TYLER, Texas — Former doctors at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler are accused of being a part of the hundreds of people who prescribe prescription drugs illegally.
One of the accused doctors, Dr. James Stock, allegedly prescribed Hydrocodone to one of his coworkers for over a decade.
Hydrocodone is a pain killer prescribed when someone is critically ill or injured. It is one of the most abused drugs in the nation.
According to Lauren Barnes, with Next Step Community Solutions, opioid abuse is all to common in East Texas.
“Unfortunately, we have more controlled substances prescribed per person in East Texas than anywhere else in the state of Texas," Barnes said. "So that just means there's more strong medications like hydrocodone out in the community.”
The drug is addicting because it suppresses the feeling of pain, and it replaces it with feelings of happiness and pleasure.
Barnes says people who become addicted become desperate to keep the good feelings the medication could bring.
“It's really easy to get addicted to that feeling of, you know, euphoria and happiness," Barnes explained. "And so patients won't realize how much they're taking over the limit.”
If taken to much, hydrocodone can lead to overdoses and death.
"It's really important whenever you get prescribed hydrocodone to take it exactly according to the prescription, especially never mixing it with alcohol because hydrocodone actually suppresses the nervous system," Barnes said. "If you mix it with anything else like alcohol, that's a depressant that's two, you know, really strong things that are suppressing your nervous system and that's actually what restricts your breathing."
Go to Next Step Community Solutions for more about how they can help you or someone you know that's suffering from addiction.