Family Stories

I live in a small town in N.E. Arkansas.

I have felt like a one person army against oxy, until I found your group on the internet. I Don’t want anyone to experience the hell my family has gone thru. If I can stop just one person from putting that poison in their body, and some how stop these doctors from prescribing it. This drug is totally destroying lives and families. Going to the doctor for medical help, should not be such a high risk, someone who is suppose to be sworn to help you not destroy you, all for the sake of money. If a person thinks money's not behind it, have no insurance and pay the regular price of 900.00 for a 30 day supply? At least that was what my husband paid for it at the pharmacy several years ago when he had a prescription before his doctor fired him and sent him to the streets...
With such a large outcry for help I still can't believe it is still readily available as a pain medication... This is in no way shape or form medicine. Medicine helps you this stuff destroys and kills you and anyone close to you, no matter of age, race or social status.

This drug kills...it is very very dangerous and should not be prescribed to anyone who is not terminally ill!  This drug is nothing more than heroin, opium.... you wouldn't think going to your doctor for medical help you would come out a heroin addict but that is what is happening with this medication.... I have been married to the same man for 30 yrs. I thought I knew him pretty good until oxycontin destroyed our lives and made Purdue Pharm and the doctor rich...

The Fed needs to get behind the people and not the pharmacudical company... it is illegal to sell, use or have herion but yet Purdue Pharm has the free right of way to turn all our family members into herion addicts under the disguise of medicine... or pain relief.

If a drug like this has such a high rate of deaths and abuse why does the federal government and politician protect them (Purdue Pharm) and line their pockets with cash...

I've read about the states lawsuits against Purdue and some settlements to the goverments but what about the people who actually have suffered the loss of a family member from this dangerous drug, or going thru total hell to try and save their loved ones from the clinches of this drug....

How about the long term effect from being an addict... my husband has been in and out of treatment for this addiction for 2 yrs now. We have to come to the conclusion that we will have to deal with the effects of this drug for the rest of our lives. He will always be an addict now. any time he has to go for medical treatment he has to make sure that the medicine they are prescribing don't have any narcotics with addictive qualities to them. He just went thru a complete hip replacement which the pain med for was oxy's. The surgeon was really great and listened to us about the oxy and went and researched a different medication that he could take and not cause him to relapse into another addiction.

We have to stand up together to have our voices heard and educate the public on the dangers of this drug because the doctors, Purdue Pharm and govermant aren't going to take any steps to stop this insanity called oxy abuse...

My husband John has lung cancer. Nothing could stop the growth of the tumor. He was in severe pain and when asked what was the ratio between 1&10 he always said 200. The lollypops helped and so did other drugs but when he told a visiting nurse from Meridian Healthcare that she said why isn't your Dr. giving you Oxycontin for the pain . She asked the Dr. to prescribe it for his pain. The Dr. prescribed 60 80 MG Tablet SA Pur . When John took it he slept but became very angry and practically could not talk.It was prescribed on 11/19/03. He was told by the Dr. he had 6 month's to live on 11/18/2003. He could not eat or talk or go to the bathroom after taking the Oxycontin.I called the Dr. on 11/27/03 and the Dr. said stop the Oxycontin and he'll be better in 12 hrs. He died the next morning!!!!!!

my former sister-in-law died from oxycontin 12/20/2003. her funeral is in one hour. kim was given oxy by her doctor for chronic back pain. kim was a loving mom,wife,sister,daughter,friend,and nurse.kim never would have taken this drug if she had known it would have taken her from her husband and sons. kim,we will always remember your laughter.we love you and miss you and you will always live in our hearts

I am in the middle of getting my husband treatment for his oxycontin abuse and addiction. This is the worst drug in the world. I have a 6 yr. old son and have never used drugs in my 26 yrs. I have seen him try to get off before and it only worked for a few weeks. I would love to have some feedback from users and non-users as to what I can do if anything to make this be the last time. Please

