Wednesday, November 25, 2009
WLKY Investigates: Why Kentucky Ranks No. 1 In Drug Abuse
Commonwealth Leads Nation In Prescription Drug Abuse
By Steve Burgin/WLKY
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- Kentuckyhas received a No. 1 ranking, but it's a dubious honor.
The Commonwealth leads the nation in prescription drug use for non-medical purposes.
Click Here: Watch Part 1 Watch Part 2
Last week, an investigation into interstate pill smuggling led to hundreds of arrests in Kentucky.
Prescription drug abuse leads to crime. Just ask Pat Fogarty. “It's been about a 10-year battle for me,” said Fogarty, a recovering drug abuser.
A judge ordered Fogarty to get help at Louisville’s Healing Place. Fogarty has spent time in jail for theft and other crimes related to his prescription drug abuse. “I've stolen from my mom numerous times. She'd think I got sober, let me back in her life and I'd keep doing it. It didn't matter. I did whatever it took to get money,” explained Fogarty.
Fogarty said he’s been clean for a year. He explained the various ways prescription drugs are readily available. He said some abusers doctor shop, or go from physician to physician to get painkillers. Others, he said, buy them on the streets. The figures for Kentuckyback up his claim.
“Thirty-two counties all across the state saw a 20 percent increase in the amount of drugs prescribed,” said Van Ingram from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
The counties with the highest increase in prescription drugs from 2005 to 2007 were Carroll County, with nearly 42 percent, and Hancock County, with just over 54 percent. Jefferson County jumped 18.5 percent during that time.
Arrests more than doubled during that time period. Metro police make prescription drug busts on a weekly basis. People call in phony prescriptions, steal prescription blanks, or change ones they get from doctors.
Last month, Martha Rowland was given a two-year prison sentence on a 2008 prescription drug case. Six weeks before her sentencing, she was arrested again on prescription fraud charges.
Prescription drugs are also the chief reason unintentional overdose deaths doubled over a five-year period in Kentucky.
“You know, we had 485 overdose deaths in Kentuckyin 2008,” said Ingram. Some of them were young people who got the drugs at home. “People really need to be aware that their prescriptions can be pilfered in their own home,” said pharmacist Art Jacob.
That's why authorities say drug toss events like one held in October are important.
“No. 1, just remove the access and ability for them to be diverted to the illegal market,” said Louisville Metro Police Department Sgt. John McGuire.
Fogarty said because the addiction is strong, so is the drive to feed the habit. “Addicted for a decade and I'm pretty strong-willed person. I consider myself pretty strong-willed. The drive took over. It became my god,” said Fogarty. Fogarty is now trying to help others kick their habit.
The First Line Of Defense
Kentucky has a state of the art system for tracking prescription drugs, especially controlled substances. Last week, law enforcement authorities fanned out across eastern Kentucky searching for hundreds of people in a major investigation into interstate pill smuggling.
State police said many illegally obtained prescription drugs are coming from Florida.
It's just one pipeline to the Commonwealth authorities are trying to plug.
“These pain killers are very powerful,” said Ingram. “It's not a drug like crack cocaine you can get on a street corner. But, you get to know certain people and network,” said Fogarty.
The addicts and suppliers come from all walks of life. Laura Ford is a nurse practitioner. Last month she was arrested on charges she forged prescriptions. Police said she was attempting to get Lortab.
Most young people, who died from drug overdoses in Kentuckylast year did so with prescription drugs. That's why its important to keep track of what you have in the medicine cabinet.
Hydrocodone drugs like Lortab, Lorcet, and Vicodin made up 46 percent of all controlled substances prescribed in Kentuckyin the second quarter of this year. Oxycodone drugs made up 16 percent.
“The only thing a doctor is, is a licensed drug dealer as simple as that and that has to be stopped,” said family practitioner Dr. Praveen Arla. Arla said all physicians should be using KASPER, the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Reporting System. All pharmacies in the state input information in the system.
“In a matter of minutes we can get a report on KASPER on a patient we suspect has been using drugs,” said Jacob. “Out of 14,000 prescribers in Kentucky, only 26 percent of them have KASPER accounts to even access the data,” said Ingram.
