Yet another doctor has had a run-in with the law but this one went further than just having a few too many patients on prescription painkillers or overmedicating someone who eventually succumbed to a drug overdose. Lawrence Carl Runke, 66, of Arizona decided to take his pharmaceutical knowledge and apply it to an illegal pharmacy. For his trouble, he got himself five years in prison and four years of probation.

The Charges: Illegal Painkiller Prescriptions

Runke was found guilty of 12 criminal counts. These included charges like money laundering, sale of prescription drugs, possession of prescription drugs for sale and possession of dangerous drugs for sale as well as conspiracy.

Where did Runke get the drugs to fill the prescriptions at his illegal pharmacy? The same place many Americans go to get their illegal painkillers when they can’t get a legal prescription in the United States: India. The way prosecutors tell it, Runke purchased drugs for his pharmacy, Global Medicines, LLC, from unapproved Indian suppliers and then resold them here.

Runke’s medical license was suspended long ago and he was never licensed as a pharmacist in Arizona. This is what originally started the investigation in 2005. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the Phoenix Police Department worked together on this one and found that Runke’s little business was potentially creating serious health problems for his clients.

The risks that Runke took with patients’ health certainly wasn’t hurting his bank account: he generated over $1.5 million dollars since 2005.

Arizona and Illegal Prescription Painkillers

Arizona, it seems, is a new hotbed for these illegal pharmacies. With the spate of busts recently that close down illegal pharmacies, Arizona is making quite a name for itself.

Another Arizona doc, Dr. Albert Szu Yun Yeh, was shut down last year with 14 felony counts for opening a clinic (only on Tuesdays) that managed to fill 100 prescriptions weekly for drugs like OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin. He wrote the prescriptions, in some cases, without even seeing the patient and refilled them without checkups; both of these actions are practices that violate the Controlled Substances Act when opiate painkillers are in question.

Fighting Prescription Drug Fraud in Arizona

Due to the many arrests and illicit pharmacies recently as well as the fact that 50 percent of people entering drug rehab are doing so for prescription drug addiction, law enforcement has been working harder than ever to fight the problem. They have built a statewide database to track painkiller and stimulant prescriptions that are often abused, making it more difficult for an individual to receive multiple prescriptions for the same or similar drugs from different doctors and even harder for doctors to prescribe copious amounts of addictive drugs to hundreds of patients.

Databases have worked to limit prescription drug fraud in some states and is a good preventative measure, but it’s not enough to eradicate the problem of prescription drug addiction. Drug rehab for prescription drug addiction is the only way to break free if you have been struggling with painkiller or stimulant addiction. Call now for more information.

Former Oklahoma State basketball coach Sean Sutton, 41, was arrested for trying to get prescription drugs illegally from out of state. He spent the night in jail and was reportedly dealing with withdrawal symptoms like nausea and vomiting and profuse sweating when he was released.

Sutton arranged to pick up about 40 pills under a false name. The pills in the package included clonazepam, an anti-anxiety medication and two types of the stimulant Adderall and another drug.

Sean’s arraignment is set for next week where it is expected that he will be charged with “obtaining a controlled or dangerous substance (CDS) by fraud, possession of a CDS, attempted possession of a CDS and use of a communication device to facilitate a felony,” according to New York Breaking News.

Drug Addiction and Genetic Predisposition

Sutton is not the only one in his family who has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. His father, Eddie Sutton, was also a former Cowboys coach until May of 2006 when he was in an alcohol-induced car accident and was forced to relinquish the position.

After the car accident, Sean replaced his father as the Oklahoma State basketball coach but had to resign in April 2008.

Now, he is dealing with legal issues due to drug addiction as well. Considering how difficult prescription drug addiction is on the system and the severity of the withdrawal symptoms, hopefully his first stop will be at a prescription drug detox and addiction treatment center.

Drug Addiction Treatment

Whether your issue is alcoholism or prescription drug addiction to drugs like OxyContin, Valium, Xanax, hydrocodone, Percocet and other pills, drug addiction treatment is the only way to safely change your life. Even if you are committed to breaking your addiction to your drug of choice, it is not recommended that you stop using an addictive drug by yourself if you experience withdrawal symptoms. It is recommended that you instead enroll yourself in a drug detox and addiction treatment program that provides you with an holistic treatment program.

