In an era where veterinary students receive four times more training than medical students on the effects and potential liabilities of prescription painkillers, we are seeing a vast rise in the incidence of OxyContin abuse.

OxyContin addicts are known to repeatedly go to their doctor complaining of severe pain in order to get their prescription for “Oxy” upped again and again.

OxyContin is the most commonly abused of the oxycodone drugs because its time release format causes it to contain much more OxyContin than other drugs such as Percocet. As a matter of fact, three OxyContin pills can have the same street value as over one hundred Percocets.

While there have been many cases on record of corrupt medical professionals operating pain clinics that were nothing more than “pill mills” pushing drugs to anyone who wanted them, it is also true that many people are able to abuse OxyContin because their doctors are not informed. They are not trained to be able to spot patterns of abuse, and often are not in good communication with the pharmacist.

In a recent inquiry into OxyContin related deaths, it was found through testimony both by doctors and pharmacists that their professional relationships were often strained or “antagonistic”. While the pharmacist may have the knowledge base to identify a potential prescription drug abuser, he or she does not communicate with the doctor. Likewise, the doctor often does not communicate his suspicions to the pharmacist. Instead of working together as a team to do what’s best for the patient, the modern doctor and pharmacist are distant from one another and sometimes even at odds.

If communication improved between doctors and pharmacists, we would be step closer to preventing OxyContin abuse.