Not my Mom, she just turned 60 and has a Master's Degree in History. She has 6 beautiful grandbabies... "KK's Precious Angels". She was in the middle of so many projects, so many plans. Why can't I stop rocking back and forth? I thought she was going to wake me up after my husband left for work. By the miracle of God, he took our 4 year old son with him. My mom and I always did things together after he left. We were fighting, so I went to lay down and waited for her to wake me. It was my husband who woke me up about 6 hours later. I immeditatly asked where my mom was? He didn't know. I ran to her room and opened the door. My mom lost her house and had been staying with us for less than 2 months. It was not unusual for to stay in her room. She didn't want to intrude on our lives, get in the way or be a burden. She suffered from severe pain and would try to sleep the pains away. She slept all day and was awake all night. I swung the door open, took one step in and thought she had quickly laid back down, pretending to be asleep, trying to be funny. I couldn't figure out where she got that weird clown nose. I thought it was a clown nose. I never saw a yellow/white clown nose before. Why were her lips sewn together with black yarn? What was she pretending to be? Still dressed in her jammies? Her hair pulled back. She didn't have her glasses on. One leg was hanging off the bed. OH MY GOD TONY, OH MY GOD SHE'S DEAD! MY MOM IS DEAD! OH GOD HELP ME. It was 8:10pm on Friday, April 11, 2003. I remember calling 911. Weird that they didn't tell me to do CPR. I think they asked but I told them she was dead. Pounding my fists into my bedroom floor balled up on my hands and knees. I do not know where my husband was. My little boy, her best fried was asleep on the couch. I never asked my husband if he went to see. It seem like hours passed before anyone got there. I called my brother and sister and of course my dad. What was taking so long. "It is my opinion the cause of death is OXYCODONE OVERDOSE. Further, it is my opinion that the manner of death is SUICIDE." Medical Examiner My mom had been on this Oxycontin for about 2 years. She never really shared what it was doing to her or even knew that it was the drug that was doing it. This drug killed her the first day she started taking it. If only I knew. If only I woke her up that day. If only I could hug her. If only she knew she was going to be a KK again. Good night my love

my husband was prescribed oxys for a broken leg. three years later we are still fighting this addiction. been in different detox programs. nothing would ever help, he would always seem to go back, through lie after lie and more money and no money.he is supposed to be clean again.this time is it i am done, no trust, no patientce, and if he goes back again i give up.i noticed a story from meg on 10/22/2002. there are so many simularities, i would like to talk to here and see where she is now and if there is hope. sometimes i wander.

My husband is 45 years old with chronic back pain from a schattered vertebrae that occurred in work in March of 2002. He started taking oxy's for the pain. He has lost 60 lbs. My husband is 6'4 1/2 inches tall and weights about 150 lbs on a good day. He was a tall strapping man with muscles and good looks who weighed in at 210 lbs. I feel and it took me a longtime that there pain pills are slowly killing him. There are days that I don't even understand what he is saying. He is always confused and loses his wallet etc. It's really sad to watch him but I feel he is addicted to these pills like a lab rat. I look at him and it looks like an alien invaded his body. I know he is in severe pain and I can only hope that surgery on his back might take his pain away, before the oxycontins kill him

My brother passed 01/11/01 because of oxy! He had a lung disease. Then he fell down some stairs and had a back injury. He was prescribed oxy's and that is what killed him. He went into cardiac arrest because of the oxy's. We hired a lawyer and he could not do anything for us because my brother refused to go to the hospital. I started talking to Purdue pharma. after that. They would not reply to me for awhile. They do not care about what they are doing to people! We need to take a stand on this drug. Call your congressman, i did. They are not listening either. We need to make people listen about what this drug is doing to our loved ones!!!!!!!!

My husband was taking oxycontin for severe back pain following an accident. His doctor would renew his presciptions without ever seeing him. > On Sept. 25,2001 he died at home after the doctor increased his dosage milligrams the afternoon before. (again without seeing him or evaluating his use of the drug). People who are in severe and chronic pain sometimes will take two instead of one just to ease their pain ,or they may chew if they think their pain will be relieved sooner. THIS SHOULD NOT >RESULT IN THEIR DEATH!!!!! > This drug should be removed from the market until Pharma Dura developes a capsule that can't be abused so easily and won't lead to accidental overdose and death. > Pharma Dura should be held accountable for their aggressive marketing to doctors without fully informing them about the inherent risk of abuse, anddiction and death. widow raising a very disturbed 17 yr. old stepson who saw his dad laying dead on the floor.