The Benefits of Holistic Treatment

Holistic drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs allow you to get multiple layers of treatment for your addiction. This multi-faceted approach makes your experience at drug rehab as well rounded as possible, allowing you to explore many different types of therapy and treatment.

The more time you spend learning how drugs of addiction affect your brain and body and honestly exploring your own personal experience and drug history, the better equipped you will be to learn new tools to fight off relapse when you return home. The more time you spend in treatment and the more varied the therapies you undertake during your rehab experience, the more likely you will be to stave off relapse for long periods. Statistics show that the more immersive your treatment, the better you will do in recovery.

For more information, contact The Canyon today.

It’s well known that regular and continued use of prescription painkillers like Vicodin, oxycodone, codeine, Percocet and others ultimately lead to prescription drug addiction if it continues unchecked. But a new focus for the medical and substance abuse treatment community is how the presence of prescription painkiller use, abuse and addiction can actually lead to the increase in the experience of pain.

Painkillers and the Increased Experience of Pain

The Behavioral Health Central website says: “Some pain medications can actually cause or increase the pain that they are using the medication to manage.”

Some doctors have even named the phenomenon: opiate-induced hyperalgesia. Basically, this condition means that you are more sensitive to pain after a long period of taking pain management medications. In some cases, this can even mean that things that didn’t cause pain before you started taking painkillers are now painful for you. In studies, this response occurs in some animals after just one high dose of an opiate painkiller.

How Do You Identify Opiate Induced Hyperalgesia?

This condition is generally identified when you are on painkiller medications and yet continue to experience pain despite consistently increasing the amount of your dose.

It has also been identified in people who actively used opiates like heroin and prescription painkillers for years before getting treatment. After treatment, it is sometimes difficult to get effective relief from pain, especially for chronic pain.

Treating Opiate Induced Hyperalgesia

For those who are currently on high doses of prescription painkillers and are having difficulty getting any relief from pain, prescription drug rehab and immediate detox are usually recommended. The idea is that through reducing your tolerance, opiate painkillers in more moderate doses may again work for you. In some cases, non-opioid based painkillers are preferred so as to avoid the risk of opiate painkiller addiction.

Prescription Painkiller Addiction Treatment

Treating prescription painkiller addiction can be scary to those who are worried about the withdrawal symptoms associated with painkiller detox. When you stop taking a drug upon which your body has come to depend, you will experience different symptoms of illness that will vary in type and intensity based on a number of factors. For example, those addicted to high doses of opiate painkillers like Vicodin, oxycodone, hydrocodone and others may begin to feel nauseous, get a headache, start to sweat, get stomach cramps or feel nauseous, and experience bone and muscle pain within the first few hours after their missed dose. The best way to combat this is with a medical detox at a certified substance abuse treatment center that understands opiate addiction.

When you have completed painkiller detox, you can begin addiction counseling and alternative treatments to help you further cement yourself in sobriety before returning home. A big focus of prescription painkiller addiction treatment is relapse prevention, which provides you with the tools you need to fend off the urge to pop a pain pill when you feel stressed. For those with chronic pain, it can also include learning more holistic ways to address pain management without addictive drugs.

If you would like more information about our painkiller rehab here at The Canyon, contact us today.

A petition has been going around in Scioto County in Ohio to fight drug addiction. The drug of focus is prescription painkillers and Scioto County residents and residents of surrounding counties are hoping to fight off the rising problem of prescription drug addiction in their state by asking Governor Ted Strickland to help them better control the distribution of prescription drugs.

They are called the Citizens Against Prescription Abuse and they are working hard to stop prescription drug abuse and addiction in their state.

Bob Walton is a Porter Township trustee and a community organizer for Citizens Against Prescription Abuse. He says: “It’s sad. It’s frustrating. It’s an uphill battle. But it’s a battle we’ve got to fight or we will lose a generation.”

