Quickly addictive. Oxycodone is an opioid-type drug that is usually prescribed for patients with severe pain, but is now increasingly being used in a recreational setting by the French. The French Society of Pharmacology (SFPT) warns of the “worrying” increase in its consumption in recent years, in a notice posted on its site on May 22.
A “worrying” increase
“Its prescription in France follows a worrying progression although it does not present any pharmacological advantage over morphine”, alarms the SFPT.
Derived from the poppy seed, oxycodone is a pain reliever similar to morphine, according to the Vidal Medical Dictionary. The Department of Health says that it is “used to treat severe pain that can only be adequately relieved with opioid pain relievers.”
It is generally prescribed to patients suffering from post-operative or cancer-related pain, but only as an ulterior motive, i.e. when another strong pain reliever proves ineffective.
Addiction Risks
In fact, excessive consumption of this drug “can generate dependency, abuse and addiction, which can lead to a potentially fatal overdose,” warns the Ministry of Health.
“My patients say it well: it relieves my back pain, but I also take it because I feel good, it helps me to go to work,” doctor André Nguyen, general coordinator of the Regional Coordination of Addictions, told BFMTV. (KOREADD) .
“Like all drugs that are good for the head, sometimes it’s a bit difficult to quit,” he warns.
In case of addiction to oxycodone, the risk is consuming the product in excess. With such a powerful pain reliever, patients risk not only experiencing shortness of breath, slipping into a coma, but also dying from respiratory arrest.
West particularly affected
Despite these risks, doctors are increasingly prescribing the drug. There are thus 460 consumers per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021, according to the SFPT.
It is in the west of the country where the situation is most worrying. The SFPT deplores an “impressive” increase in prescriptions of 5% per year since 2017, compared to 1 or 2% in the rest of France. In total, 950 inhabitants out of 100,000 use oxycodone in New Aquitaine.
Oxycodone’s share of toxic deaths from painkillers (DTA) quadrupled between 2013 and 2017. In 2019 in France, 23 involved oxycodone, according to the annual DTA survey.
Widely used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs.
Le professor de pharmacologie au CHU de Bordeaux, en Gironde, Francesco Salvo, s’interroge sur la façon dont est prescrit le medicament et dit à l’AFP avoir solicité des financements auprès de l’Agence régionale de santé (ARS) pour mieux comprendre The phenomenon.
“We would like to see if there is a part of the population that is receiving longer prescriptions, which could suggest misuse or even a use disorder,” he explains.
In the United States, oxycodone is the most widely used drug in the manufacture of designer drugs. It is the “first drug that was at the center of the opioid crisis” in the country, recalls the SFPT. Some 600,000 people have died from it in 20 years.
Source: BFM TV
