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New York Just Can't Lay Off The Oxy
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Mar 16, 2011
Modified Mar 16, 2011
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Mar 16, 2011
Modified Mar 16, 2011
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The city seems to have had an oxycodone problem for some time now, with one borough issued one prescription per every four or five inhabitants. And according to new data from the Office of Special Narcotics (below), that trend shows no signs of slowing down. About 13% of the city's population has a prescription for the painkiller, a number that has doubled in the past three years. "The public flat out needs to be better informed about how widespread the problem is and how dangerously addictive these substances are," said the city's special narcotics prosecutor, Bridget Brennan. "It's pure opium. And that's an addictive drug. It's nothing to be played with."
Staten Island still had the most residents with prescriptions, and Brennan said, "If you combine that with the number of prescriptions filled for Vicodin, you get to 33 percent of the population." But in the past three years Brooklyn's prescription rate has jumped 120 percent, with ten prescriptions per 100 residents. Manhattan is up to 13 per 100, and the Bronx is at 17 per 100. However, Brennan argues that Bloomberg's proposed budget cuts would "render us really unable to fulfill our statutory duties," leaving much prescription abuse unchecked.
Senator Chuck Schumer has already called for Florida Governor Rick Scott to approve a program that would stop the prescription pill trade from the state (known as the "Flamingo Express"), and Brennan said she is reaching out to various governmental agencies for support. In November, a doctor on Staten Island was busted for writing oxycodone prescriptions to pretty much anyone who would ask.
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Jaya Saxena
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