Their plan of attack on local prescription drug abuse is mainly focused on pain clinics that provide prescriptions for opiate painkillers and fill them. Their petition requests that Governor Strickland better regulate the pain clinics that they believe hand out prescriptions far too easily and often, leading to a high rate of prescription drug addiction and abuse as well as increased hospitalization due to overdose. They want an investigation into the local prescription drug addiction problem opened by everyone: the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, state medical and pharmacy boards, the DEA, the IRS and the FBI.

They also want changes in Ohio law that further restricts new clinics from opening and regulates the operation of current painkiller clinics.

About 700 signatures had been gathered by the time of this posting, but Walton is hoping for about 2000 signatures total by the end of the month.

Walton cites the numbers for support of his proposition: Scioto County has nine pain clinics.

Lisa Roberts is a registered nurse and an injury prevention specialist for the Portsmouth City Health Department. She backs up Walton’s plan, stating that the county has the second highest rate of prescription drug overdose in Ohio and that Southern Ohio distributes four times as many prescription drugs as Northern Ohio.

Says Roberts: “We have a very high addiction rates in addition to the death rates. A lot of young people are addicted. Our treatment facilities are overwhelmed. The court systems are overwhelmed.”

She also says that many of these prescription pain clinics are owned by people with past convictions for drug trafficking and staffed by doctors with medical licensing issues.

Dr. Robert Mullins is a local emergency room doctor who is also interested in fighting against the prescription pain clinics and resulting prescription drug addiction.

He says: “This is a problem that, once it’s created, it’s very hard to get out from under. Maybe [the petition] will actually help and maybe it won’t but if we stand by and do nothing, I assure you it will escalate.”

If you would like more information about Scioto County’s fight against prescription drug addiction or if you would like to sign the petition, you can do so online.

If you would like to learn more about prescription drug addiction treatment at The Canyon, contact us today.

Drug abuse and addiction problems in Florida are running rampant and every few months a new expose or research study is released that reveals a new troubled area of the state or a drug of focus. From crystal meth to heroin, Florida is a heavy area for drug traffickers bringing substances into the country. The prevalence of prescription drug abuse here, too, is a significant. Here’s a highlight report of some of the largest drug abuse problems affecting Florida right now.

Crystal Meth Addiction

Much of the state’s crystal meth supply is made within the state’s borders. Many rural areas are home to crystal meth labs where the drug is produced from scratch, but more recently, police have been busting labs in apartment buildings and “rolling” labs or labs in RVs and campers. Florida has had increased numbers of reported use of the drug, as well as arrests for possession and distribution of the substance. More and more Floridians are entering crystal meth rehab and attending counseling for their issues with the drug.

Heroin Addiction

The drug trafficking market that goes through Florida is primarily focused on heroin. It’s multiple ports to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean means that it’s relatively easy for boats of all sizes to find their way ashore. Port towns, therefore, are a hot bed of drug and gang-related activity associated with heroin. Studies have shown that heroin abusers and heroin addicts (both the number of people who report using it in the month prior to the survey and the number of people seeking treatment for the disease) have increased in number every year for the past few decades.

Prescription Drug Addiction

Prescription drug addiction has long been an issue, especially in larger cities like Miami. There are a disproportionately high number of clinics devoted to filling and provide prescriptions as compared to the rest of the country. For that reason, there are also a disproportionately high number of doctors facing charges for illegal or inappropriate drug dispensation and higher rates of death due to prescription drug overdose.

Getting Addiction Treatment Help

Whether your drug of choice is crystal meth, heroin, or prescription drugs like OxyContin, Percocet, or hydrocodone or a combination of drugs, you can find the help you need to break free from your dependence at a drug and alcohol rehab. At a drug and alcohol rehab, you not only stop using your drug of choice with medical assistance, you also get the addiction counseling you need to understand your addiction, educational classes to understand how addiction works in the body, and therapy in groups and alone to help you gain strength in recovery.

If you would like to learn more about enrolling in drug and alcohol addiction treatment, The Canyon can help. Whether you are looking for a crystal meth detox, a prescription drug rehab or a heroin addiction treatment program, we have what you need. Call us today for more specifics about our California drug and alcohol rehab.

