Tag Archives: sedatives

The malicious use of pharmaceuticals: An under-recognized form of child abuse

Child abuse is a serious problem that affects nearly one million children a year in the United States alone. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the US Department of Health and Human Services classify child abuse into four categories including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. None of these categories, however, clearly includes the abusive use of drugs on children. A study soon to be published in the Journal of Pediatrics investigates the malicious use of pharmaceuticals and attempts to shed light on this under-recognized problem.

The London Times: “Brittany Murphy, Michael Jackson, Heath Legder… America’s fatal addiction to prescription drugs”

The biggest killer drugs in the States right now are legal and have been prescribed. Here’s how easy it is to score and to get hooked. I went to my appointment with “Dr C’ in Los Angeles with a shopping list of the most commonly abused types of drug: pain relievers, tranquillisers, stimulants and sedatives. Beforehand, a local addiction specialist, Bernadine Fried, had briefed me on how to approach your doctor like an addict and still come away with fistfuls of pills.

Pill popping: “The misconception is that prescription drugs aren’t dangerous because a doctor gives them out”

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)’s survey the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2008 15.2 million Americans age 12 and older had taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant, or sedative for nonmedical purposes at least once in the year. Addiction to and the abuse of prescription drugs, also known as “pill popping,” has become a national trend.

Anna Nicole Smith’s psychiatrist prescribed “pharmaceutical suicide” according to court records

Anna Nicole Smith’s psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich prescribed the equivalent of “pharmaceutical suicide” in the days after the death of her son, according to court records. Eroshevich tried to prescribe two sedatives, 300 tablets of methadone, a muscle relaxer, an anti-inflammatory drug and 4 bottles of a painkiller called “hospital heroin.” “They are going to kill her with this,” one of the pharmacists told himself at the time.