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My
name is Theresa Attwood. I am a registered nurse, certified by the American
Nurses’ Credentialing Center in the specialty of Psychiatric and Mental Health
Nursing. I hold a Master of Human Services Degree and am a member of the
American Psychiatric Nurses Association as well as the American Counseling
Association. As a mental health/ addictions professional, a family member of
people who suffer from, or are in recovery from the disease of addiction and as
a person who is also in recovery from this disease, I have continuous exposure
to it in it’s many forms and in its various stages of progress and outcomes. I
am grateful you have granted me the honor of testifying here today.
In
considering the escalation of the number of people becoming addicted to, and
dying from, the misuse of OxyContin, it is important to realize that its
respiratory - depressant effects can be lethal with any, including the initial
use, that is not monitored by a physician. The likelihood of death is increased
because when used in conjunction with alcohol and other sedatives, as is the
practice among many teenagers, the respiratory-depressant effects are
potentiated. The rapid increase in the number of young people able to access and
consequently abuse OxyContin is intensely apparent in my daily practice.
Many,
if not most, of the adolescents I come in contact with are well aware of how
“good” “Oxys” are. When I ask my young patients if they realize that
OxyContin is just as, if
not more, deadly than heroin, they respond with great skepticism
and apathy because they view OxyContin as a medicine- not a street drug, making
it more attractive to a wider variety of teens. These young people consider
OxyContin to be a cleaner, prettier, more powerful form of heroin. Although they
are vastly informed of the positive euphoric potency of OxyContin,
they have little, if any, information about it’s often fatal
respiratory depressant effects and the eventual withdrawal syndrome. This lack
of knowledge, and lack of concern for their own existence, is evident as they
freely admit to, even brag about, supplementing
OxyContin use with alcohol and other opioids- a practice that has proven to have
detrimental consequences. Upon entering treatment, often as a result of legal or
familial force, adolescents are resistant to intervention or education. This
opposition is not only a result of their inherent developmental ideology of
independence, omnipotence, and immortality, but also because OxyContin provides
the ultimate in escapism. I have watched young people walk out of treatment
centers, risking imprisonment, homelessness, the loss of families- including the
loss of their own small children, and
even the loss of their own lives, rather than face the prospect
of life without OxyContin and other drugs.
The
horrible dilemma of OxyContin misuse recently hit home for me. My relative had
been in a car accident, suffered spinal trauma, and was being treated with
percocet for a number of years. As his tolerance to the percocet increased, his
physician began to utilize OxyContin to manage his back pain. Once he was
introduced to the OxyContin, he required more and more of it. He was initially
prescribed 10 mg, then 20, then 40, 80, and finally 160 mg. At the conclusion of
his active use, he was taking up to four 160mg OxyContins, with percocet, soma
and fiorecet, a day-an amount which, by all accounts, could have easily been
fatal. He states that once addicted, he began chewing the OxyContins, despite
the accompanying nausea and gagging. He tells me that as he’d be picking up a
prescription, his mind would be racing to figure out a way to get the next one.
He offered many excuses to physicians, such as: his son spilled the pills down
the sink or his car was robbed. He admits to loss of libido, lack of motivation
(outside of obtaining pills) and wide mood swings. He says, “ I didn’t want
sex, I had no feelings, all that I thought about was getting the next script.”
After many months, his wife began threatening to leave him and his
performance and relationships at work began to suffer. He knew he needed to stop
using the medications, and he states he really wanted to, but despite all
thoughts, desires and actions to the contrary, he continued and
increased his use. He
tells me, “As I sat there watching everything I had ever wanted, my wife and
family, packing up and walking out the door, I literally couldn’t even
move to stop it- I was so screwed up.” Currently, my family member has 96 days
clean and he just got a promotion at work, but he adds, “my wife’s still
gone”. He now uses a non-narcotic prescription medication to manage his back
pain, which he assures me works well, however, his insurance won’t pay for it-
ironically, they had paid over $100,000 for the OxyContin.
To
summarize, to those patients for whom it is truly indicated, OxyContin is
absolutely beneficial and necessary, however, for those who recreationally use
it, or become addicted, it is just as powerfully destructive.
Thank
you for your time and attention.
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