Here's article that appeared on Time.com this morning, reporting the death Matthew Mellon, who was the former Chairman of the New York Republican Party’s Finance Committee, husband to Jimmy Choo co-founder Tamara Mellon, and most recently made famous with cryptocurrency, turning a $2 million investment into $1 billion.
According to the article: "Mellon battled with his addiction to Oxycontin for years and revealed to Page Six in 2016 that he was spending $100,000 a month on the drugs while taking about 80 pills a day. The doctors kept writing prescriptions like they were Smarties. "It’s very irresponsible," Mellon said, adding he became addicted after suffering an injury. "Oxycontin is like legal heroin. And it needs to be addressed.""
I just wanted to share this to show how the opioids crisis is constantly appearing in the media every daily. This also shows how wide the opioid epidemic is (i.e. not affecting just one class or group of people), and the lax regulations for prescription writing and the ease of access to opioids.
Its amazing how someone would spend $100,000 dollars a month to support an addiction. Just shows the true power of these drugs.
ReplyDeleteThe volume of pills he was taking is appalling to me. I remember taking oxycontin for a week after a surgery and it knocked me out. So I am having trouble comprehending the sheer number of pills this man was taking.
ReplyDeleteOne thing is extremely important to regulate the prescription. We must avoid taking any benefits/profits from patients.
ReplyDelete80 pills a day... That is quite a lot. It goes to show the addictiveness of such drug and specially of Oxycontin since it is a “cleaner” version of heroine.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see that the doctors are not educated about prescribing such drugs in a different way. Maybe they need to add an addiction class to their medical school curriculum.
ReplyDeleteLike others have said...I can't even begin to wrap my head around somebody taking 80 pills a week let alone a day.
ReplyDeleteThe numbers are staggering. $100,000 a month spent on drugs is crazy.
ReplyDeleteSo tragic. It can happen to anyone. This reinforces the need for regulation.
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