Yahoo has an article that hits close to home. My mother struggled with a painkiller addiction my entire life. It destroyed her many times over. Her addiction got her arrested and institutionalized, more than once. She lost friends and a marriage. Over the years, she overdosed a number of times, until one day she did not wake. My moms’ younger brother, overdosed on the same medication not even a year later.

This is a deeply personal thing. Growing up around people suffering from pain and addiction has made me very sensitive to other’s suffering and I guess that’s why I do what I do. There are two telling quotes in the article that sums up a lot of the issue.

“The results showed that counties where marketing to doctors was heaviest had the greatest incidence of over-prescribing of opioids, as well as subsequent abuse and related deaths.”

and

Direct-to-consumer advertising by major pharmaceutical companies has also had a significant effect on pain management expectations in clients, says Chris Lee, a health care consultant and marketing manager at Family Health Centers of San Diego. “Unlike most countries, the United States allows direct-to-consumer drug ads. ‘Ask your doctor about [drug name],’ they advise patients. This generates demand levels that are simply not seen in other countries.”

Its not the final passing that is so horrible. It is the number of times you see their spirit die before their bodies give in. The article says 70,000 people died last year from overdoses. While the dead may be at peace, the living that loved them is a far greater number and their peace further away.

I miss you mom.