My husband has been down this road twice and if I can offer anyone hope who feels they don't have any, it seems as if what he did to recover the second time has worked. In general our story is, he started using illegally because of back pain and working long hours as he said it would turn a 14 hour day into what seemed a three hour day, little by little his need become more and more and within six months of starting (snorting) his was spending about 100 a day just to keep the withdrawls away. he was in so far over his head that if he went off them i would have known it was alot worse than i thought, by the time i really found out how bad it was there was no way he could get off own his own. he constantly lied and covered up lies with lies, he made up illnesses to cover up his change in appearance, so we shipped him off to a re-hab where he stayed three days with street junkies happy they were somewhere warm with food, he couldn't shower or wear his own clothes all of which made him do and say anything to get out of there. By this time he is a good actor, and was encouraged to go home, he was told it was up to him and the drug was out of him and mentally he would have to kick it. the drug was not out of him!!!! within three weeks he was buying percs and within 5 back on oc's from the start of his so called rehab he couldn't sleep which caused him to barely be able to work (we own our own business and he can't be away to much)he was basically up 24/7 so within weeks he went to a doctor who prescribed him sleeping pills (not knowing he just had this) after the precription ran out he was a mess. within another 6 months back on oc's just as bad. the second time around we together made an apt. to see his primary care dctr. instead of the ER route and told them everything and they prescribed a combination of three drugs (I highly believe this is what worked for him)one was an anti-histamine (like benadryl) which helped him sleep the other was something that lowered blood pressure (also relaxing) and the last was motrin 600's the combination he took for three months and after the three months passed mentally i think he was removed from the situation long enough to be able to stay away. also we together saw someone at his primary care doctor's office every three days for a month, the whole staff were his personal cheerleading team, he says now, the only reason he went back on them the second time was this lack of being able to sleep and control the withdrawl effect that last longer than any stay in rehab. again, the oc's give you a false sense of relaxing. The second time it was a horrible three or four days he did it at home and i did not leave him alone at all to make a bad decision. he knew that i was seeing him at his worst and if i would stay through that i would stay through anything. the first time i just wanted someone else to make him better. the second time at the point of confrontation, i followed him with my 2 and 3 year old to the drug house and baracaded him in the drive way and made a scene like none other gave him the choice to stay or come with us and if he came i would never leave no matter what. Real support is key. and it's not easy, after all the lies and deception and $lost. we are still facing the potential of loosing our business over this nightmare. but i can say with confidence it's over. It's nice to here him say thank you, another thing that he said helps is from the start he took a really good multi-vitimin, drank a ton of water and he took a valerine at bed time. (which i actually heard about from this web site) they sell it in the herbal section (GNC store has the best brand) along with the precribed meds. posted 6/10/03 next month my husband will be off for one year, a long year, we sold our business, to get rid of that stress in our life, we moved out of the area we were in, and he's in the gym alot dealing with his demons, they are always knocking he says

my uncle Lewis Sexton committed suicide...He suffered from a car accident and the doctors perscribed Oxycontin for him he took this drug as directed and eventually the doctors said he could no longer give him any more Oxycontin.....he then realized he was addicted he never told anyone but he began buying it off the streets...The day he committed suicide he could not find any of this drug and found other stuff he thought may take away the pain with that in his system he then found the drug called Oxies and the other drugs he found did not take away the pain so when he found the oxies he took those too....Then for some reason unknown by his family member's he committed suicide... He was a great uncle and an awsome dad two beautiful kids and had an amazing wife.... i am 15 and feel terrible that i an having to deal with this that a Man lost his life to this EXTREMELY dangerous drug.... i am from Jacksonville Florida...when the homicide detective spoke with my Aunt ( his Wife) he said this is the main drug in Jacksonville...it is # 1 over pot and cocaine ! This astounds me that this drug is taking over America...not only with teens who r abusing it but over grown adults who are perscribed it....Not long after he passed his BEST friend killed him self for the exact same reason.....That is embarrassing to me as an American that this drug is taking over our nation!!! thank you for giving me the chance to share my story with you please feel free to respond to this at any time..

