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Lack of Physician Training Part of Prescription Drug Abuse
July 8, 2005

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Research Summary

Many doctors and pharmacists say that their training in prescribing powerful painkillers and other controlled substances is limited -- a shortcoming that is becoming more acute as misuse of these drugs grows, Newsday reported July 7.

A new report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University noted that people who abuse prescription medications can get the drugs from doctors, friends and relatives, or online. About 15 million Americans misused prescription drugs last year, including growing numbers of young people.

"We have an epidemic of abuse of painkillers," said CASA chairman and president Joseph Califano Jr. "The problem with teens is a far more serious problem than anyone has ever realized."

But 40 percent of doctors surveyed by CASA said they did not get any formal training on prescribing controlled substances while in medical school, and more than half said they had never been trained to identify prescription-drug abuse or addiction. Similar numbers of pharmacists said they had not received any training on identifying prescription-drug abuse or diversion since they left pharmacy school.

CASA also reported that half of physicians said their patients pressured them to prescribe controlled substances, and that three in 10 pharmacists said they do not regularly validate prescribers DEA ID number before dispensing controlled substances.

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