Anna Nicole Smith’s two doctors and her lawyer boyfriend—Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Howard K. Stern—are pleading not guilty to drug conspiracy charges. Pending the outcome of the trial, the judge will not suspend the doctors’ medical licenses, according to the Associated Press.

Though the trio are not charged with manslaughter, homicide or even being the cause of her death, they are charged with conspiring together to illegally provide Anna Nicole with copious amounts of prescription pills including a combination of sedatives and opiates. After a preliminary hearing that outlined the many different drugs given to Anna Nicole, how they were prescribed and dispensed to her, and why (a process that took three weeks), charges were formally filed against all Kapoor, Eroshevich, and Stern.

The former Playboy model’s addiction to these pills eventually led to her death in February 2007 at a hotel in Florida, just days after her son, Daniel, died of an overdose as well. Her autopsy revealed that she died due to taking a combination of at least nine medications.

So why won’t the doctors lose their licenses considering the severity of the charges against them?

Says Linda Deutsch at Associated Press, “Superior Court Judge David Wesley rejected an effort by the attorney general’s office to lift the medical licenses, saying a yearslong delay in seeking that action undermines the claim of an imminent danger to the public if the doctors continue to practice.”

The trial itself may not happen until the summer of 2010, but in the meantime, all sides will likely file a number of motions to resolve certain issues. During the trial, the testimonies of those who were around Anna Nicole in the Bahamas during her last days will be heard.

The defense of all three alleged “co-conspirators” is that all of them had worked together to attempt to save Anna Nicole from her self-destructive behavior during her last years. All three claim that they were not aware that she was suffering from drug addiction.

The prosecution argues that drug addiction could not have been more obvious, especially to trained medical professionals, and that the three were caught up in riding her coat tails in the celebrity world.

If they are convicted, all three of the defendants could spend five years in prison.

The Warning Signs of Drug Addiction

Because the three charged with drug conspiracy charges in the wake of Anna Nicole’s death claim they had no idea that Anna Nicole was a drug addict, it seems that it is less important to cast blame after an overdose than it is to recognize the issue of drug addiction while you are still alive and able to fight it.

If you think that your prescription drug use has evolved into abuse or even addiction or if you believe that your loved one is a prescription drug addict, don’t wait to get help. Talk to a substance abuse treatment counselor as well as your doctor and determine whether or not a prescription drug rehab is the right move for you.

Eminem, the rapper, has been speaking out about Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson’s addiction to drugs, and his own struggle with prescription painkiller addiction. He says his issues with prescription drug addiction were almost as bad as Michael Jackson’s and says he related to the pop star’s problems and recognizes how close he, Eminem, came to suffering the same death by drug overdose.

According to an interview in the December 4 issue of Celebrity Health & Fitness, Eminem had a reminder of how close he came to death due to addiction and felt the need to speak out about it.

Insomnia and Drug Addiction

Michael Jackson died after a Propofol injection combined with other drugs in his system and pushed him into overdose and precipitated his death due to cardiac arrest last June. Eminem relates to the pop star’s struggle with insomnia “100 percent” as he often took pills just to get to sleep at night.

Says Eminem: “When you read things about Michael Jackson it’s hard to decipher what the f**k is true, but there’s the story of how he woke up at whatever time and he needed something to go back to sleep because he had this or that and it didn’t work. That’s exactly what used to happen to me: I would take a couple of pills and I would be up an hour later and I’d want more.

“Then I’d take more and that would be enough to maybe get me back to sleep for two more hours. Then I’d be wide awake again. So I definitely can relate, and it’s a shame if he didn’t have anybody there to just say, ‘Michael, you’re an addict, you need help.’ ”

Intervention and Drug Addiction

Michael Jackson’s family say they did attempt to help Michael, telling him that he was hurting himself with his addiction. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for him.

Eminem credits a number of people for his own recovery. Among them: Sir Elton John. Elton John assisted Eminem not only in getting help but in staying in recovery and has been vocal about his dedication to helping celebrities break free from drug addiction.