I just learned of a dear friend's overdose of oxycontin on monday morning. He was being treated for severe depression and it got the best of him. He was taking drugs for this, and was so unhappy that he couldnt be happy on his own that he took himself off of the pills. Well, this past weekend he overdosed on oxycontin and they didn't find him until Monday morning. His sister returned home from being away for the weekend and found him in the kitchen floor dead. She herself had just returned from rehab and we were all so excited that she was finally getting her life together. It is so hard to deal with this with so many lingering questions.

My old dance teacher for 5 years had always been alittle high strung. In 2001 she was in an accident and was put on Oxy Contin for her pain. Soon enough she was addicted. She started to do heroine and other heavy drugs and eventually began to rob us, her students to get money for Oxy. She would forge signatures on prescriptions and shot up in front of her children. The night we found out, she had freshly robbed a friend of ours and went off to cheat on her husband. Losing her as a friend and role model has been one of the hardest experiences of my entire life. Even with rehab, she's now in jail and still very much addicted. It killed everything she had. She never made it through her rehab cleanly and got kicked out for using. Her entire life is forever scarred by this. It ruins the lives of the user and friends and family. Stay off this deadly drug. Once you start, there's no stopping

Hello, My sister in law died a few weeks ago, she was 30 years old, with a six year old daughter, we have had no cause of death yet!! she had been taking prescribed Oxy for about a year for a very painful knee, we don't know if Oxy had any thhing to do with her death, but after reading all the info on this site we now think it is a posibitly, not sure if anyone has any info for us, thank you

My sister was put on oxycontins after numerous pancreas surgeries. I begged her to get off them because I knew she was adicted to them. Her doctor told her if she only took them when she was in pain, that she would not become addicted and they were perfectly safe. She was my closest sister and the best friend in the world to me. She had her bags packed because she was all excited that she was going to be coming last August story to visit me and her mother (in another state) Two days before she was to leave, she died in her sleep. An autopsy was done. Because only the prescribed amount of oxycontin was in her system, they did not list the drug as cause of death. They just called it heart failure. The heart just slowed down in her sleep and then quit beating. It was the Oxycontins, I know. She had lost so much weight (was down to 98 pounds) and the dosage amount was never changed. I lost my best friend and she left behind four children and 6 grandchildren. This is my death story but I also have two more abuse stories to tell. Oxycontin is the most horrible drug that has ever hit the market. People need to be made aware!

I family member,20 yrs old, recently died of myocardia ischemia. They also found oxycodone in his system. However this was not listed as the cause of death.The family was told it was a heart condition that killed him.(He died in his sleep) He did not know he had a heart condition

My mother has had severe osteoarthritis for many years. She had been taking an enormous amount of Oxycontin and Oxycodone which has been prescribed for her by her HMO doctor in leiu of giving her knee replacement surgery. They just keep increasing her dosage and I am wondering if anyone can tell me how much is too much? She takes several pills three times a day and can barely function. Sometimes when I talk to her on the phone she is so messed up I wonder if she is going to pass out while I am talking to her. She is still driving. Does anyone know what the max dosage is? Please send me an email if you have any info regarding this. I have to do something for her and am worried that her doctor is overdosing her. She is also taking a couple of different kinds of anti-anxiety meds, I'm not sure which ones, and they really knock her out. I'm very worried about the combination

My sister is 30 years old, and has severe arthritis. She also has two knees that are completely ruined and need replaced. Her Dr. prescribed oxycontin for her about two years ago. He always did and still continues to tell her that because of her chronic pain she can not become addicted. He keeps upping her dose and I believe she now gets 280 pills a month. Since being on the meds I believe they have now taken over her body and mind. I would put her actions and behavior in the same category as my brother who was a meth user for years until being sent to prison. My sister never used any kind of drug before getting arthritis. I would now consider her a legal drug adict that a Dr. has now created. I feel really sorry for her and her three kids that she now has trouble taking care of. Is the Dr. that put her on this drug going to pay for her drug treatment that it is going to take to help her? Isn't the pain she is going to have from withdrawl going to be worse than the pain she has had for two years? Shouldn't an educated person like a Dr. know better? I pray that she lives long enough to get over this death sentence. Please to anyone that reads this if your Dr. wants to put you on this drug, find an alternative. You won't want to end up like my beautiful sister that now lives her life like a paranoid drug addict too afraid to leave her home.

