Painkiller abuse
sweeps isles
Misuse of the prescription drug Vicodin
By Rod Ohira
has risen sharply, investigators say
Star-BulletinState narcotics investigators have seen a dramatic increase in cases involving the painkiller Vicodin during the past 12 months. "We're having a blitz of cases; it has become the No. 1 (prescription drug) problem in Hawaii," said Ed Howard, supervising investigator of the state Narcotics Enforcement Division.
"During the last fiscal year, we made 211 arrests, and 48 percent of the cases involved Vicodin.
"It's a safe drug when used properly but when more than the medically recommended dose is taken, it can become addictive," Howard said.
"And when it becomes addictive, it generally leads to criminal acts in obtaining the drug."
On Tuesday night, state narcotics investigators arrested a 32-
year-old Makiki man for three counts of fraudulently obtaining Vicodin at a Honolulu hospital emergency room.
For the past two weeks, investigators had been tracking a man using different names who showed up at different hospita emergency rooms complaining of back pain and requesting Vicodin.
"The law says emergency rooms cannot turn away a patient and this guy was able to convince doctors after they checked him out to give him Vicodin for the pain," Howard said. "They gave him just enough until he could see his own doctor the next day."
Hospital staff alerted investigators Tuesday when the suspect showed up for a second consecutive night. "The red flag went up when he used a different name," Howard said.
Vicodin is the trade name of a prescription pain-killer composed of 5 milligrams of hydrocodone and 500 milligrams of acetaminophen.
Other pain-killers contain different amounts of the same ingredients but Queen's Medical Center pharmacist Michael Wong said he fills two to three times more prescriptions for Vicodin than other brands.The normal dosage for moderate to severe pain is four to 10 tablets a day, Wong added.
"If abused, it can be a dangerous drug," Narcotics Enforcement Division administrator Keith Kamita said. "Right now, Vicodin is very much sought-after on the street."
The drug can be highly addictive. Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre had to check into a drug rehabilitation center last summer when he became addicted to Vicodin.
A new state law that went into effect July 1 requires electronic monitoring of prescription sales for Vicodin.
"Across the nation, abuse of the drug has really taken off," Kamita said.
"Because of its abuse potential, we wanted to be able to track it.
"We've been told that Vicodin works well with pain but when abused, it can have a euphoric affect that becomes habit forming," he added. "It can be powerfully addictive."
