Admissions to drug rehab for OxyContin addiction, already comprising over 60 percent of the total admissions for drug abuse in several states, are likely to soar now that the general public has been made aware of the dangers of the drug in no uncertain terms. And millions are probably right now considering their options – do I continue to take the risk of Oxycontin addiction, or do I find a detox program to get me started on getting off the drug before I become one of the statistics?



After years of reported incidents of abuse, addiction, and even deaths, OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma’s executives pled guilty to charges that the company falsely represented the dangers of OxyContin to both doctors and consumers.

They have agreed to pay a $634 million dollar fine. That’s a lot of money, but is it going to be enough to consequences of their actions?

OxyContin®, also known as Oxy’s, OC’s, Killers, Poor Man’s Heroin, and Hillbilly Heroin, is an opiate – part of the same family as heroin, morphine and codeine – is prescribed for relief of moderate to severe pain. The active ingredient, Oxycodone, is also found in Tylox®, Percodan® and Percocet®, and a number of other drugs. Most of them contain relatively small but still dangerous amounts of Oxycodone, but OxyContin is much more potent, and is formulated for time release.

How dangerous is OxyContin? The drug first came onto the market in 1996. Within just a few years, annual prescriptions were higher than all other opiate pain-killers combined. And within five years, admission statistics for several drug rehab facilities revealed that OxyContin abuse accounted for almost 60 percent of the total admissions, with nearly half of the facilities at 75 percent or greater. In other words, in those treatment facilities, there were more admissions for OxyContin abuse than for all other drugs – including heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, crack, and prescription medications legally or illegally obtained – combined. During that same period, OxyContin accounted for over 30,000 trips to hospital emergency rooms and the OxyContin-attributed death toll quadrupled. Now that’s a dangerous drug.

If you or someone you love has been taking OxyContin, consider these facts. And then contact a medically-supervised treatment center that can safely help you through an Oxycontin detox program as your first step to handling OxyContin addiction. You may have started OxyContin as a pain reliever, but the risk of OxyContin addiction and abuse is high. And there may be safer alternatives.