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Oxycontin overdose is a life threatening event that occurs when a person consumes too much of this narcotic pain reliever. Oxycontin is a prescription drug used to treat moderate to severe forms of physical pain that was approved by the FDA in 1996. The Drug Enforcement Agency ranks Oxycontin as a Schedule II drug. This means that it is approved for medical use, but has a very high risk of abuse.

The most serious risk of abuse is Oxycontin overdose. Oxycontin is specially designed to provide controlled release pain relief so that patients can take pills less often. Oxycontin overdose can occur when this time controlled release is compromised by crushing the tablets for inhalation, injection, or ingestion or if a person takes too strong a dose.

Another quality of Oxycontin that makes Oxycontin overdose a threat is the way it is prescribed for prescription use. When a patient is taking Oxycontin as prescribed by their doctor, their body adapts to the presence of this medication and builds up a tolerance. When tolerance is built up, a larger quantity of the medication might be necessary in order to achieve the same effects. Therefore, an Oxycontin prescription that is safe for its user might cause Oxycontin overdose in a person who has not developed this tolerance and/or is using the drug in an abusive manner.

Drug abusers intentionally seek an Oxycontin overdose in order to feel the intense effects of this drug all at once. The euphoric feelings that this drug can produce is what drug abusers seek, but more often what they get is an Oxycontin overdose that can lead to coma, brain damage, and death. From 1996 to 2000 the number of deaths that have been caused by Oxycontin overdose increased by 400 percent and the number of Oxycontin overdose emergency room cases increased 100 percent.

A DEA study conducted in 2002 collected autopsy and medical reports from hospitals around the nation in order to determine the prevalence of Oxycontin overdose that results in death. Almost 1000 reports were collected. In five hundred of these cases, Oxycontin overdose was proven to be the cause of death. There were hundreds of other reports that showed suspected Oxycontin overdose as the cause of death, though it couldn''t be proven in these cases. Oxycontin abuse has become widespread in our nation and the risk of Oxycontin overdose poses a huge threat to the lives of thousands of people in the United States. In places where abuse is particularly rampant, some drug treatment facilities show that Oxycontin is the primary drug of abuse in 50-90 percent of their patients.

Oxycontin overdose is an extremely dangerous phenomenon that requires immediate medical treatment. Because Oxycontin is a central nervous system depressant, the following symptoms of an Oxycontin overdose may occur: remarkably slowed breathing (as little as ten breaths per minute), dizziness, weakness, small pupils, confusion, loss of consciousness, cold or clammy skin, seizures, coma, and death. Respiratory failure is a common cause of death in people who have an Oxycontin overdose and do not receive medical treatment in time.

"Oxycontin Penalty Deal"

The company that makes the pain relief drug OxyContin, Purdue Pharma LP, agreed Thursday to pay $600 million as a penalty for misleading and defrauding consumers and physicians about the addictive properties of its product. Another $34.5 million in pen...

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"Control over new painkillers taken from DEA and given back to FDA"

Legislation promoted by Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) and attached to a multi-department appropriations bill was passed last year with little notice, but this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and many drug makers and doctors objected to its ren...

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"OxyContin class action certification denied"

Purdue Pharma’s popular and controversial prescription drug OxyContin has avoided being named in a certification of a class action lawsuit claiming harm, including addiction.

OxyContin contains a very strong narcotic pain reliever similar t...

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