PAINKILLER DEATHS IN STATE UP SHARPLY

TAMPA -- The number of overdose deaths in Florida involving prescription
painkillers is on the rise despite public warnings of the drugs' dangers
and efforts to stem misuse, state medical examiners reported Tuesday.

The death totals from overdoses of hydrocodone and oxycodone, the generic
name for the popular drug OxyContin, increased by 59 percent in the first
six months of this year.

Autopsies show that in those six months, 455 people died with either
hydrocodone or oxycodone in their systems in Florida, 243 with lethal levels.

In the last six months of 2000, 378 people died with one of the drugs in
their systems, with 152 of those deaths directly caused by the drug.

Also increasing were deaths attributed to methadone, which is becoming more
popular as a painkiller, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission told a
committee of medical regulators. There were 143 deaths attributed to
methadone the first six months of 2001, up from 104 in the previous six.

The commission is considering making it a crime for doctors to operate
"Pill mills" that indiscriminately prescribe the drugs to patients. Also
being considered is the creation of a statewide database to track
prescriptions of every controlled substance in Florida.