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CNN Live Today

Interview With Barry Meier

Aired October 13, 2003 - 11:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: On now to conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh. He says he looks forward to returning to his radio show after he gets out of rehab, again. Limbaugh announced to his listeners on Friday that he is indeed addicted to prescription pain medication. He said he was checking himself in to a treatment center for the next 30 days. Limbaugh's name has come up during an investigation by Florida authorities into the illegal sell of prescription painkillers.
Well one of the drugs targeted in the Florida investigation is called OxyContin. That drug is also the focus of a book called "Painkiller: A Wonder Drug Trail of Addiction and Death." It was written by "New York Times" reporter Barry Meier. And Mr. Meier joining us this morning from our New York Bureau to talk more about the dangers of OxyContin. Thanks for being with us.

BARRY MEIER, AUTHOR, "PAINKILLER": Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: First tell me what is OxyContin?

MEIER: OxyContin is a very high strength concentrated form of oxycodone, widely-used narcotic and a widely-used painkiller.

KAGAN: And in the realm of drugs, how addictive is it?

MEIER: Well, you know there's a lot of mythology surrounding these drugs. For awhile the thought was if you looked at these kinds of drugs, you'd get hooked. That was a problem because a lot of people didn't get these drugs who need them.

More recently the mythology has been you could use these drug without any risks. And these drugs do have an addictive potential. They can be abused and they can be abused both within the medical situation and outside of it.

KAGAN: And so of course, since they're prescription drugs, they're legal, but there is a huge black market out there.

MEIER: You're absolutely right. In some parts of this country there are more deaths from prescription drug overdoses than overdoses involving illicit drugs like heroin.

KAGAN: When you hear -- this came to light with Rush Limbaugh's former housekeeper coming out and saying that she was going and buying these drugs for him. Is that not that you have your housekeeper do it for you, but that's a common -- it's that easy to get them? MEIER: It's extremely easy. And that's one of the big problems. These drugs leak out of the medical system in many different ways. People come in to doctor's offices and fain pain. There are doctors that write scripts for cash. Drug stores get held up. People forge prescriptions. It happens in numerous ways.

KAGAN: And so, Rush Limbaugh, of course, one of the most famous people in America. But in this case, he's really just another statistic, isn't he?

MEIER: It's very typical. And the problem that he's going through right now is very typical. People try to get off these drugs. They relapse. They've got to stick with the program for a very long time.

KAGAN: Well because if you go by what he's saying this is going to be his third try at rehab.

MEIER: And that's very typical. The atypical person is the one that goes in, comes out, it's a brand new day, I start my life all over again. It's a life-long problem and one that he's going to have to struggle with from this point forward.

KAGAN: In terms of gender and age, is he a typical user?

MEIER: It really goes all across the board. There are very high functioning users like him. There are people that are drug addicts on the street. There are teenagers. It really varies. You can't simplify it. There's no ideal pain patient and there's no ideal substance abuser.

KAGAN: And so when you were out there looking at this huge problem, did you get any ideas about how this can be tackled, not just one on one, on an individual basis like Rush Limbaugh is, but in terms of what we're dealing here with as a society?

MEIER: I think as a society we have to take these drugs very seriously. We use them for the people who use them, keep them out of the hands of people who might abuse them.

And I think doctors bear the ultimate responsibility for using these drugs. You know and doctors are always there for the free dinner, for the free trip that the drug company wants to send them on. They need to educate themselves about these drugs. You know there are experts who say if you don't know how to use these drugs you wouldn't be using them. And as a doctor, you really shouldn't.

KAGAN: So you're saying it's not so easy -- if you're dealing with a patient who's having pain issue, unless you're going to be in a very highly supervised program, that they shouldn't be prescribed in the first place?

MEIER: I think doctors need to be trained in the use of these drugs, they need to be trained in how to recognize substance abuse. And that's their responsibility. That really is their responsibility. KAGAN: But on the other hand, just to play devil's advocate for a moment here, once someone's hooked they get to be very creative in how they're going to get around that, whether they change doctors, change towns. As you said, the black market as well. So to just totally put it on doctors, I don't know how fair that is.

MEIER: You know, well, there's blame to be around here. Regulators need to take better action, doctors need to take better action, drug companies need to take better action.

But as a society, we need to come to grips with this because you've got teenagers' lives being destroyed. you have adults' lives being destroyed. And these are legal drugs. We need to get them to the right people and keep them away from people who might have problems with them.

