When Painkillers Become Dangerous: What Everyone Needs to Know About OxyContin and other Prescription Drugs Paperback – June 11, 2004

This book is readable in one night. It is informative. It is interesting. It is helpful. And most of all, imho, it is not written like nor does it read like a text book, which can sometimes be difficult to get through. I felt, as I read it, that Dr. Drew or one of the other authors were sitting across from me talking to me about this subject! It was incredibly easy to get through and it doesn't have a lot of mumbojumbo that can be confusing to comprehend! I highly recommend reading this book and passing it on.

This is the best overview of substance abuse, its history and current treatment options that I have ever read. It is easy to read yet very thorough and easily understood by even my non-reading rehab trudging buddies but also very informative to my most sophisticated and jaded medical and mental health professional colleages. This is a must-read for everyone intested in understanding substance abuse. This was my third copy! The other two disappeared in the lending out to family, friends and colleagues. I'm tempted to just buy this by the dozen!

This book could use an update. It was written in 2004, and the names "buprenorphine", Subutex, and Suboxone do not appear in it. Discussion of the ways in which narcotics (including the ones we use to get patients OFF the oxycodone and others) highjack the brain, and prevent real recovery, is well done. I am a practicing addiction specialist; I use this book every day, and share significant parts of it with my patients.

Drew Pinksky's section of the book is, in my opinion the most well written part. The other two collaborators are also quite knowledgeable. I would recommend this book for anyone wanting/needing more information on the subject of painkiller use and dangers.

Great book. I believe everyone should be reading this. Just because the doctor orders the medicine doesn't mean you will not build up a tolerance for it,and then become addicted to it.

Anything by Dr. Drew is great! I am a big fan of his an this was no exception. Happy with this purchase.

Great!

I loved Drew's other book, Cracked, and was hoping for some useful information about Oxycontin in here. I do take this drug periodically and was wondering about some of the more odd side effects (hearing issues, sleep disturbances, overheating, and anxiety), and basically just wanted to know all about it from the guy who knows it all. Unfortunately, almost none of the book is about Oxycontin. It mostly details the addiction process and the various detox treatments. Worse, only the very first section is actually written by Drew (!), so this book is a tease if you're even partly in it for him. I gave it a 2 since it does offer some interesting factoids about the history of prescription pain meds, but overall I would not recommend this book. Don't judge it by its dramatic cover that makes it sound like you're in for a useful experience. This is more like a dry, impersonal, and uninteresting version of "Cracked."