PAIN DRUG ABUSE MAY CAUSE

Short-term use of pain medication under the supervision of a doctor is
generally not harmful, experts say.

DETROIT -- Rush Limbaugh's entry into a rehabilitation program for addiction
to prescription painkillers underscores an important message to the millions
of Americans who take the drugs: Chronic abuse may cause hearing loss.

The link between hearing loss and high doses of painkillers like Vicodin,
Lorcet and OxyContin is not yet well-known in medicine.

Until now, the drugs have not been included in medical references to
medicines associated with hearing loss.

But Limbaugh's public admission two weeks ago prompted warnings to people to
report hearing loss quickly to their doctors if they are abusing the drugs.
Quick action may prevent further hearing loss, experts say. Limbaugh's
hearing loss has made national headlines for the past two years.

"The message is not out there with doctors, pharmacists or lay people," said
Dr. Gail Ishiyama, a neurotologist at the University of California, Los
Angeles School of Medicine. Her UCLA team published research in 2000 in the
journal Neurology, linking deafness to abuse of Vicodin.

Typical doses of the drugs, taken under a doctor's supervision, are not a
problem, she cautioned. It's abuse of the drugs that has been associated
with hearing loss, she said.

One case study in the research involved a man who took escalating doses of
Vicodin for eight to nine years for migraine headaches, until eventually he
was downing 35 tablets a day. The other patient in the study, also a
migraine sufferer, took 60 pills a day. Both ended up with hearing loss in
both ears.

Limbaugh reportedly was taking as many as 60 OxyContin pills daily, as well
as other drugs, including Vicodin and Lorcet. This latest foray into rehab
is at least his third in recent years.

Hearing loss linked to painkillers is such a new problem that there's no
agreement about what treatment might help. Last week, the Journal of the
American Medical Association reported that methotrexate was not helpful in
maintaining hearing in people with autoimmune disease, compared with
high-dose steroids.