Prescription Pill abuse has forced law enforcement agencies across the country to target pain clinics and pain management doctors. As law enforcement cracks down on the abuse of prescription pills, an article written by the Daily Mail Reporter indicates that at least four manufactures are in the process of patenting the addictive ingredient hydrocodone in a pure form. Do we really need a “pure form” of hydrocodone? The Pharmaceutical companies will have doctors argue that this is just another “tool” for doctors to manage pain. However, the overwhelming addiction abuse associated with these pain medications has forced law enforcement and legislatures to increase penalties for illegally possessing these pain medications. The article in the Daily Mail, quotes Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing who told CBS: ‘You’ve got a person on your product for life, and a doctor’s got a patient who’s never going to miss an appointment, because if they did and they didn’t get their prescription, they would feel very sick. ‘It’s a terrific business model, and that’s what these companies want to get in on.’ These drug companies are going to produce a drug that is 10 times stronger than Vicodin. The reality is that the increased potency is going to lead to an increase in addiction and an increase in Pharmaceutical drug crimes. Some responsibility needs to come from the pharmaceutical drug manufacturers. Even as the criminal penalties increase, pharmaceutical manufacturers should have some type of ethical and legal responsibility to control its distribution.
Andrew Moses
Andrew has been practicing criminal law his entire career. After graduating from law school he began working as an Assistant State Attorney prosecuting cases in Orange and Osceola Counties. During his time as an Assistant State Attorney, Andrew handled all types of cases ranging from misdemeanors to such serious felonies as drug trafficking and armed robbery. His experience as a prosecutor helped him gain perspective of the criminal justice system and how the government established its cases.
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