NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunday's front page of The New York Times New York edition headlined, "F.D.A. Likely to Add Limits on Painkillers," an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration voted 19 to 10 to recommend increased restrictions on hydrocodone products, the country's most widely used narcotic painkillers. Painkillers now take the lives of more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined, and since 2008, drug-induced deaths have outstripped those from traffic accidents. Prescription drugs account for about three-quarters of all drug overdose deaths in the United States, with the number of deaths from painkillers quadrupling since 1999, according to federal data.
Addiction expert, Dr. Jill Backfield, Executive Director and Director of Clinical Services of The New York Center for Living says, "It is disconcerting that at the same time law enforcement officials are cracking down on the epidemic prescription drug crisis, drug makers are seeking F.D.A. approval for new super painkillers like Zohydro with 10 times the potentially addictive hydrocodone in Vicodin."
The relative ease with which teens are able to access the hydrocodone drug makes it prone to misuse and abuse. "Many teens have easy access to the unused prescriptions of family members for opiate medication. Even if no one in your family has an opiate prescription, old or new, their friends may be sharing what they find at home," advises Dr. Backfield.
Hydrocodone is the active ingredient in prescribed drugs like Vicodin, Percocet, Percodan and Oxycontin. Teens may use slang references to these drugs such as oxys, hillbilly heroin, OCs, Percs, happy pills and more.
Located in Manhattan, The New York Center for Living, an abstinence-based outpatient recovery center, has had tremendous successes treating adolescents and young adults, ages 13-26, who suffer from substance abuse and co-occurring psychological problems such as ADHD, depression, anxiety, and school failures, often accompanying and complicating substance abuse behaviors and recovery.
Dr. Backfield encourages parents to beware, "Teens who are diagnosed with co-occurring mental health, behavioral or social issues may have an increased risk of drug abuse simply because they want to fit in with peers due to problems with self-esteem or are frantic to quell the symptoms of their original disorder."
The New York Center for Living team of experts in psychiatry, psychology, social work, substance abuse, nutrition, academia, and the wellness sciences believes strongly that addiction is a disease of the family and focuses on treating families as a whole. The facility, in a modern, technologically updated, and serene setting, offers the client the opportunity to participate in individual, group, and family treatment, as well as engage in art therapy, yoga and meditative approaches to relaxation, and explore the role of nutrition in establishing physical and emotional well-being. For more information visit: www.centerforliving.org or call 212-712-8800.
SOURCE New York Center for Living
