VICODIN ADDICTION COSTS MAN 'EVERYTHING'

Secret Vice Leads To Hearing Loss

LOS ANGELES - House Ear Institute researchers believe they saw their first
patient with Vicodin-induced hearing loss in 1993, although they didn't
realize then what caused the patient's condition. Until then, there had
been no reports linking hearing deficits to this painkiller, which has been
on the market since 1982.

Generally, if an adult with normal hearing experiences a sudden and rapidly
progressing hearing loss, the cause is either medications, such as
antibiotics or diuretics, or the onset of an autoimmune disease.

Usually, when a patient stops taking the antibiotics or diuretics, his or
her hearing returns. Similarly, people stricken with autoimmune- related
hearing loss respond to treatment with steroids.

That first patient at the House Institute, however, didn't fit the usual
pattern. He wasn't taking antibiotics or diuretics, nor was he suffering
from an autoimmune disorder. He ran a successful construction company,
owned a home and had a wife and kids - but also a secret vice: Vicodin.

He initially began taking the painkiller after two knee surgeries. He
developed a tolerance and the drug lost its effect. Soon he was taking 20
to 30 pills a day.

"I didn't even realize I was addicted," he said. "After all, this was a
prescription drug. it took the pain away, and I functioned normally."

His life changed, however, in November 1993, when he started experiencing
ringing in his ears. Then sounds became muffled, first in one ear, then the
other, like an electrical short circuit in an amplifier. Alarmed, he went
to see his doctor, who referred him to the House Institute. Doctors
prescribed steroids, but the drugs didn't help. Four weeks after his first
symptoms, he was completely deaf.

The construction manager blames his addiction and deafness for the loss of
his business and the demise of his marriage.

"I lost everything," he said. "All because of a stinking little pill.