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CNN Live Saturday

Many Doctors Think OxyContin Is Overprescribed

Aired October 11, 2003 - 12:05   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.


RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Troubled talk show host Rush Limbaugh says the show will go on and so will his medical treatment for addiction to painkillers. Limbaugh spoke about it on his radio program, yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I need to tell you today, that part of what you have heard and read in the past week is correct. I am addicted to prescription pain medication.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAN MIGUEL: Here to talk about the addiction and treatment plans, Dr. Marcia Cohen, she's a medical analyst for "CNN Headline News" and she joins us from Boston.

Dr. Cohen, good to see you again. Thanks for being with us.

DR. MARCIA COHEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, Renay.

SAN MIGUEL: I know that OxyContin, which is one of the drugs that we're talking about, here, according to some of the reports on this story, is supposed to be prescribed for anything but moderate to severe pain. you expect to last for a while. Is there a concern in the medical community this is an over prescribed drug?

COHEN: Well, yes. Some in the doctors do feel that it's over and are giving this medication for people who are going to have more short-term pain and that other less strong drugs could be used. But, this drug is good for people, especially patient -- cancer parents or people who've had surgery or people who are in some type of pain that really needs something strong to take care of them.

SAN MIGUEL: In terms of the abuse of this particular drug, though, I mean, we're talking a physical and psychological addiction, your body and mind craves this?

COHEN: Yeah, well, it is. It's a terribly addictive drug, it's actually, it's a synthetic type of drug, it's morphine-like and what happens is it creeps up on you. You take one pill, then before you know it, you take two and allegedly, Rush Limbaugh was taking 30 pills of OxyContin a day to take care of this pain that he had in his neck from slipped disks. It's very, very physically addicting. If you try to get off of it, you have terrible symptoms, have to be hospitalized sometimes for these. And so, it is a deadly drug, in that way, and psychologically, as well, because your brain puts out some of these chemical, like dopamine, that gives you a euphoric and good feeling, which is another reason to keep taking the drug.

SAN MIGUEL: The FDA strength -- after what you just said here, I mean, the FDA strengthened warnings about OxyContin back in 2001. What were doctors supposed to do after that, when it came to prescribing the drug?

COHEN: Well, one of the problems that they had, the FDA came in, is that OxyContin is a time released pill, and people were crushing them or chewing them and then getting this huge dose of the drug into their bloodstream which actually led to many deaths. So, that particular reason was why the FDA came on force to say -- look, you got to be careful of this drug. As with all medications, they're not for everyone, and for people who are postoperatively, who are going to get well, this is probably not a drug. But, for people who are in chronic severe pain, it still has a real valuable treatment for those people

SAN MIGUEL: So, what awaits Rush Limbaugh in rehab? How hard is it to kick this kind of drug?

COHEN: Very hard. It's a very, very tough road that he is going to have to hoe in order to getting through this and a lot of people don't make it, as a matter of fact, he's tried twice. I give him a lot of credit for trying, again. The detoxification is very difficult. But, that alone is not what has to be done. They also need to have some counseling, some psychiatric counseling, both individually, with family, and sometimes with groups. A very, very difficult thing for him to do. I wish him well.

SAN MIGUEL: Well, he said he would keep his listeners and the world posted on how he's doing. So, we'll have to wait and see.

Dr. Marcia Cohen joining us from Boston.

Thanks for your insight. We appreciate it.

COHEN: Thank you, Renay. Take care, have a good weekend.

SAN MIGUEL: You too.

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 11, 2003 - 12:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Troubled talk show host Rush Limbaugh says the show will go on and so will his medical treatment for addiction to painkillers. Limbaugh spoke about it on his radio program, yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I need to tell you today, that part of what you have heard and read in the past week is correct. I am addicted to prescription pain medication.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAN MIGUEL: Here to talk about the addiction and treatment plans, Dr. Marcia Cohen, she's a medical analyst for "CNN Headline News" and she joins us from Boston.

Dr. Cohen, good to see you again. Thanks for being with us.

DR. MARCIA COHEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, Renay.

SAN MIGUEL: I know that OxyContin, which is one of the drugs that we're talking about, here, according to some of the reports on this story, is supposed to be prescribed for anything but moderate to severe pain. you expect to last for a while. Is there a concern in the medical community this is an over prescribed drug?

COHEN: Well, yes. Some in the doctors do feel that it's over and are giving this medication for people who are going to have more short-term pain and that other less strong drugs could be used. But, this drug is good for people, especially patient -- cancer parents or people who've had surgery or people who are in some type of pain that really needs something strong to take care of them.

SAN MIGUEL: In terms of the abuse of this particular drug, though, I mean, we're talking a physical and psychological addiction, your body and mind craves this?

COHEN: Yeah, well, it is. It's a terribly addictive drug, it's actually, it's a synthetic type of drug, it's morphine-like and what happens is it creeps up on you. You take one pill, then before you know it, you take two and allegedly, Rush Limbaugh was taking 30 pills of OxyContin a day to take care of this pain that he had in his neck from slipped disks. It's very, very physically addicting. If you try to get off of it, you have terrible symptoms, have to be hospitalized sometimes for these. And so, it is a deadly drug, in that way, and psychologically, as well, because your brain puts out some of these chemical, like dopamine, that gives you a euphoric and good feeling, which is another reason to keep taking the drug.

SAN MIGUEL: The FDA strength -- after what you just said here, I mean, the FDA strengthened warnings about OxyContin back in 2001. What were doctors supposed to do after that, when it came to prescribing the drug?

COHEN: Well, one of the problems that they had, the FDA came in, is that OxyContin is a time released pill, and people were crushing them or chewing them and then getting this huge dose of the drug into their bloodstream which actually led to many deaths. So, that particular reason was why the FDA came on force to say -- look, you got to be careful of this drug. As with all medications, they're not for everyone, and for people who are postoperatively, who are going to get well, this is probably not a drug. But, for people who are in chronic severe pain, it still has a real valuable treatment for those people

SAN MIGUEL: So, what awaits Rush Limbaugh in rehab? How hard is it to kick this kind of drug?

COHEN: Very hard. It's a very, very tough road that he is going to have to hoe in order to getting through this and a lot of people don't make it, as a matter of fact, he's tried twice. I give him a lot of credit for trying, again. The detoxification is very difficult. But, that alone is not what has to be done. They also need to have some counseling, some psychiatric counseling, both individually, with family, and sometimes with groups. A very, very difficult thing for him to do. I wish him well.

SAN MIGUEL: Well, he said he would keep his listeners and the world posted on how he's doing. So, we'll have to wait and see.

Dr. Marcia Cohen joining us from Boston.

Thanks for your insight. We appreciate it.

COHEN: Thank you, Renay. Take care, have a good weekend.

SAN MIGUEL: You too.

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