Pain Killers

It is Nancy is a 25 years old single accountant with no previous drug problems. It is her first night home from the hospital after undergoing a major tests to find out she has Lupus. She wakes up early the next morning with constant pain throughout her body. "No big deal," she thinks. "I will just call the doctor and get a painkiller." The doctor hears her problem and prescribes 65mg of Darvocet to be taken twice daily. She picks up the prescription and immediately throws away the drug information. After two days of medication, Nancy still has a continuous pain in her back. She contemplates calling the doctor, but instead she decides to prescribe herself a double dose of Darvocet. But what she does not know it she is really prescribing herself a prescription for trouble.

Darvocet, a brand name for mild narcotic analgesic drug, is manufactured and distributed by Eli Lilly and Company (6). This prescription painkiller was put on the United States market in 1957 and was promoted as a safe, non addicting substitute for codeine. For decades it was near the top of the list of most-prescribed medications. Then things began