Ingram said with KASPER, physicians can easily tell if their patients have been doctor shopping.
Guidelines won't let police get on KASPER unless they have an active investigation.
Arla and his son, a physician, are teaming up with Bullitt County authorities to help, especially when it comes to youngsters. “Right now as you look everyone is working as individuals and not together. I think the concept of the doctor and sheriff is really to get inside and help each other,” said Arla.
Commonwealth Leads Nation In Prescription Drug Abuse
By Steve Burgin/WLKY
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- Kentuckyhas received a No. 1 ranking, but it's a dubious honor.
The Commonwealth leads the nation in prescription drug use for non-medical purposes.
Click Here: Watch Part 1 Watch Part 2
Last week, an investigation into interstate pill smuggling led to hundreds of arrests in Kentucky.
Prescription drug abuse leads to crime. Just ask Pat Fogarty. “It's been about a 10-year battle for me,” said Fogarty, a recovering drug abuser.
A judge ordered Fogarty to get help at Louisville’s Healing Place. Fogarty has spent time in jail for theft and other crimes related to his prescription drug abuse. “I've stolen from my mom numerous times. She'd think I got sober, let me back in her life and I'd keep doing it. It didn't matter. I did whatever it took to get money,” explained Fogarty.
Fogarty said he’s been clean for a year. He explained the various ways prescription drugs are readily available. He said some abusers doctor shop, or go from physician to physician to get painkillers. Others, he said, buy them on the streets. The figures for Kentuckyback up his claim.
“Thirty-two counties all across the state saw a 20 percent increase in the amount of drugs prescribed,” said Van Ingram from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
The counties with the highest increase in prescription drugs from 2005 to 2007 were Carroll County, with nearly 42 percent, and Hancock County, with just over 54 percent. Jefferson County jumped 18.5 percent during that time.
Arrests more than doubled during that time period. Metro police make prescription drug busts on a weekly basis. People call in phony prescriptions, steal prescription blanks, or change ones they get from doctors.
Last month, Martha Rowland was given a two-year prison sentence on a 2008 prescription drug case. Six weeks before her sentencing, she was arrested again on prescription fraud charges.
Prescription drugs are also the chief reason unintentional overdose deaths doubled over a five-year period in Kentucky.
“You know, we had 485 overdose deaths in Kentuckyin 2008,” said Ingram. Some of them were young people who got the drugs at home. “People really need to be aware that their prescriptions can be pilfered in their own home,” said pharmacist Art Jacob.
That's why authorities say drug toss events like one held in October are important.
“No. 1, just remove the access and ability for them to be diverted to the illegal market,” said Louisville Metro Police Department Sgt. John McGuire.
Fogarty said because the addiction is strong, so is the drive to feed the habit. “Addicted for a decade and I'm pretty strong-willed person. I consider myself pretty strong-willed. The drive took over. It became my god,” said Fogarty. Fogarty is now trying to help others kick their habit.
The First Line Of Defense
Kentucky has a state of the art system for tracking prescription drugs, especially controlled substances. Last week, law enforcement authorities fanned out across eastern Kentucky searching for hundreds of people in a major investigation into interstate pill smuggling.
State police said many illegally obtained prescription drugs are coming from Florida.
It's just one pipeline to the Commonwealth authorities are trying to plug.
“These pain killers are very powerful,” said Ingram. “It's not a drug like crack cocaine you can get on a street corner. But, you get to know certain people and network,” said Fogarty.
The addicts and suppliers come from all walks of life. Laura Ford is a nurse practitioner. Last month she was arrested on charges she forged prescriptions. Police said she was attempting to get Lortab.
Most young people, who died from drug overdoses in Kentuckylast year did so with prescription drugs. That's why its important to keep track of what you have in the medicine cabinet.
Hydrocodone drugs like Lortab, Lorcet, and Vicodin made up 46 percent of all controlled substances prescribed in Kentuckyin the second quarter of this year. Oxycodone drugs made up 16 percent.
“The only thing a doctor is, is a licensed drug dealer as simple as that and that has to be stopped,” said family practitioner Dr. Praveen Arla. Arla said all physicians should be using KASPER, the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Reporting System. All pharmacies in the state input information in the system.
