Deadlier than Cocaine, Heroin, and the Swine Flu?by
Joseph Mercola
Addiction to prescription painkillers – which kill thousands of Americans a year – has become a largely unrecognized epidemic, experts say. In fact, prescription drugs cause most of the more than 26,000 fatal overdoses each year, says Leonard Paulozzi of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of overdose deaths from opioid painkillers – opium-like drugs that include morphine and codeine – more than tripled from 1999 to 2006, to 13,800 deaths that year, according to recently released CDC statistics. In the past, most overdoses were due to illegal narcotics, such as heroin, with most deaths in big cities. Prescription painkillers have now surpassed heroin and cocaine however, as the leading cause of fatal overdoses, Paulozzi says. Experts say it's easy to see why so many Americans are abusing painkillers. As Americans age and carry extra pounds, more are asking for pain relief to cope with joint problems, back pain and other ailments. Sources: Dr. Mercola's
Comments: Remember the Reagan-era ads, “Just Say NO!” Well, since then, street drugs have taken a definitive backseat to a far greater threat – prescription drugs, especially painkillers. They’re typically used legally, eliminating the stigma of being a junkie. You don’t need to do business in the shadows to get your fix anymore. You just refill your prescription and pick it up at the nearest pharmacy where no one looks at you crooked. Time to Raise Pandemic Level 6 Warning on American Drug Paradigm According to Robert DuPont, a former White House drug czar and former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, "The biggest and fastest-growing part of America's drug problem is prescription drug abuse. The statistics are unmistakable." The CDC should take notice of these statistics and raise a Pandemic Level 6 Warning for the use of prescription drugs – it’s clearly killing FAR more people than the swine flu ever will. Swine
Flu Deaths As of November 17, 2009 USA Today reports that about 120,000 Americans end up in the emergency room after overdosing on opioid painkillers each year, and prescription drugs in general cause most of the more than 26,000 fatal overdoses annually. This despite the fact that the FDA increased the restrictions for consumer drug ads in 2005, especially for COX-2 painkillers like Celebrex and Bextra. At the time, aggressive drug marketing was blamed for the increased and inappropriate use of painkillers. However, I believe the cultural acceptance of prescription drugs – a pill for every symptom – may have replaced much of the need for excessive marketing of these drugs. People know they can get them simply by asking their doctor.
Another contributing factor is the fact that conventional doctors have bought into the drug paradigm hook line and sinker. For example, as described in USA Today, a long-term treatment plan for pain will typically include a drug-combination approach, using anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-convulsants, and muscle relaxants. Drugs, and more drugs – each one raising your risk of suffering potentially lethal side effects... How to Treat Your Pain without Causing More Grief Many people reach for the pill bottle with little or no thought of what it might do to their health in the long run. Some 26,000 people die prematurely each year as a result... It’s completely understandable to want to get rid of pain. However, please understand that there are many options to prescription painkillers that are much safer, even though they may require some patience. Here are several guidelines that can help reduce, or potentially even eliminate, your pain, depending on its severity:
As you can see from the list above, there is no "quick fix" to treating pain, but rather it is a lifestyle change that will be well worth the effort. More Examples of Reckless Drug Use The reckless use of unnecessary drugs is especially obvious today as the swine flu hysteria is in full swing. Drug companies are now touting statin drugs, of all things, to be an effective remedy against the H1N1 virus! What we have here is a cornucopia of unrivaled foolishness! But let’s take a look at a more commonly prescribed drug for the seasonal- and swine flu that, in all likelihood, is causing far more harm than good – Tamiflu. According to a recent study into the use of Tamiflu for children with flu symptoms – the most extensive research of its kind, so far – Tamiflu falls flat. The researchers, who analyzed four studies of children aged one to 12, published their findings in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on August 11, 2009. They found that the anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza:
Children given these drugs were found to recover LESS THAN ONE DAY earlier, compared with simple rest and recuperation. According to the researchers, the risks of Tamiflu and Relenza far outweigh their negligent benefits, and children should therefore NOT be given these drugs for the swine flu. Common side effects included:
The Daily Mail notes that this finding will no doubt cause confusion, as it contradicts recommendations from government health officials. Not surprisingly, the British Department of Health dismissed the study, saying the results were based on seasonal flu, despite the fact that the scientist specifically noted that these results also applied to swine flu. Again, health officials are choosing to ignore scientific warnings that their recommendations are NOT in the best interest of the majority of people. Latest Stats Show Flu is LOWER This Year than Last Year This is particularly upsetting when you consider the fact that the current flu season, swine flu and all, is the MILDEST flu season in years! According to CDC and WHO data, far fewer people have died from H1N1 than any seasonal flu in the past. This graph from the CDC showing the "Pneumonia and Influenza Mortality for 122 US Cities" also show that, so far, this year's flu mortality is far below that of 2008.
Why are our health officials recommending mass use of ineffective drugs that carry a higher risk of detrimental side effects than the illness it is supposed to treat? How Does Swine Flu Compare to the Black Plague? The Orthomolecular Medicine News Service brings up yet another interesting point of reference to put the swine flu vaccination program in its place. Did you know that the plague, also known as “The Black Death,” is still alive and kicking? The plague was one of the deadliest pandemics in history, killing an estimated 30–60 percent of Europe's population in the mid-1300s (about 50 million people). The US has seen some 400 cases of the plague since the 1950’s, and worldwide there are some 2,000 cases, and hundreds of deaths, each year. There’s a vaccine for the plague as well, and yet you’ve likely never heard of it. Why?
If there are constant outbreaks of the one of the deadliest diseases on the planet each year, why aren’t health officials urging everyone to get vaccinated? And even more interestingly, why is there no plague epidemic? This is one of the most dangerous infectious diseases there is, yet despite worldwide occurrence, it’s not spreading and killing like it used to anymore... The Black Death epidemic was clearly not wiped out by antibiotics or mass vaccination, because neither existed at the time. If a vaccine was not required to quell a deadly, infectious disease like the plague, why are you told that vaccination is the ONLY way to stop a flu epidemic? The answer is that, just like the plague was quelled by the implementation of better sanitation and nutrition, the flu – be it seasonal or H1N1 – can be vanquished by similar means. How to Protect Yourself against the Flu without Vaccination Following these simple guidelines will keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you're far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with.
November 23, 2009
Copyright © 2009 Dr. Joseph Mercola
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