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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview with Marc Siegel

Aired October 11, 2003 - 07:34   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.


CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We've been hearing about Rush Limbaugh and his struggle with addictive painkillers. He's certainly not the only one addicted to painkilling medications.
Here to tell us more about this painful addiction is Dr. Marc Siegel.

He's a professor of medicine at New York University Medical School.

Good morning and thanks for being with us.

When you heard Oxycontin, did that ring true to you, by the way?

DR. MARC SIEGEL, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Well, that's one of a couple of possibilities, yes. And the pills that he may be, you know, that he was addicted to are all in the same category. They cause both psychological and physical addiction. It's very easy, Charles, for him to have gotten on these after spinal surgery if the back pain continued, which is what we're hearing reported. You know...

MOLINEAUX: Now this is not something people normally think of. You're thinking, well, heroin or cocaine or something. But pain pills, is that something that's really understood generally, that this is really potentially habit forming?

SIEGEL: It may not be as well understood as it should be. These are in the same category of medications as heroin and morphine and the stronger medications. These are narcotics and they are highly addictive.

MOLINEAUX: Chemically, what happens to you?

SIEGEL: Well, it's both a psychological and a physical addiction. Psychologically, it brings you to a state of euphoria, you know, painlessness, and you get used to that. So you crave that state. Physically what happens is the brain makes its own happy hormones called endorphins. When you take these pills, the brain stops making so much of that. So, what happens is if you stop taking these pills, your body gets to be in trouble and you have a physical reaction. You get a rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, you sweat a lot, you get anxious, you get -- you can't sleep. These are very common physical reactions if you stop these pills suddenly.

MOLINEAUX: And how is it actually weaning yourself off this? Can it be done or will you always yearn to get back to it? SIEGEL: That's a very good question. It's very hard to do this. This is why, you know, Rush is going to be going into medical treatment. You sometimes have to use substitute medications like methadone for this or other pills like valium are helpful. But it definitely has to be under a doctor's supervision, very closely.

MOLINEAUX: What are the long-term effects of exposing yourself to this day in, day out, month in, month out, and once you've established this addiction, what are you doing to yourself by keeping it up?

SIEGEL: Well, by keeping it up you're keeping yourself in a kind of a crutch state where you need a pill to get by. Plus, you can't possibly be as healthy or think as clearly as you would if you weren't on these pills.

Now, the good news is long-term, if you manage to get off these and you don't come back to them, it's kind of like alcoholism. Once you're addicted to these, you always have a tendency to go back to it. But if you're able to get off of these pills long-term, there shouldn't be any long-term effects.

MOLINEAUX: Really briefly, we heard this came after Rush's back surgery. Is there much consideration given in painful cases of surgery or pain management to the potential habit forming effects of any of these drugs?

SIEGEL: That's a great question. I think that should be considered more. I think doctors tend to use these meds because, in the post-operative situation, you need something right away. But the problem is the surgery may not have completely relieved the pain. So there you are, you've had your surgery, you're on these pain pills and you discover if you stop them, the pain comes back. It's something that doctors have to be very careful about.

MOLINEAUX: OK, thank you very much, Dr. Marc Siegel

Good to have you with us this morning.

SIEGEL: Thanks, Charles.

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 - 07:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We've been hearing about Rush Limbaugh and his struggle with addictive painkillers. He's certainly not the only one addicted to painkilling medications.
Here to tell us more about this painful addiction is Dr. Marc Siegel.

He's a professor of medicine at New York University Medical School.

Good morning and thanks for being with us.

When you heard Oxycontin, did that ring true to you, by the way?

DR. MARC SIEGEL, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Well, that's one of a couple of possibilities, yes. And the pills that he may be, you know, that he was addicted to are all in the same category. They cause both psychological and physical addiction. It's very easy, Charles, for him to have gotten on these after spinal surgery if the back pain continued, which is what we're hearing reported. You know...

MOLINEAUX: Now this is not something people normally think of. You're thinking, well, heroin or cocaine or something. But pain pills, is that something that's really understood generally, that this is really potentially habit forming?

SIEGEL: It may not be as well understood as it should be. These are in the same category of medications as heroin and morphine and the stronger medications. These are narcotics and they are highly addictive.

MOLINEAUX: Chemically, what happens to you?

SIEGEL: Well, it's both a psychological and a physical addiction. Psychologically, it brings you to a state of euphoria, you know, painlessness, and you get used to that. So you crave that state. Physically what happens is the brain makes its own happy hormones called endorphins. When you take these pills, the brain stops making so much of that. So, what happens is if you stop taking these pills, your body gets to be in trouble and you have a physical reaction. You get a rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, you sweat a lot, you get anxious, you get -- you can't sleep. These are very common physical reactions if you stop these pills suddenly.

MOLINEAUX: And how is it actually weaning yourself off this? Can it be done or will you always yearn to get back to it? SIEGEL: That's a very good question. It's very hard to do this. This is why, you know, Rush is going to be going into medical treatment. You sometimes have to use substitute medications like methadone for this or other pills like valium are helpful. But it definitely has to be under a doctor's supervision, very closely.

MOLINEAUX: What are the long-term effects of exposing yourself to this day in, day out, month in, month out, and once you've established this addiction, what are you doing to yourself by keeping it up?

SIEGEL: Well, by keeping it up you're keeping yourself in a kind of a crutch state where you need a pill to get by. Plus, you can't possibly be as healthy or think as clearly as you would if you weren't on these pills.

Now, the good news is long-term, if you manage to get off these and you don't come back to them, it's kind of like alcoholism. Once you're addicted to these, you always have a tendency to go back to it. But if you're able to get off of these pills long-term, there shouldn't be any long-term effects.

MOLINEAUX: Really briefly, we heard this came after Rush's back surgery. Is there much consideration given in painful cases of surgery or pain management to the potential habit forming effects of any of these drugs?

SIEGEL: That's a great question. I think that should be considered more. I think doctors tend to use these meds because, in the post-operative situation, you need something right away. But the problem is the surgery may not have completely relieved the pain. So there you are, you've had your surgery, you're on these pain pills and you discover if you stop them, the pain comes back. It's something that doctors have to be very careful about.

MOLINEAUX: OK, thank you very much, Dr. Marc Siegel

Good to have you with us this morning.

SIEGEL: Thanks, Charles.

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