OASAS Offers Medicine Cabinet Inventory to Help Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse

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ALBANY, NY (11/28/2007)(readMedia)-- State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo today announced a resource to help prevent prescription drug abuse in homes across New York. A Medicine Cabinet Inventory, designed to track prescription and over the counter medicines in the home, is available on the agency's Web site, www.oasas.state.ny.us/AdMed/documents/MedCabSheet.pdf.

The Inventory provides a quick checklist that could alert family members to drug abuse problems in the home whether that involves children, adults or the elderly. For parents, the Inventory will help track medications and also provide an opportunity to talk with their children about the dangers of abusing any medications, whether they are prescribed or purchased over the counter.

The Inventory can also be a valuable tool in helping the elderly family member keep track of his or her medication. People over the age of 65 take an average of two-to-seven prescription medications per day along with over-the-counter medications which can be incorrectly thought of as harmless. Incorrect dosing and mixing of these medications can be deadly.

"This simple and useful resource will help families play an active role in preventing prescription drug abuse," said Commissioner Carpenter-Palumbo. "One in five teens have reported abusing a prescription pain medication at some time or another. Clearly, this is an issue that can and does affect New Yorkers every day whether it involves children, adults or the elderly. OASAS is proud to provide this valuable tool to help protect the health and safety of families."

Prescription drug abuse has received significant attention in recent weeks, including a four part series titled “Generation Rx,” featured on CBS Evening News. OASAS has linked this series to its website in an effort to educate New Yorkers on this important issue.

There has been a 154 percent increase nationally in the total number of prescriptions written by physicians, leading to increased access for teens to these medications in the home. Often, teens mistakenly believe that medications are safe because they are government approved and prescribed by a physician.

In some instances, teens "pharm" these medications, often with friends at social gatherings. "Pharming" means grabbing multiple prescription drugs and ingesting them, which can lead to a myriad of health problems, including seizures, respiratory depression and cardiovascular system failure.

In addition, certain cold medicines contain a chemical called Dextromethorphan (DXM), which, when taken in large amounts, can produce a high feeling and possibly hallucinations. When taken in large doses, DXM also produces a number of side effects, including double or blurred vision, slurred speech, loss of physical coordination, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and rapid heart beat. When taken with alcohol or other drugs, the side effects can be deadly.

The Medicine Cabinet Inventory provides a format to record the type of prescription, dosage amount, the date filled and quantity. A periodic check should be done to ensure that the medications are still safely stored. Also, parents should be familiar with the warning signs of prescription drug abuse. Warning signs can be both behavioral and physical, and may include withdrawal from normal activities, irritability, unusual requests for money, unexplained changes in friends and frequent nasal or sinus infections.

When disposing of unused medications, it is recommended that the medicine be mixed with coffee grounds, cat litter or sawdust to make them less accessible and appealing before throwing them into the garbage.

Commissioner Carpenter-Palumbo continued, "We need to implement strong safeguards in the fight against prescription drug abuse. Using this chart can make a difference. I would encourage families to discuss the issue of prescription drug abuse this Thanksgiving and not assume that it can never happen in their home. Prevention is the first prescription to a healthy New York."

The New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services is the nation's largest system for prevention, treatment, recovery services with more than 1,400 providers across the state, which treat 110,000 New Yorkers on any given day.

More information can be found on the OASAS Web site, www.OASAS.state.ny.us or by calling the New York State Addiction Treatment Helpline at 1-800-522-5353, which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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