Death by Prescription
A grieving father's vow to educate families on the dangers in their own medicine cabinets.
Harrison was the boy next door. He was the boy who took your daughter to the prom, the helpful kid who waited on you at the local store. His life came to a tragic end in 2006. Something powerful overtook my son—something that could be lurking in your house.
Harrison was 17 when he died of a prescription drug overdose. He had the day off from school to celebrate Thanksgiving, so it was perfectly natural for him to sleep in. But he wasn't sleeping—his mother found him in bed, dead. Harrison had somehow gotten hold of pain pills—prescription drugs—and he took them to get high. When he mixed those with the common cold medicine he was taking, it killed him. We believe that he simply did not understand how dangerous it was.
The afternoon before he died, we had a great time in the woods together. There was a beautiful evening sky, the owls hooting and coyotes howling. It was almost magical.
Harrison's death has been painful beyond belief. I have grown closer to my family. We share the normal family bonds, but we also share the unfortunate tragedy of his death, the memories of his wonderful life cut too short. My wife, children and I continue to work through the guilt, depression and anxiety, and will for a long time.
It has been difficult in countless ways—no one can imagine the heartache and grief caused by losing Harrison this way. Not a day goes by that I don't think about prescription drug abuse, wondering if there was more that we could have done for Harrison, a way we could have prevented this from entering our home.
I spend more time at home now, letting others take a more active role at my business. I want to be closer to my family and to everyone I love. I have committed myself to helping parents recognize and take important steps to prevent prescription drug abuse in their homes.
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Member Comments
Posted By: Nins @ 07/06/2008 11:47:40 PM
Comment: Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.
Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.
So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.
Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?
Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.
So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.
McCain's plan SUCKS.
It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.
Posted By: observer101 @ 06/28/2008 5:56:08 PM
Comment: These kids know enough nowadays that prescription are just as bad as the illegal ones...What evers cheap and popular is the name of the teen popularity game...And alot of adults definatley do this crap too. I have a family member that steals pills when she finds out anyone in the family has "codone" anything...I dont see how parents wouldnt notice the kids change in behavior...When ppl are on that stuff and abusing it the noses turn red, they constantly are rubbing there noses (itching sensation)or are sleeping or nauseated most of the time constantly...SO its mostly the parents responsibility to check there meds, and know MOST of the time where and what there kids are doing...Always remember THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A TRUTHFUL TEEN! They always lie and sneak to outwit there parents..Yes even straight A teens lie there socks off...So watch the kids more stringently and this will less likely happen...Question: How can you tell if a teenager is lying? Answer: Every time they open there mouth....Trust nothing suspect everything...A parent should have keyloggers on there computers. If they sense the kid is acting abnormal then check what theyve been typing..They cant help but to type openly to there friends eventually about what they are up to...and thats when you catch them...I personally have found out stuff my kid was up to and good thing I did...Now he thinks twice about doing something and wondering if I will find out...Its called parenting!
Posted By: EE7011 @ 06/27/2008 3:46:51 PM
Comment: The problem is not the pharmaceutical company advertisements, and it is not the media. The problem is peer pressure! It is one of the strongest forces during adolescence. It forces a teenager to choose between their own feelings and that of their peers. When a teenager sees that their friends and school mates are taking medications and seem to be "ok" they think why not try it? Then simply trying a medication once can lead to an unexpected addiction. Parents don't want to admit to themselves and the community that their seemingly "perfect" child is not so perfect afterall. It is a very private situation that can be extremely difficult to talk openly about, but it is obvious we have to have this type of conversation. It starts with conversations in the household and matriculates down to faculty and friends. I still feel our country doesn't have its priorities straight. It isn't about being the smartest, sexiest, richest, and most fashionable, adolescence is about figuring out who you are and where you want to go in life and believe me there is no miracle pill that can figure that out for our teenagers!!