PRESCRIPTION AMERICA

LENA IS 68 YEARS OLD. HER PROBLEM STARTED OUT SIMPLE ENOUGH. SHE STRAINED A MUSCLE IN HER BACK WHILE CLEARING WEEDS FROM HER SMALL FLOWER GARDEN. ON THE FIRST VISIT TO HER DOCTOR HE PRESCRIBED THE PAINKILLER VICODIN. SHE WAS HOOKED IMMEDIATELY. NOT ONLY DID THE OPIOID PAINKILLER TAKE AWAY THE PAIN IN HER BACK, IT TOOK AWAY ALL THE ACHES AND PAINS THAT HAD CREPT UP ON HER WITH AGE. SHE FELT “FABULOUS” BUT SOON FOUND THAT SHE NEEDED TO TAKE MORE PILLS EACH DAY TO KEEP THAT “GREAT FEELING.”

WRITER: JIM GIBSON

A few months later, Lena told her physician she was feeling a little low and he prescribed Xanax. The list of drugs soon became longer and longer. Soon, Lena was on more high-powered painkillers, antidepressants, and stimulants than most junkies on the street. Her insurance covered most of the cost, so she could easily afford her “habit.” At one point, things became so bad that she simply dumped the pills hodgepodge into a large mixing bowl, taking a handful of whatever she happened to reach in and grab whenever she felt the need.

Lena is lucky. A relative came to visit her and immediately recognized her problem. Lena was literally at the point of death. Following a long, grueling stint in rehab, she is now drug-free and finds it hard to believe she could ever have gotten caught up in the web of prescription drug addiction.