“In a matter of minutes we can get a report on KASPER on a patient we suspect has been using drugs,” said Jacob. “Out of 14,000 prescribers in Kentucky, only 26 percent of them have KASPER accounts to even access the data,” said Ingram.
Ingram said with KASPER, physicians can easily tell if their patients have been doctor shopping.
Guidelines won't let police get on KASPER unless they have an active investigation.
Arla and his son, a physician, are teaming up with Bullitt County authorities to help, especially when it comes to youngsters. “Right now as you look everyone is working as individuals and not together. I think the concept of the doctor and sheriff is really to get inside and help each other,” said Arla.
Wacky Picture News Flash
Friday, March 13, 2009
ODCdrugfree is running another contest! It’s called the “Wacky Picture of the Week” contest! During the month of March, just wear your bracelet and make your picture in any “Wacky” location. Email your entry to:
contest@communitysolutionsky.org. All qualified submitted pictures will be published on our website.
Each week, our panel of judges will review all of the submitted pictures and select the “Wacky Picture of the Week!” The winner for each week will receive a
2G video MP3 player. Each person who enters this contest will be entered in a drawing for Special Edition Rock Band.
You may enter more than once, but please limit your entries to one per week! And, remember to stay safe when you make your picture. Any picture where your safety appears to have been compromised will be immediately disqualified.
And, remember to keep wearing your bracelet…Secret Spotters are still looking!
contest@communitysolutionsky.org. All qualified submitted pictures will be published on our website.
Each week, our panel of judges will review all of the submitted pictures and select the “Wacky Picture of the Week!” The winner for each week will receive a
2G video MP3 player. Each person who enters this contest will be entered in a drawing for Special Edition Rock Band.
You may enter more than once, but please limit your entries to one per week! And, remember to stay safe when you make your picture. Any picture where your safety appears to have been compromised will be immediately disqualified.
And, remember to keep wearing your bracelet…Secret Spotters are still looking!
Drinking Increases Cancer Risk in Middle Aged Women
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
By HealthDay News
TUESDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) - Research involving more than a million middle-age women finds that even moderate drinking raises risks for breast, liver and other cancers.
"Even relatively low levels of drinking -- on the order of one alcoholic drink per day -- increase a woman's risk of developing cancer," said lead researcher Naomi Allen, from the cancer epidemiology unit at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. "Because a high proportion of women drink low amounts of alcohol regularly and because most of the increased risk is for breast cancer, the risk among women associated with drinking alcohol is of particular importance."
In fact, the study found that moderate drinking accounts for 13 percent of breast, liver, rectum and upper respiratory/digestive tract cancers among women.
The association between moderate alcohol intake and breast cancer in women is well-known, the researchers point out. What's new here, they say, is the finding that even low levels of drinking can raise a woman's risk of developing cancer of the liver and rectum. For women who smoke, cancers of the mouth and throat were also linked to high alcohol consumption.
The report is published in the Feb. 24 online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
For the study, Allen's team collected data on more than 1.2 million middle-age British women participating in the Million Women Study. The researchers used the National Health Service Central Registries to identify cancer cases among these women.
Most women in the study had about a drink a day, and a smaller percentage had three or more drinks a day, the researchers found. Over more than seven years of follow-up, 68,775 women developed cancer.
"These findings are robust, and alcohol consumption was assessed several times before women were diagnosed with cancer, making these estimates reliable," Allen said.
Overall, the risk of cancer increased as alcohol consumption increased. The type of alcohol consumed appeared to make no difference.
Women who drank and also smoked faced increased risk of cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and larynx (voice box), the researchers found.
The study suggests "that in developed countries, where women typically consume low-moderate amounts of alcohol, we estimate that for every additional drink regularly consumed each day, there would be about 15 extra cases of cancers of the breast, liver, rectum and mouth and throat diagnosed for every 1,000 women up to the age of 75," Allen said. "Most of this excess risk is due to breast cancer."
Susan M. Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, said the findings confirm and expand on those from previous studies in men and in smaller cohorts of women.
But several questions remain unanswered, she said. "For example, researchers remain concerned about the pattern of consumption," Gapstur said. "It is unclear, for example, whether someone who drinks several glasses of wine on one day during the week has the same risk as someone who drinks one glass of wine per day with a meal. In addition, the effects of quitting or reducing drinking on cancer risk are also unclear."
