Bad news
Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 3:05 pm
Fed drug czar declares war on illegal Net drugs
Death of Rutgers student and rise in prescription abuse renews battle
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
BY J. SCOTT ORR
STAR-LEDGER WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- The federal government yesterday promised a crackdown on illicit sales of prescription drugs over the Internet, citing a Rutgers University student who died of an overdose in his dorm room in December.
Pointing to statistics documenting the increase in the abuse of prescription medicines, White House drug czar John Walters said federal authorities would rededicate themselves to fighting the abuse of pharmaceuticals with an intensified focus on the Internet.
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The strategy includes the use of data-mining techniques to find and close illicit online pharmacies, a business that has seen explosive growth in recent years. Also included are initiatives by the U.S. Customs Service to block illegal shipments from outside the country, a crackdown on Internet service providers that host drug sites and pressure on credit card companies to ban the use of their cards to purchase drugs.
"If they can't get the money, they won't do the business," Walters said.
The strategy also includes education and efforts to help states track prescription drug use and prevent abusers from filling multiple prescriptions.
"The Internet has been a major source of diversion and abuse," Walters said adding illicit online pharmacies are "targeting youth because of their access and interest in the Internet."
One such person was 19-year-old Jason Surks, a sophomore at Rutgers who was majoring in pre-pharmacy, when he died Dec. 17. His parents, Mark and Linda Surks of South Brunswick, told Jason's story at a news conference with Walters and other top administration officials yesterday.
Mark Surks said his son showed no outward signs of involvement with drugs. He was a well-liked teen, whose social life revolved around his family and a faith-based youth group before he moved to Newark to attend Rutgers.
"The night he died, his roommates told us, they could see he was taking too much Xanax," Surks said. "They urged him not to take more. ... We think that he might have lost track of how much he had taken."
Standing before charts showing the rise in the abuse of prescription drugs in recent years, Surks said he was unaware of his son's drug abuse and the ease with which prescription medicine can be purchased online.
"I don't need these charts," he said. "I found out what is on these charts days after my son died. I wish I had found out days before."
Surks said his son relied on his experience working in pharmacies and on Internet sites in deciding what types and quantities of drugs to take. One online pharmacy, he said, sent Jason drugs monthly.
"They would just send it out each month to him. No questions asked. No doctor. No prescription. No fuss. It's as easy as buying a Beanie Baby on Ebay," he said.
Drug Enforcement Administrator Karen Tandy said cracking down on Internet pharmacies is a difficult task because there are so many sites, they rarely give addresses and they can close and open under a new names at lightning speed.
"Criminals who divert legal drugs into the illegal market are no different from a cocaine or heroin dealer peddling poisons on the street corner," she said.
Tandy said the DEA plans online educational initiatives including Internet versions of Public Service Announcements and pop-up ads that will appear on the computer screens of individuals searching the Internet for drugs.
Walters, Tandy and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan said the federal government's offensive against abuse of prescription drugs is not aimed at doctors and patients involved in the legitimate treatment of pain.
Chronic pain sufferers have long complained that the DEA's anti-drug efforts have made doctors fearful of prescribing strong medication -- particularly addictive narcotic painkillers -- even for patients who have demonstrable needs.
"When used correctly, opiods play a very important role in the management of pain," McClellan said.
The FDA's job is to maximize the potential benefits that patients receive from these drugs, while at the same time minimizing the risks, he added.
Tandy added that doctors prescribing narcotics to legitimate pain suffers "have nothing to fear from the DEA." She said only 51 doctors were arrested in DEA cases last year and the majority of them were involved in illegal activities like selling prescriptions, trading prescriptions for sex, or fraud.
Death of Rutgers student and rise in prescription abuse renews battle
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
BY J. SCOTT ORR
STAR-LEDGER WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- The federal government yesterday promised a crackdown on illicit sales of prescription drugs over the Internet, citing a Rutgers University student who died of an overdose in his dorm room in December.
Pointing to statistics documenting the increase in the abuse of prescription medicines, White House drug czar John Walters said federal authorities would rededicate themselves to fighting the abuse of pharmaceuticals with an intensified focus on the Internet.
From Our Advertiser
The strategy includes the use of data-mining techniques to find and close illicit online pharmacies, a business that has seen explosive growth in recent years. Also included are initiatives by the U.S. Customs Service to block illegal shipments from outside the country, a crackdown on Internet service providers that host drug sites and pressure on credit card companies to ban the use of their cards to purchase drugs.
"If they can't get the money, they won't do the business," Walters said.
The strategy also includes education and efforts to help states track prescription drug use and prevent abusers from filling multiple prescriptions.
"The Internet has been a major source of diversion and abuse," Walters said adding illicit online pharmacies are "targeting youth because of their access and interest in the Internet."
One such person was 19-year-old Jason Surks, a sophomore at Rutgers who was majoring in pre-pharmacy, when he died Dec. 17. His parents, Mark and Linda Surks of South Brunswick, told Jason's story at a news conference with Walters and other top administration officials yesterday.
Mark Surks said his son showed no outward signs of involvement with drugs. He was a well-liked teen, whose social life revolved around his family and a faith-based youth group before he moved to Newark to attend Rutgers.
"The night he died, his roommates told us, they could see he was taking too much Xanax," Surks said. "They urged him not to take more. ... We think that he might have lost track of how much he had taken."
Standing before charts showing the rise in the abuse of prescription drugs in recent years, Surks said he was unaware of his son's drug abuse and the ease with which prescription medicine can be purchased online.
"I don't need these charts," he said. "I found out what is on these charts days after my son died. I wish I had found out days before."
Surks said his son relied on his experience working in pharmacies and on Internet sites in deciding what types and quantities of drugs to take. One online pharmacy, he said, sent Jason drugs monthly.
"They would just send it out each month to him. No questions asked. No doctor. No prescription. No fuss. It's as easy as buying a Beanie Baby on Ebay," he said.
Drug Enforcement Administrator Karen Tandy said cracking down on Internet pharmacies is a difficult task because there are so many sites, they rarely give addresses and they can close and open under a new names at lightning speed.
"Criminals who divert legal drugs into the illegal market are no different from a cocaine or heroin dealer peddling poisons on the street corner," she said.
Tandy said the DEA plans online educational initiatives including Internet versions of Public Service Announcements and pop-up ads that will appear on the computer screens of individuals searching the Internet for drugs.
Walters, Tandy and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan said the federal government's offensive against abuse of prescription drugs is not aimed at doctors and patients involved in the legitimate treatment of pain.
Chronic pain sufferers have long complained that the DEA's anti-drug efforts have made doctors fearful of prescribing strong medication -- particularly addictive narcotic painkillers -- even for patients who have demonstrable needs.
"When used correctly, opiods play a very important role in the management of pain," McClellan said.
The FDA's job is to maximize the potential benefits that patients receive from these drugs, while at the same time minimizing the risks, he added.
Tandy added that doctors prescribing narcotics to legitimate pain suffers "have nothing to fear from the DEA." She said only 51 doctors were arrested in DEA cases last year and the majority of them were involved in illegal activities like selling prescriptions, trading prescriptions for sex, or fraud.