dear parents, children, public and patients of oxycontin oxycontin taken as prescribed by a doctor for chronic severe pain, can be affective in controling pain levels in chronic pain sufferers,,,however, even taking the medicine as recommended can still have side effects...i know this first hand...my spouse has to take them to reduce the amount of pain he suffers from after three serious back surgeries within twelve months of each other...,,the medication can cause constipation, bloating, confusion, lack of sexual function or desire, and sometimes can give a patient a false sense of " i can do anything"...in reality, that is not true,,if you must take this medication, please do not do any task you wouldn't be able to do without the pill...i beg of you not to take more than prescribed,,,i also have a friend who had two neck surgeries and he is also on this medicine..it is very easy not to sense that you have taken too much of this drug even by itself and not mixed with other drugs or alcohol.. thanks g ramsey

My Husband Kelly Albritton had an industrial accident in Feb of 1996. He herniated several discs in his neck. He created a high tolerance of pain meds due to the fact that workers compensation took so long to approve his surgeries. He ended up having a total of 4. The M.D. started him out on Vicodin, then it had to be increased to Vicodin E.S. along with muscle relaxers. Before we knew it nothing helped until this new medicine Oxycontin came out. It was supposed to be some miracle pain killer. My husband was a chronic deppression sufferer as well and when he took the oxycontin, He became in his own words "Great". He told me "It is the only thing that makes me feel normal." When he realized he was out of control, he quit cold turkey. And that'a when hell began. All the physical torture in the world along with the worst depression he had ever had. Bad enough, that he underwent 8 ECT treatments. To put an end to his hell, he went back to taking Oxycontin and felt "normal" until our son called me and told me they had found him dead in the bathroom in a kneeling position. They called the paramedics but he was already gone. Gone FOREVER. It has been 9 months and many lives have been affected. Our oldest son who has a full college schollarship, has decided to take some time off to cope, and our other 2 boys have suffered the loss of their father in other ways. They loved their Dad to no end and will miss him forever. And me? It has taken something away from me that I can't ever expain. When your soul mate dies, so does your soul. The Only comfort I now have is knowing he is with God and will never suffer again. He was the kindest man I had ever met.

My brother took oxycontin for chronic pain, he became very depressed and paranoid. On Nov. 20, 2002 he took his own life due to severe depression and paranoia r/t oxycontin, this drug is a killer in more ways than just overdoses

I have a name you can add to the list. Gary Cruise was a strapping San Francisco fireman. Gary was my coworker and my friend. Both Gary and I were injured on separate fires while working on one of the busiest truck companies in the City. I was retired out in 1988. I have been on Oxycontin for 5 years now with no bad results. My pain is legitimate and Oxycontin (when used responsibly) is a Godsend to those of us with chronic intractable pain. Gary had undiagnosed sleep apnea. The doctors put him on Oxycontin for his spinal injury. One evening in November, Gary took a larger than normal dose due to the increased pain and stopped breathing. His wife found him lifeless in bed the next morning. I mourn the passing of my friend. If you are on Oxycontin, or any other prescription medicines, follow the doctor's and pharmacist's directions. If you have sleep apnea DO NOT USE THIS DRUG. Or, use it under strict supervision. It isn't the drug that is bad. What is bad is that people are not being followed closely by their doctors. This is a good drug for people in severe physical pain. It is a killer

Al was 66 years old, and prescribed Oxycontin for pain associated with arthritis. He died of an accidental overdose of the medication. Oxycontin killed my husband, and I've lost the love of my life. Wishing the families and friends of those lost to Oxycontin some measure of peace

My Wife died in her sleep of a Accidental overdose of Oxycontin on Nov 19 , 2000. She was taking this Drug for Migraines. I sure would like to sue the Drug Company and the Docs that pushed this Drug. Missing Her

