Flintstones Oxy!!

Pain pills for the children!

God I hope they're chew-ables!!

From TheDaily.com: PAINKILLERS FOR KIDS:
OxyContin maker wants FDA backing to label addictive drug for 6-year-olds

That's right, folks. OxyContin for 6 year olds. Why pay for the pony rides on field days when you can just slip a little synthetic White Horse into their lunch pails?

In a bid to extend their soon-to-expire exclusive patent on the wildly popular and over-abused pain killer, Purdue Pharma is dropping the big bucks on clinical trials in an effort to get the FDA to approve use of their drug on children. The clinical trials are focused on a group of children from ages 6 to 16, and is currently recruiting participants.

For the sake of science, conducting clinical trials like this are necessary. The fact is, children often metabolize different drugs very differently than adults do, and without scientific experimentation detailing the various results, physicians are operating without all the pertinent facts when considering to prescribe such a high level pain killer to pediatric patients.

Purdue comments will lead you to believe that the company's goal is to widen the breadth of scientific understanding of their drug, and that they have no desire doctors to prescribe their drug to children. But with last year's profits from the drug pushing up over 2.5 billion dollars, and only .3% of all OxyContin prescribed going to patients under the age of 19, it would seem to me Purdue is looking to corner the last holdout of the market.

OK, now, while I am sure there are pediatric conditions that do in fact require a pain killer as strong as OxyContin, though I have never personally encountered one, I feel it is a little inappropriate to open the doors this widely to acceptance of the use of this drug on children. Would it not be better to handle cases as they came on an individual basis, rather than open up the flood gates with a blanket statement saying this drug is OK for the children? Perhaps start with a substance that is less severe and addicting before just jumping the gun and shoving OCs down their throats because, well, the clinical trials say it worked in the past?

But hell, I don't have a degree in Pharmacy. I'm sure we should just trust these people. They obviously know what is best, right?

Eh, fuck it. What's the worst that could happen, right? Who knows, maybe this influx of opiates for the children will fix the horrible face of music these days.



Three Monkeys Say: I don't want to say it was DEFINITELY the drugs...but it makes ya think!