MEDIA
ADVISORY
November 22, 2011
Middle and high
school students
learn about dangers
of prescription drug
abuse
Four
out five of the top
drugs abused by 12th
graders are
prescription drugs
Jenny Belsky, OMS II, talks with an Alexander High School
student at a Nov. 9 outreach event about medication safety.
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WHO/WHAT:
Medical student
volunteers from the
Ohio University
Heritage College of
Osteopathic Medicine
(OU-HCOM) and the
OU-HCOM Pediatric
Club are visiting
health classes
at area
middle schools and
high schools to
educate students
about medication
safety and
prescription drug
abuse prevention.
The medical students
perform skits based
on “Generation Rx,”
an initiative
developed at the
Ohio State
University College
of Pharmacy that
provides resources
for schools and
communities on the
topic. Kaitlyn
Kelly, a member of
OU-HCOM’s
AmeriCorps/ComCorps
program who helped
adapt the program
for local use, said
the skits
demonstrate
scenarios that
students can
identify with. One
sketch, for example,
depicts an injured
volleyball player
who begins relying
too heavily on her
Vicodin
prescription.
Following the
performances, the
medical students
moderate a group
discussion on the
possible
consequences of
abusing prescription
drugs.
WHY:
The New York
Times
reports that
drug overdoses in
Ohio have more than
quadrupled in the
last decade.
Further, southern
Ohio counties have
had the highest
unintentional
prescription
medicine overdose
death rates in the
entire state,
according to
2004-2008 Ohio
Department of Health
statistics.
Rep. Terry Johnson,
D.O. ('91),
OU-HCOM Centers for
Osteopathic Research
and Education
assistant dean and
director of the
family medicine
residency program at
Southern Ohio
Medical Center in
Portsmouth,
experienced the
problem here in
Appalachia while
working as a
coroner. The problem
was so widespread,
he co-sponsored
legislation
targeting
prescription
medicine abuse in
the state, and in
May 2011, Gov. John
Kasich signed the
legislation into
law.
With four of the
five top drugs
abused by 12th
graders being
prescription drugs,
according to a 2010
report by the Ohio
Prescription Drug
Abuse Task Force,
reaching students is
key. The OU-HCOM
outreach to area
health classes is
aimed at helping
them understand the
consequences of
abusing prescription
drugs: short and
long-term health
conditions ranging
from stroke to
memory loss;
physical harm due to
accidents, sexual or
physical abuse;
social or emotional
problems; and legal
issues.
“Abusing
prescription
medication might
seem safer to a high
schooler than
cocaine or another
street drug,” Kelly
said, “but it’s
still really
dangerous and can be
deadly.”
WHEN/
Nov. 30, Athens
Middle School
WHERE:
January 2012,
Trimble High School
CONTACT:
For more
information about
the program and for
photos from
a Nov. 9 event with
Alexander High
School health
classes, please
contact Richard
Heck, writer/editor,
OU-HCOM Office of
Communication,
740.593.0896,
heckr@ohio.edu.
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