Prescription painkillers, while a good resource to make patients comfortable after an injury or procedure, are extremely addictive. They ruin lives and devastate families, said Dr. Ken Warren, a family practitioner at Regional Medical Associates.

“It’s extremely alarming.” Dr. Warren said. “The number of people you encounter every day that you don’t realize have an addiction is astounding.”

Opiates are the most prescribed medications in the United States. They include OxyContin, morphine, codeine, Fentanyl, Dilaudid, Lorcet and Hydrocodone.

The path to addiction can be subtle, he said. As a patient’s tolerance level increases along with his or her dependency, it often goes unnoticed by family members because the patient is typically under more stress than usual.

“Taking a regular dose of opiates for just two weeks can be enough time to start the addiction process,” Dr. Warren said.

And once addiction sets in, it permanently changes the lives of the people it touches. Even if someone is able to break the addiction, it is like a switch has been flipped in their brain and it cannot be unflipped, Dr. Warren said.

“For ever and ever and ever their brain is going to subtly try to get them to take opiates again.”

Doctors should be alert to their patients’ potential to become addicted and closely monitor the amount of drugs they are prescribing, Warren said, adding that some doctors write too many prescriptions for too many opiates. Because of medical privacy laws, it is easy for patients to abuse the system.

“It’s frustrating that these drugs are on the streets and available on prescription, and are readily obtainable,” Dr. Warren said. “It’s just an overwhelmingly severe problem.”

As a result, it’s important for patients to understand the risks associated with narcotics and closely monitor themselves if they are prescribed painkillers, Dr. Warren said.

Family members of patients should also be aware. It’s too easy for people to become accidentally or unintentionally addicted, and it’s very difficult to control “doctor shopping,” Dr. Warren said.

Dr. Warren began a program in his clinic about six years ago with the goal of weaning patients off all additive drugs completely. He uses Suboxone, a medication that was initially only allowed in institutions and through programs much like the methadone clinics.

“It’s an exceptionally effective drug if used effectively and properly,” Dr. Warren said.

The purpose of Suboxone is twofold. First, it helps the patient get through the withdrawal phase relatively painlessly. Secondly, it helps to curb the cravings for the opiate. The ongoing desire for opiates can be more troublesome than the withdrawal.

Dr. Warren prescribes just enough of a dosage to curb the desire. He said it’s important for his patients to still be aware of the desire so they learn how to cope with it. And after 11 months, he wants his patients to have been weaned off of Suboxone completely.

“My program is not one of trading one addiction for another,” Dr. Warren said.

To be able to prescribe Suboxone, a physician must acquire a specific Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) number and additional certification from the DEA, which monitors and inspects the Suboxone programs regularly. Under the rules of the program, Dr. Warren can treat as many as 100 patients at one time.

Because of the nature of addiction, success is mixed, Dr. Warren said. Many patients beat their addictions with the help of the program, but others continue to try to abuse drugs and the system.

“For the patients that are committed to getting clean and staying clean, we have pretty good success,” Dr. Warren said. “But I have to be on my toes all the time.”