Richard Ready had been a drinker most of his life, but by the time he became chief resident of neurosurgery at a prominent Chicago-area hospital, it was drugs, not alcohol, that kept him going. Ready took stimulants to keep alert through his daily rounds. He took heavy pain relievers to numb his emotions after his mother's death. He wrote himself a prescription for the sedative Tranxene to calm his nerves before an important seminar. » More

Trend Mirrors Similar Increase in Misuse of These Powerful Medications
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Nov. 30 (HealthDay News) -- The number of prescriptions for controlled medications such as opioids and stimulants has nearly doubled in adolescents and young adults since 1994. The trend, reported in the December issue of Pediatrics, mirrors a similar increase in misuse of these drugs, with adolescents and young adults' illicit use of prescription drugs now outstripping all other illicit drug use except marijuana. The researchers couldn't attribute the increased misuse directly to more prescriptions, but did urge both physicians and patients to be vigilant when considering the use of drugs such as Oxycontin or Ritalin. » More