Pill Mills

Are “Pill Mills” a problem for us here in Columbia South Carolina?

When I was very young, which admittedly now was a long time ago, I would occasionally hear peers proclaim, “it’s for the money stupid”. I never really wanted to believe that statement in conjunction with the “nature of mankind”. I somehow wanted to believe, in some way, that man’s time here on earth served some higher purpose other than the accumulation of “money”.

In Columbia South Carolina, you may or may not have recently heard a new phrase in relationship to our “war on drugs” and that phrase is “Pill Mill”. It sounds harmless enough, perhaps some industrial warehouse for the pharmaceutical companies but no, we must check naievity at the door when examining our current drug environment our children live in. Parents, there’s a new term in town and that word is “Pill Mill”. Sadly, “Pill Mill’s” are in fact, just “for the money”. And before you ask, this too is a deadly problem for our South Carolina families!

“Pill Mills” is a recent term to describe a doctor, clinic or pharmacy that is prescribing or dispensing powerful narcotics inappropriately or for non existant medical reasons. They give good doctors a bad name and they put people's lives at risk. Pill mills are places where bad doctors hand out prescription drugs like candy. "Pill mill" clinics come in all shapes and sizes but authorities say more and more are being disguised as independent pain-management centers. Pill Mill’s tend to open and shut down quickly in order to evade law enforcement. Although the problem is nationwide, Drug Enforcement Administration officials believe the highest concentration of pill mills are in Florida and Texas with the Florida pill mills earning the nickname "oxy express" as oxycontin is the primary drug being trafficked.

Some obvious signs of a “Pill Mill” are:

Accept cash only
No physical exam is given
No medical records or x-rays are needed
You get to pick your own medicine, no questions asked
You are directed to "their" pharmacy
They treat pain with pills only
You get a set number of pills and they tell you a specific date to come back for more
They have security guards
There may be huge crowds of people waiting to see the doctor

Government efforts to curb abuse have shown little success, with emergency room visits from prescription drug overdoses doubling from 2004 to 2009 when they topped 1.2 million, according to federal health officials. And more overdose deaths are connected to prescription drugs than heroin and cocaine combined.

A recent report by Florida medical examiners found that in the first six months of 2010, 1,268 deaths in Florida were caused by prescription drugs, or about seven fatalities a day. A Kentucky governor is quoted as saying “82 people die of overdoses each month in his state”. Renee Doyle, a Fort Lauderdale mother whose son Blayne was in an oxycodone haze when he was struck and killed by a car in 2009, said her son was able to get 240 pills on each monthly visit to a local pain clinic by doing little more than asking for them. More than 850 pain clinics are currently registered in Florida, where doctors prescribe 85 percent of all such pills in the nation. "I think people were just not paying attention and then greed took over," she said. "They are legal drug dealers and they should be outlawed”.

It really is, just “about the money”. I still do not want to have to believe that.

If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.com or visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in Columbia SC with addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:

AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
ColumbiaSC 29205
(803) 254-5301