My sister's name was Linda. She was a very smart, beautiful and a mother. She started taking oxycontin about a year ago for chronic back pain. She was a nurse and thought she knew what she was doing. I am also a nurse and was real worried about the drug she was taking. The doctors gave her what ever she wanted thinking she was in control. About a year we found out she was not in control. Oxycontin controled her. We had her taken into detox and she did well for about 4 days till a doctor gave her another percription of it. 2 months after that which was 2 weeks ago. I sat next to her dead body that had been over come with oxycontin. I am so mad right now at the doctors for giving it to her and for her taking the med. It is very powerful and over coming medication. I am going to try to get the word out as much as i can to let people know that the drug does KILL

My son was prescribed Oxycontin for

back pain a year and a half ago without any notification to his wife or

family members that he was on it. By the time we realized how bad it was, he

was a full-blown addict. We called the doctor and he stopped prescribing it.

It totally ruined his life, he lost his job, his family, his home and his

dignity. He turned to the streets to obtain it, when he couldn't get it

anymore he started shooting up heroin. He died on May 2nd, 2002 from a drug

overdose. He was 25 years old and would have turned 26 on the 24th of this

month. He left behind 4 children twins; Kerianne & Sara age 9, Slyvia age 5

and Evan age 4 and the rest of his family who loved him very much. We tried

to get him to go to a detox center but he thought he could beat it on his

own. He finally signed up for a detox bed with the county and had planned on

going in three days before his death. I am angry, angry that the drug is

readily prescribed when they know full well how addictive it is. And more

than anything angry because he son is dead and we are left with the pain and

loss...I know he would still be alive today if that doctor had not put him on

this drug.

My son Matthew Snyder age 22 of Springfield Missouri died on April 4th 2002 from taking the prescription drug Hydrocone prescribed to him by his dentist. Matthew was a handsome, talented young man who was my only child. He is missed by everyone who knew him

have a friend, known as Jason to me, and Daarden to some others. I met him at USF in 1992 in one of my French Literature classes and we became instant friends. He went to sonograms with me while I was pregnant, cooked for me, made bread in his breadmaker for me, and we'd sit around playing Dr. Mario on his Nintendo for days. Literally.

Later on, Jason moved to Utah and then to San Francisco. I flew out to see him in September of 1999 with Gabrielle. He was a flight attendant with SouthWest, and we'd go out to dinner and hang out when he was on a stayover in Orlando.

Jason's mom had passed when I was pregnant with Madeleine. He had recently taken some time off of work to care for his mom's mom, who was dying of cancer. He was her nurse, taking care of her 24 hours a day since before Christmas. I'd call him on weekends, just to see how he was doing and how Grandma was.

Jason called me on Feb. 5th to let me know his Grandma had finally passed from the cancer. The last two weeks she'd been in a coma-like state, and they'd feed her liquids. Her pain relief was in the form of Oxycontin, which they would give her when they felt she'd need it. I called him and spoke with him a few times after that, the most recent being around the 11th or 12th. He seemed in good spirit, telling me that he'd had Grandma cremated and he'd mixed her ashes with his mom's. He and his friend, Daren, were going to inter the ashes themselves. He detailed his renovation plans for Grandma's house, which he was making repairs to and would put on the market. He was going to take the proceeds from the sale to purchase a townhome for himself in San Francisco. He was going to take some time off for himself and return to work in August.

Daren knew that since Grandma's death, Jason had been taking some of her Oxycontin. Wednesday night, Feb. 13th, Jason said he was having some trouble sleeping and was going to take something. When Daren woke up, Jason was in bed and had passed away from an accidental overdose of the Oxycontin and his other prescription meds. Daren tried to revive him, and so did the paramedics. Jason didn't wake up.

I can't begin to relay how much Jason is missed.

My heart hurts so badly. I'll call his cellphone just to hear his voice on the message. Jason was my cheerleader, my confidante, my sounding board. I am so thankful that I got to meet him and that he was part of my life.