Fame and Drug Addiction

Many have blamed enablers for the deaths of Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, DJ AM and others who overdosed on doctor’s prescriptions. Celebrities often develop drug addiction more rapidly than others due to their easy access to medications and drugs of addiction.

Says Eminem: “It’s one of the pitfalls of fame. I could just say, ‘Yo, I need this and this and this,’ and they’re going to give me whatever I want.”

Prescription Drug Rehab

Eminem has been clean and sober for about two years now and feels better than before. He says: “I feel better. I feel like a human being again.”

If you or someone you love is addicted to prescription painkillers or anti-anxiety medication, you can find assistance at a prescription drug rehab like The Canyon. Through detox and addiction counseling, we can help you get back on track and alleviate your fears of drug overdose. Call today.

According to the Chillicothe Gazette, the use of opiates like prescription drugs and heroin is increasing in Ohio while the use of cocaine and methamphetamine, based on a new epidemiological report called “Surveillance of Drug Trends in the State of Ohio.” This upward trend of prescription drug abuse especially is one that is echoing throughout the country.

The Plan to Fight Drug Addiction in Ohio

Angela Dawson is the director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. She said: “While we are encouraged to see a downward trend with cocaine and methamphetamine use, we continue to maintain concern with the alarming proliferation of prescription drug abuse and the relatively high availability of heroin. Our goal must, at all times, be to help reduce the stigma that underlies the disease of addiction, no matter the drug of choice, so as to ensure prevention, treatment and recovery support services remain well-funded and accessible to all who need them.”

Prescription Drug Addiction Rising

Prescription drug abuse, especially prescription pills, is increasingly more common due in part to its ease of access, especially to younger people. The most popular in Ohio include Opana, oxycodone, hydrocodone, Xanax, Piperazine, Ritalin and Adderall.

Dave Webber is a crime prevention specialist and he says that his concern is for the growing abuse of and addiction to oxycodone and OxyContin specifically, because it is a drug that seems to affect multiple generations of users and can be deadly. Oxycodone overdose and emergency room visits that involve the use of OxyContin are increasingly common in Ohio and across the country.

Heroin Addiction Stays Level

In some parts of Ohio, heroin addiction decreased slightly but in other parts, there was a significant shift in the numbers in the other direction. Across the country, this seems to be the same consensus: heroin addiction has basically stayed the same.

Ecstacy addiction, too, remained high but unchanged compared to past studies.

Crack, Cocaine and Meth Addiction Decreasing

Except for highly populated urban areas, there is a general downward trend in crack and powder cocaine use. For example, both are still seen in overdose deaths, crime and emergency room reports in Columbus, Ohio like other urban centers across the country.

In suburban and rural areas, however, crystal meth has historically been a problem. But perhaps due to the move of certain over the counter drugs used as an ingredient to make the crystal meth and a crackdown by local law enforcement on meth labs, there has been a huge downturn in the use of the drug.

Webber says: “The use of meth labs has slowed down.”

Find the whole report on drug abuse and addiction trends in Ohio online.

Burt Reynolds recently checked himself into drug rehab for prescription drug addiction treatment at the age of 73.

Erik Kritzer is Burt Reynolds’ manager. He says: “After a recent back surgery, Mr. Reynolds felt like he was going through hell and after a while, realized he was a prisoner of prescription pain pills. He checked himself into rehab in order to regain control of his life.”

His manager went onto say that, “Mr. Reynolds hopes his story will help others in a similar situation. He hopes they will not try to solve the problem by themselves, but realize that sometimes it is too tough to do on their own and they should seek help, as he did.”

Not completely in the loop, however, it should be pointed out that Kritzer had entered or left the Hanley Center in West Palm Beach, which is close to Reynolds’ home in Hobe Sound, a beach community north of Palm Beach County.

Prescription Drug Addiction: No One Is Immune

Reynolds isn’t the first celebrity to get strung out on painkillers. Luckily, however, he recognized the situation before it got out of control. Too many other celebrities recently—Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith to name but two—ended up dying because no one, not even themselves, saw the reality of the situation before it was too late.