KAGAN: Well thanks for giving us a look behind the scenes. Appreciate it. Barry Meier, the book is called "Painkiller: A Wonder Drug's Trail of Addiction and Death." Very informative. Appreciate your time today, sir.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 13, 2003 - 11:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: On now to conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh. He says he looks forward to returning to his radio show after he gets out of rehab, again. Limbaugh announced to his listeners on Friday that he is indeed addicted to prescription pain medication. He said he was checking himself in to a treatment center for the next 30 days. Limbaugh's name has come up during an investigation by Florida authorities into the illegal sell of prescription painkillers.
Well one of the drugs targeted in the Florida investigation is called OxyContin. That drug is also the focus of a book called "Painkiller: A Wonder Drug Trail of Addiction and Death." It was written by "New York Times" reporter Barry Meier. And Mr. Meier joining us this morning from our New York Bureau to talk more about the dangers of OxyContin. Thanks for being with us.

BARRY MEIER, AUTHOR, "PAINKILLER": Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: First tell me what is OxyContin?

MEIER: OxyContin is a very high strength concentrated form of oxycodone, widely-used narcotic and a widely-used painkiller.

KAGAN: And in the realm of drugs, how addictive is it?

MEIER: Well, you know there's a lot of mythology surrounding these drugs. For awhile the thought was if you looked at these kinds of drugs, you'd get hooked. That was a problem because a lot of people didn't get these drugs who need them.

More recently the mythology has been you could use these drug without any risks. And these drugs do have an addictive potential. They can be abused and they can be abused both within the medical situation and outside of it.

KAGAN: And so of course, since they're prescription drugs, they're legal, but there is a huge black market out there.

MEIER: You're absolutely right. In some parts of this country there are more deaths from prescription drug overdoses than overdoses involving illicit drugs like heroin.

KAGAN: When you hear -- this came to light with Rush Limbaugh's former housekeeper coming out and saying that she was going and buying these drugs for him. Is that not that you have your housekeeper do it for you, but that's a common -- it's that easy to get them? MEIER: It's extremely easy. And that's one of the big problems. These drugs leak out of the medical system in many different ways. People come in to doctor's offices and fain pain. There are doctors that write scripts for cash. Drug stores get held up. People forge prescriptions. It happens in numerous ways.

KAGAN: And so, Rush Limbaugh, of course, one of the most famous people in America. But in this case, he's really just another statistic, isn't he?

MEIER: It's very typical. And the problem that he's going through right now is very typical. People try to get off these drugs. They relapse. They've got to stick with the program for a very long time.

KAGAN: Well because if you go by what he's saying this is going to be his third try at rehab.

MEIER: And that's very typical. The atypical person is the one that goes in, comes out, it's a brand new day, I start my life all over again. It's a life-long problem and one that he's going to have to struggle with from this point forward.

KAGAN: In terms of gender and age, is he a typical user?

MEIER: It really goes all across the board. There are very high functioning users like him. There are people that are drug addicts on the street. There are teenagers. It really varies. You can't simplify it. There's no ideal pain patient and there's no ideal substance abuser.

KAGAN: And so when you were out there looking at this huge problem, did you get any ideas about how this can be tackled, not just one on one, on an individual basis like Rush Limbaugh is, but in terms of what we're dealing here with as a society?

MEIER: I think as a society we have to take these drugs very seriously. We use them for the people who use them, keep them out of the hands of people who might abuse them.

And I think doctors bear the ultimate responsibility for using these drugs. You know and doctors are always there for the free dinner, for the free trip that the drug company wants to send them on. They need to educate themselves about these drugs. You know there are experts who say if you don't know how to use these drugs you wouldn't be using them. And as a doctor, you really shouldn't.

KAGAN: So you're saying it's not so easy -- if you're dealing with a patient who's having pain issue, unless you're going to be in a very highly supervised program, that they shouldn't be prescribed in the first place?

MEIER: I think doctors need to be trained in the use of these drugs, they need to be trained in how to recognize substance abuse. And that's their responsibility. That really is their responsibility. KAGAN: But on the other hand, just to play devil's advocate for a moment here, once someone's hooked they get to be very creative in how they're going to get around that, whether they change doctors, change towns. As you said, the black market as well. So to just totally put it on doctors, I don't know how fair that is.

MEIER: You know, well, there's blame to be around here. Regulators need to take better action, doctors need to take better action, drug companies need to take better action.

But as a society, we need to come to grips with this because you've got teenagers' lives being destroyed. you have adults' lives being destroyed. And these are legal drugs. We need to get them to the right people and keep them away from people who might have problems with them.

KAGAN: Well thanks for giving us a look behind the scenes. Appreciate it. Barry Meier, the book is called "Painkiller: A Wonder Drug's Trail of Addiction and Death." Very informative. Appreciate your time today, sir.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com