The American Cancer Society currently recommends limiting intake to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men, Gapstur said.
On the other hand, numerous studies have suggested that alcohol, especially red wine, might help deter heart disease -- complicating decisions around drinking and health.
"If you do not drink, there is no reason to start drinking," Gapstur reasoned. "However, in light of the findings from the Million Women Study, women who are concerned about their cancer risk versus their risk of cardiovascular disease might want to discuss the potential risks and benefits of even low alcohol intake with their health-care providers."
In an accompanying journal editorial, Dr. Michael Lauer, director of the Division of Prevention and Population Sciences at the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said he believes the risk for cancer might outweigh any perceived benefit in terms of heart disease.
"People who are not drinkers should not start drinking to prevent heart disease, and even people who are drinking should discuss this with their physicians," he said. "And as part of that conversation, they should consider other conditions than heart disease. We cannot just focus on heart disease."
TUESDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) - Research involving more than a million middle-age women finds that even moderate drinking raises risks for breast, liver and other cancers.
"Even relatively low levels of drinking -- on the order of one alcoholic drink per day -- increase a woman's risk of developing cancer," said lead researcher Naomi Allen, from the cancer epidemiology unit at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. "Because a high proportion of women drink low amounts of alcohol regularly and because most of the increased risk is for breast cancer, the risk among women associated with drinking alcohol is of particular importance."
In fact, the study found that moderate drinking accounts for 13 percent of breast, liver, rectum and upper respiratory/digestive tract cancers among women.
The association between moderate alcohol intake and breast cancer in women is well-known, the researchers point out. What's new here, they say, is the finding that even low levels of drinking can raise a woman's risk of developing cancer of the liver and rectum. For women who smoke, cancers of the mouth and throat were also linked to high alcohol consumption.
The report is published in the Feb. 24 online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
For the study, Allen's team collected data on more than 1.2 million middle-age British women participating in the Million Women Study. The researchers used the National Health Service Central Registries to identify cancer cases among these women.
Most women in the study had about a drink a day, and a smaller percentage had three or more drinks a day, the researchers found. Over more than seven years of follow-up, 68,775 women developed cancer.
"These findings are robust, and alcohol consumption was assessed several times before women were diagnosed with cancer, making these estimates reliable," Allen said.
Overall, the risk of cancer increased as alcohol consumption increased. The type of alcohol consumed appeared to make no difference.
Women who drank and also smoked faced increased risk of cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and larynx (voice box), the researchers found.
The study suggests "that in developed countries, where women typically consume low-moderate amounts of alcohol, we estimate that for every additional drink regularly consumed each day, there would be about 15 extra cases of cancers of the breast, liver, rectum and mouth and throat diagnosed for every 1,000 women up to the age of 75," Allen said. "Most of this excess risk is due to breast cancer."
Susan M. Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, said the findings confirm and expand on those from previous studies in men and in smaller cohorts of women.
But several questions remain unanswered, she said. "For example, researchers remain concerned about the pattern of consumption," Gapstur said. "It is unclear, for example, whether someone who drinks several glasses of wine on one day during the week has the same risk as someone who drinks one glass of wine per day with a meal. In addition, the effects of quitting or reducing drinking on cancer risk are also unclear."
The American Cancer Society currently recommends limiting intake to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men, Gapstur said.
On the other hand, numerous studies have suggested that alcohol, especially red wine, might help deter heart disease -- complicating decisions around drinking and health.
"If you do not drink, there is no reason to start drinking," Gapstur reasoned. "However, in light of the findings from the Million Women Study, women who are concerned about their cancer risk versus their risk of cardiovascular disease might want to discuss the potential risks and benefits of even low alcohol intake with their health-care providers."
In an accompanying journal editorial, Dr. Michael Lauer, director of the Division of Prevention and Population Sciences at the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said he believes the risk for cancer might outweigh any perceived benefit in terms of heart disease.
"People who are not drinkers should not start drinking to prevent heart disease, and even people who are drinking should discuss this with their physicians," he said. "And as part of that conversation, they should consider other conditions than heart disease. We cannot just focus on heart disease."
