Letters: Painkiller abuse is rampant
1. Painkiller Abuse on Long Island
David Laffer pleaded guilty to killing four in a Father Day's shooting at a Medford pharmacy before fleeing with more than 10,000 painkillers, police said. State records show Laffer and his wife, Melinda Brady, filled prescriptions for almost 12,000 pain pills from dozens of doctors over four years. The Drug Enforcement Administration seized records from three doctors on Long Island, including Dr. Eric Jacobson, who had prescribed thousands of pain pills to Laffer and Brady.
The state Senate is considering a bill to toughen the laws against doctors and pharmacists who illegally dispense or sell prescription painkillers, in light of findings that show more people die from prescription-drug overdoses than heroin and cocaine combined, reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Click here to read more about the Medford murders.
Credit: Thomas A. Ferrara/2011
I read with interest your article about the former medical office employee who was accused of using a forged prescription to get painkillers at a pharmacy ["Cops: Prescription forged," News, Dec. 26]. The hard copy of the forged prescription apparently led to her arrest.
With new federal mandates requiring doctors to use electronic prescriptions under penalty, I would expect much more of this type of fraud, and it may be harder to prosecute. While rushing into electronic prescriptions, the safety of the public and privacy may not have gotten the full attention they deserve.
Even when legislators come up with seemingly good ideas, all of the ramifications and possibilities need to be considered, and in this case may have left the public more at risk of prescription abuse.
When government security companies, banks and chamber of commerce computer systems are hacked, can electronic prescriptions and their private database really be secure?
Dr. Edward Stroh, Rockville Centre
I would like to commend Newsday on the coverage of the oxycodone and heroin epidemic on Long Island ["Millions for doctor-shoppers," News, Dec. 26]. I feel that the media is our best bet to spread awareness of this terrible epidemic taking our children.
I lost my 27-year-old son this past September from a heroin overdose, that started as an OxyContin habit several years ago. Over four years, he went through five rounds of detox, but his medical insurance didn't cover any inpatient rehabilitation, so he tried outpatient rehab several times without much success.
By the time we could afford an out-of-state, long-term inpatient rehabilitation facility, he had already been an addict for several years. He struggled so hard with his addiction, and our family was devastated when we lost him.
It is so disconcerting to hear how so many doctors are corrupt. What happened to the Hippocratic oath they took, swearing to practice medicine ethically? However, I feel that we need to start with the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these powerful pain medications, and stop their compensating doctors with perks for writing out prescriptions.
I truly believe it will take some powerful politician losing a child to an overdose before legislation is put in place to regulate the prescription pain medication industry.
Karen Paisley, Smithtown
