PAINKILLER USE DOESN'T MEAN ADDICTION

Say what you will about Rush Limbaugh, he brought life to the party. His
admission now to drug "addiction" caused me to say to a friend, "I feel
sorry for him." Why? "Because I feel sorry for anyone who suffers addiction."

If, in fact, he is an addict. The verdict is still out despite what the
evidence suggests. Also, pain specialists are distressed that all the
piling on following Limbaugh's admission of drug use may set pain
management back 100 years.

First, there's a difference between physical dependence on drugs and
addiction. If you use legal medications as prescribed, you're unlikely to
become addicted.

Recent research shows that only 6 percent to 10 percent of all chronic pain
patients on opioids become addicted. That's the same percentage as the
general population that becomes addicted to alcohol or shopping or
gambling. In other words, the risk for opioid addiction is no greater than
the risk for other addictive behaviors and substances.

The key to avoiding addiction to pain medications such as OxyContin, the
opioid Limbaugh was taking, is presence of pain, according to Joan Wentz,
an assistant professor and specialist in pain management at Jewish Hospital
College of Nursing and Allied Health in St. Louis. That is, if you have
pain and treat it with opioids, you're unlikely to become addicted, though
you may develop a physical dependence.

Dependence means simply that your body adjusts to the medication, and if
you withdraw abruptly, you will suffer unpleasant symptoms such as
palpitations and hallucinations.

Addiction, on the other hand, is defined as compulsive craving and
uncontrolled use despite harm. Whether this definition characterizes
Limbaugh's situation is unknown.

The number of pills he reportedly procured doesn't necessarily indicate
addiction, Wentz says. He may have been in pain and, because of his body's
adjustment, needed more medication to manage it.

Wentz and others in pain management worry that people who need medication
now will fail to seek treatment for fear of addiction, and doctors may
hesitate to prescribe it when needed.

In a recent bulletin to pain specialists, the American Pain Foundation
charged the media with perpetuating "long-standing myths and misconceptions
about pain management and pain medications" in its Limbaugh coverage.

"When properly used, pain medications rarely give a 'high' - they give
relief. And, most important, they allow many people to resume their normal
lives," said the bulletin.

The fact that Limbaugh could continue functioning in his career makes Wentz
skeptical about his being an addict. As to whether he's a hypocrite, well,
that's a tougher charge to dismiss. It's hard to swallow Limbaugh's
punitive line for drug users when he tossed back OxyContin like M&Ms.

Not surprisingly, Rush's critics are delighting in his humiliation, though
some have leavened their comments with sympathy for his obvious pain. Fans
and colleagues, meanwhile, have circled the wagons, trying to draw a
distinction between Rush's addiction to legal medications to treat pain and
those who become addicted to illegal drugs merely to get high.

Sorry, but that doesn't wash.

Limbaugh's fall from grace ultimately may be a blessing not only for him,
but also for people who suffer pain and those who succumb to addiction. The
message in the bottle is this: Suffering pain is not heroic, and becoming
an addict is not a crime.