At 73, Reynolds has had a long and successful career. He was an Academy Award nominee as well as a Golden Globe winner for the 1997 movie, “Boogie Nights,” in which he played a porn producer. Making movies since 1961, Reynolds has had quite a few career highlights including his roles in “Deliverance,” “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run” among others.

Prescription Drug Addiction: Not the First Time Around for Reynolds

Back in the ‘80s, Reynolds’ career suffered greatly when he was injured filming “City Heat” with Clint Eastwood. He hurt his jaw and was diagnosed with temporomandibular joint disorder, a medical issue that is extremely painful and affects the area where the skull connects with the jaw. He developed a prescription drug abuse problem to the meds he was prescribed for this illness, including a sleep aid called Halcion.

To make matters worse, rumors were circulating that Reynolds had contracted HIV. When he lost 50 pounds because he couldn’t eat coupled with the prescription painkiller addiction, it didn’t help him convince people that he was fine.

In 1990, Reynolds told the Associated Press that: “For two years I couldn’t get a job. I had to take five physicals to get a job. I had to take the pictures that were offered to me. I did action pictures because I was trying to prove that I was well.”

Reynolds rebounded from prescription drug abuse then and he did it again now. If you would like to get help for your prescription drug addiction, contact The Canyon today.

The death of Michael Jackson brought a lot of attention to the responsibility that doctors have for their patients when it comes to how many and what kind of pills that they prescribe, especially when that prescription ends in death. Michael Jackson’s death was officially ruled a homicide, albeit unintentional, and his doctor was indicted because he was the one who actually pushed the drugs into his system via IV. Anna Nicole’s doctors and caregivers are still dealing with the legal issues surrounding their decision to keep her sedated, as both she and her son ended up dead as a result.

Here’s another case where a doc got caught providing questionable prescriptions, but in this case, the results were just as deadly as it was for the celebrities but the doctor didn’t go to prison. Instead, she got… suspended. It’s the case of Dr. Stephen Plotnick from Virginia Beach and the cases were brought, for the most part, by the families of those who were lost due to his over prescription of drugs, usually for fibromyalgia.

Patients Lost to Painkiller Overdose

• Teresa Parker – Died from “acute combined oxymorphone and amphetamine poisoning.” A $5 million lawsuit was filed by Parker’s widower.
• Harold McDuffie II – Died from an overdose of narcotics. Plotnick settled out of court when McDuffie’s widow filed suit.
• Taryn Holland – Overdosed on methadone and other drugs.
• Patient M – Overdosed on oxycodone when Plotnick doubled her prescription and didn’t give her any guidance.
• Patient O – Overdosed on narcotics prescribed to her a week earlier by Plotnick.

License Suspended

So after treating thousands of patients for chronic pain, is Plotnick liable for these five deaths that happened over a span of four years or so. The Board of Medicine has already suspended his license after these cases were filed in addition to six malpractice suits citing him as “a substantial danger to the public health or safety.”

The Argument for Revocation of Doc’s License

His specialty was the treatment of fibromyalgia, a disorder for which the diagnosis as well as treatment is often argued in medical circles, and he often treated it aggressively using narcotics. The problem alleged is that he would prescribe high doses of these narcotics, not monitor the patients’ intake and then pawn off their follow up care on other office personnel.

The Argument Against Revocation of Doc’s License

Licensed to practice medicine in 1993, Plotnick has a number of supporters. According to Bill Sizemore at The Virginian Pilot, he was named a “physician of choice” for fibromyalgia care by a local support group and selected by drugmaker Pfizer Inc. to help market Lyrica , the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating fibromyalgia. He has a ton of patients who stand by his treatment as well.

What Do You Think?

So what do you think? Do the failed treatments of a few preclude the successful treatments of many? Is this just another example of how celebrity cases are given more consideration than those of everyone else? And how does this case rate when compared to the cases of patients who are prescribed narcotics and give them to someone who ultimately overdoses on them? Why are they charged with manslaughter and doctors only get their license suspended or possibly revoked?