Lynn (Raye was her first name but everyone called her Lynn) is the

granddaughter of my sister. This just happened on 16 February. Lynn was on

a life support system until Feb 20 but the doctors told her family there was

no hope for her--she was brain dead. Lynn was a beautiful person who loved

life; divorced from her husband, and had two little daughters ages 3 1/2 and

1 1/2. Her viewing is today in Thomasville, NC, where they lived. She'll be

laid to rest tomorrow. I'm told she was given the OxyContin by prescription

from a doctor recommended to her by friends for back pain. Lynn's friend with whom she lived said she was ok at 2:30 a.m. on Feb 16, he heard her

coughing around 9 a.m. and went to check on her. When he saw her condition

he called the rescue squad. Lynn had no pulse when they arrived. We're not

sure whether her friend's version is reliable. He may have even been the on

that gave her the OxyContin. An investigation is ongoing. Lynn's mother,

Connie, never left Lynn's side from the time she arrived at the hospital

until it was time to disconnect the life support. Lynn carried a donor

organ card so if any of her organs could be used they were donated. The

hospital said Lynn's blood contained a little cocaine and xanax but enough

OxyContin to kill 10 people

The father of two sons, one son whose mother also died.

After four years, I see you and feel you every place I go.

I miss you so much, my son. A doctor prescribed Oxycontin

for a job injury. I just did not understand what you were trying to tell me; how serious the problem had become in such a short time. I would trade places with you if it were possible because I know how much you loved life, and you had so many more years ahead of you. My heart is filled with a bitter joy because I miss you so much, but you are free. I cling to Jesus' promise and thank him for saving you before your time on earth ended. See you again one day, precious son, see you again. Love, Mom

Chris" Pauzar

Frederick C. "Chris" Pauzar, 22, of Orlando/Winter Park, Florida, died from OxyContin on Tuesday, November 25, 2003.

Born in Naples, Florida, Chris Pauzar moved to Winter Park with his parents in 1996 where he graduated from Winter Park High School. Having completed two years of higher education at Valencia Community College, he was continuing his education at the University of Central Florida. A successful entrepreneur, Chris Pauzar was the principal behind three successful internet-based ventures and was actively involved in business activities in close association with his father until the time of his death. A Christian, he had recently renewed his personal commitment of faith and had intended to be baptized again as an adult.

Originally prescribed Oxy for a minor injury, he quickly found that more and more was needed to simply keep from feeling horribly worse. With the help of Orlando, Florida’s Center for Drug Free Living, physicians, private and group counseling, a loving mother and father and many dear and caring friends and relatives, Chris managed to stop taking Oxy - for a while. Then, with his life in wonderful focus, with business successes and a growing reconnection with the love of his family and friends, he found himself in a situation where he was tempted one more time. He "slipped" as so often happens with

this addiction. But this time his heart stopped and he couldn’t be brought back. His brilliance and potential are lost. And the meaning has truly gone out of more than one life by his passing. Chris Pauzar is remembered by countless friends for his frequent acts of kindness, his love and support for others in need, and for his far-reaching insight and guidance, always requiring nothing in return. He had a brilliant mind, beautiful heart and an amazing potential for greatness in so many ways.

May other children, parents, families and friends be spared this terminal pain, this irretrievable loss. May Oxy and the killers who prescribe it without need or peddle it illegally for mindless gain be stopped with the same finality that has buried us with grief

I lost my only child, my son on June 6, 2003, only four and a half months ago as of 10/03. He was involved in a motorcycle accident 2 1/2 years ago and given the drug OxyContin for non-terminal pain... he became addicted not long after.... The last two years of his life were a horror story of addiction, withdrawal, pharmacy hopping, being over prescribed the drug and so on...... Then he finally lost his battle against this miserable drug when he breathed his last breath.. I lost my life, my love and my heart

my aunt melinda was 33 when she died of taking oxycontin as a pain killer for her ankle. she was my best friend and i miss her a lot. she was taking it for about 5 years and then one day she went home and went to bed and never woke up. i think oxycontin should be taken off the market because it can and will kill you sooner or later. my family still hurts over her death and she died in 2002. please warn your family members who use it about the risks and let them know that they can get help before it is too late!

My Mother suffers from Charcot Tooth Marie Syndrome. Her Doctor has prescribed Oxycontin for the pain. My sisters and I have become very concerned because over the last six months (since she has been taking the drug) she has become forgetful, her eyes look glassy, basically the best way to describe it is "the lights are on but nobody is home". She is 66 years old and should not be acting this way. Her sister, my aunt, also takes the drug and she too has been acting odd. I would like to know if Oxycontin causes brain disfunction of any kind