stay the hell away from our kids!

Below is a column by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine that was printed by the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer's opinion editorial page on March 8, 2011.

Ohio's families and communities are under siege by the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs.

A recent execution-style double homicide in Ashtabula County is the latest link in a disturbing chain of prescription drug-fueled crimes. The Ashtabula County sheriff said that the trafficking of OxyContin and Percocet -- the two most popular prescription drugs in his jurisdiction -- was "running wild."

Ashtabula County is not alone:

• In Scioto County, the health commissioner declared a public health emergency.
• In Jackson County, an OxyContin addict strangled to death a 72-year-old woman in a murder-for-hire plot and then spent the $50,000 payoff on more OxyContin.
• In Gallia County, 19 out of 38 people indicted over a period of one month last summer were charged with possession of or trafficking in prescription pills.
• What's driving the demand for -- and the abuse of -- prescription drugs?

Most doctors who prescribe medication to alleviate pain have only their patients' best interests at heart. However, some patients "doctor-shop" in an attempt to score multiple prescriptions for painkillers.

In addition, a number of rogue clinics or "pill mills" prescribe and dispense prescription drugs inappropriately. For example, in Scioto County -- with only 76,000 residents -- at least eight pill mills pump out approximately 35 million oxycodone and hydrocodone pills per year -- an average of 460 pills per resident.

The street value of these drugs is about $1 per milligram, so an 80-milligram tablet sells for about $80. It's easy to see how the lure of quick cash can be just as addictive as the drugs.

The consequences of prescription drug abuse affect every corner of Ohio:

• In 2007, unintentional drug poisoning surpassed motor-vehicle crashes and suicide for the first time as the leading cause of injury death in Ohio. According to preliminary data from the Ohio Department of Health, an average of four Ohioans a day -- at least 1,373 -- died in 2009 of overdoses. Those deaths were from both prescription drug and other drug overdoses.
• In Central Ohio, babies born to mothers who abused prescription drugs spend time in neonatology to "step-down" from their addiction to painkillers -- a process that takes anywhere from a few days to a few months, and the long-term effects remain to be seen.
• In Adams County, four children were orphaned when their mother overdosed in May 2008, and their father then overdosed the following April.
• In Montgomery County, an 11-year-old girl died in 2009 of a morphine and OxyContin overdose.

The cost doesn't end with the shattered lives of individuals or the resources spent by law enforcement. According to a study recently published in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, during 2007, almost 700,000 Americans visited emergency departments for drug-related poisoning.

The total cost came close to $1.4 billion, of which Medicare and Medicaid picked up approximately 41 percent.

Prescription drug abuse and trafficking in Ohio is clearly a crisis -- an epidemic that is bigger than one person or even one office can combat. Battling it will take a concerted and coordinated effort.

My office is dedicating significant financial resources to the fight. I recently tapped Adams County Prosecutor Aaron Haslam to spearhead that effort. We plan to hire two assistant attorneys general to work with local law enforcement and county prosecutors to support them in preparing and prosecuting prescription drug cases. And, through my office, we'll also use the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission to pursue those who illegally distribute prescription drugs.

I commend Gov. John Kasich, who recently announced a range of new resources to combat the problem, including funds for a Scioto County drug treatment center and access to advanced treatment methods. Kasich also appointed former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery to advise a new prescription drug addiction task force, which will work with state agencies, the Ohio Supreme Court, local law enforcement leaders and other states. And an interagency group will coordinate the efforts of participants from all major areas involved in the treatment, law enforcement and judicial systems.

State government cannot, however, fight this battle alone. The private sector can reinforce the front lines through prevention and education initiatives.

Organizations like the Ohio State Medical Board must aggressively question the continued licensing of physicians who obviously violate their oath to "do no harm." Most of the doctors the board has taken action against in recent years were first sanctioned by another agency. If the board would step up, be the first to police its members, and stop waiting for others to take action, it would start becoming part of the solution.

Oxycontin has claimed lives all over both the U.S. and Canada in recent years.

How serious is Ohio taking this prescription drug epidemic and pill mills and the doctors working these pill mills killing and addicting people?

Paul Volkman is a convicted Ohio pain clinic doctor - now facing a possible 20-year sentence.

Here's just one example -- hopefully we'll see more.

After five days of deliberation, a jury in Cincinnati has returned guilty verdicts in the case of a southern Ohio pain clinic doctor. Dr. Paul Volkman was found guilty on 18 counts this week , including four counts of causing the overdose deaths of patients from narcotic drugs received from Volkman.

This is the first case in southern Ohio where a doctor has been found guilty of causing a drug overdose death. The jury returned the verdict last Monday. Volkman faces a mandatory 20-year sentence for each count of causing death. He was also convicted of 12 counts of illegal distribution of pain pills, four counts of operating an illegal drug house, one count of conspiracy and one illegal gun possession charge. He will be sentenced in 90 days. Volkman operated pain clinics in South Point and Portsmouth when he was arrested in May 2007. Guess the message here to anyone operating a pill mill in Ohio is -- or pushing OxyContin -- you might want to get out of Dodge. I think Appalachia is braver and smarter than you ever took them for. Stand tall people of Appalachia you do your families and our country proud!
Fix the Scioto County Problem of Drug Abuse, Misuse, and Overdose in Facebook

LP - "All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon the sand." - Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American Writer, Poet, Journalist

Marianne is a nurse having graduated in 1991 as president of her graduating class. She also has a Paralegal certification. Marianne served on a Community Service Board for the Courier News, a Gannet newspaper in NJ writing articles predominantly regarding AIDS patients and their emotional issues. She was awarded a Community Service Award in 1993 by the Hunterdon County, NJ HIV/AIDS Task Force in recognition of and appreciation for the donated time, energy and love in facilitating a Support Group for persons with HIV/AIDS.

Marianne Skolek
National Activist for Victims of OxyContin and
Purdue Pharma - a criminally convicted pharmaceutical company
Staff Correspondent, Salem-News.com

http://www.purduepharma.com/pressroom/app/news_announc/USGovt_reponse_Main.pdf

http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=2905&wit_id=6612

http://i.bnet.com/blogs/sebelius-response.pdf

http://www.vawd.uscourts.gov/PurdueFrederickCo/default.asp

www.oxydeaths.com