Pubdate: Wed, 22 Oct 2003
Source: Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC)
Copyright: 2003 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987
Author: KATHLEEN PARKER

PAINKILLER USE DOESN'T MEAN ADDICTION

Say what you will about Rush Limbaugh, he brought life to the party. His 
admission now to drug "addiction" caused me to say to a friend, "I feel 
sorry for him." Why? "Because I feel sorry for anyone who suffers addiction."

If, in fact, he is an addict. The verdict is still out despite what the 
evidence suggests. Also, pain specialists are distressed that all the 
piling on following Limbaugh's admission of drug use may set pain 
management back 100 years.

First, there's a difference between physical dependence on drugs and 
addiction. If you use legal medications as prescribed, you're unlikely to 
become addicted.

Recent research shows that only 6 percent to 10 percent of all chronic pain 
patients on opioids become addicted. That's the same percentage as the 
general population that becomes addicted to alcohol or shopping or 
gambling. In other words, the risk for opioid addiction is no greater than 
the risk for other addictive behaviors and substances.

The key to avoiding addiction to pain medications such as OxyContin, the 
opioid Limbaugh was taking, is presence of pain, according to Joan Wentz, 
an assistant professor and specialist in pain management at Jewish Hospital 
College of Nursing and Allied Health in St. Louis. That is, if you have 
pain and treat it with opioids, you're unlikely to become addicted, though 
you may develop a physical dependence.

Dependence means simply that your body adjusts to the medication, and if 
you withdraw abruptly, you will suffer unpleasant symptoms such as 
palpitations and hallucinations.

Addiction, on the other hand, is defined as compulsive craving and 
uncontrolled use despite harm. Whether this definition characterizes 
Limbaugh's situation is unknown.

The number of pills he reportedly procured doesn't necessarily indicate 
addiction, Wentz says. He may have been in pain and, because of his body's 
adjustment, needed more medication to manage it.

Wentz and others in pain management worry that people who need medication 
now will fail to seek treatment for fear of addiction, and doctors may 
hesitate to prescribe it when needed.

In a recent bulletin to pain specialists, the American Pain Foundation 
charged the media with perpetuating "long-standing myths and misconceptions 
about pain management and pain medications" in its Limbaugh coverage.

"When properly used, pain medications rarely give a 'high' - they give 
relief. And, most important, they allow many people to resume their normal 
lives," said the bulletin.

The fact that Limbaugh could continue functioning in his career makes Wentz 
skeptical about his being an addict. As to whether he's a hypocrite, well, 
that's a tougher charge to dismiss. It's hard to swallow Limbaugh's 
punitive line for drug users when he tossed back OxyContin like M&Ms.

Not surprisingly, Rush's critics are delighting in his humiliation, though 
some have leavened their comments with sympathy for his obvious pain. Fans 
and colleagues, meanwhile, have circled the wagons, trying to draw a 
distinction between Rush's addiction to legal medications to treat pain and 
those who become addicted to illegal drugs merely to get high.

Sorry, but that doesn't wash.

Limbaugh's fall from grace ultimately may be a blessing not only for him, 
but also for people who suffer pain and those who succumb to addiction. The 
message in the bottle is this: Suffering pain is not heroic, and becoming 
an addict is not a crime.
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MAP posted-by: Perry Stripling