"When Painkillers Become Dangerous" is a book that should be read by, pretty much, everybody and anybody. In this day and age, and given the staggering statistics of the use/abuse of painkillers, it should not come as a surprise that we all will either know someone - directly or indirectly - who develops an addiction to painkillers.

This is an extremely resourceful book - one written without all the medical jargon. Drew does a phenomenal job covering an important topic in a concise and clear manner.

The book was great. Very informative. I craved the information contained about dealing with addiction, especially as a family disease. However, specifically I was looking for information about a specific drug, Oxycontin. With oxycontin in the title I was assuming there was a wealth of information contained within regarding the perscription painkiller. However, there was not. So although I enjoyed the read, it wasn't really what I was looking for.

This book is readable in one night. It is informative. It is interesting. It is helpful. And most of all, imho, it is not written like nor does it read like a text book, which can sometimes be difficult to get through. I felt, as I read it, that Dr. Drew or one of the other authors were sitting across from me talking to me about this subject! It was incredibly easy to get through and it doesn't have a lot of mumbojumbo that can be confusing to comprehend! I highly recommend reading this book and passing it on.

This is the best overview of substance abuse, its history and current treatment options that I have ever read. It is easy to read yet very thorough and easily understood by even my non-reading rehab trudging buddies but also very informative to my most sophisticated and jaded medical and mental health professional colleages. This is a must-read for everyone intested in understanding substance abuse. This was my third copy! The other two disappeared in the lending out to family, friends and colleagues. I'm tempted to just buy this by the dozen!

First, if you have read Dr. Drew's book "Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Back Together" then I would recommend this book if you are further interested addiction.



This book definitely has a different tone, as some of the other reviews complain, but don't let that turn you away! It may not be a compassionate look into a doctor's world of addiction treatment, but it's not meant to be. This book is a nice introduction to addiction, how it happens, how treatment works, and how it is genetic. It's meant more as a reference for people who struggle with addiction through a family member, friend, etc and not as something to be necessarily entertaining.



The reason I rated this book a four is because of some of the terminology thrown around in it. If not familiar with the brain structure and some basic psychology, this book may have some people doing a little more research for a better understanding. Though, if you want to learn about addiction and many of the concepts emerging today, this is a great book and has many great references included in it.



Another note, this is not a Dr. Drew book entirely. This book is simply composed of six different writers (Drew included) who discuss many different aspects of addiction.

First, if you have read Dr. Drew's book "Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Back Together" then I would recommend this book if you are further interested addiction.

This book definitely has a different tone, as some of the other reviews complain, but don't let that turn you away! It may not be a compassionate look into a doctor's world of addiction treatment, but it's not meant to be. This book is a nice introduction to addiction, how it happens, how treatment works, and how it is genetic. It's meant more as a reference for people who struggle with addiction through a family member, friend, etc and not as something to be necessarily entertaining.

The reason I rated this book a four is because of some of the terminology thrown around in it. If not familiar with the brain structure and some basic psychology, this book may have some people doing a little more research for a better understanding. Though, if you want to learn about addiction and many of the concepts emerging today, this is a great book and has many great references included in it.

Another note, this is not a Dr. Drew book entirely. This book is simply composed of six different writers (Drew included) who discuss many different aspects of addiction.

Pinsky should do his reseach better less than 1 % of all paitents prescibed narcotic pain relivers become even close to being addicted. Pinsky would also know that long term use of NSAIDS cause serious and fatal effects with in a few weeks . He should know the difference between addction a social construct and depandancy a biological action . and psudoaddcition due to the pain reliever not working .
Pinksy's prohibtionist agenda comes through clearly .His demonizing and distortions of medicince that help millions of law abiding people live fulfilling and healthy lives depend upon narcotic pain rleivers . To take them away from them is both cruel and inhumane . If Pinsky does not like narcotics he does not have to take them . His hyperbole and hystronics only serve to make the lives of those who suffer from long term chronic pain more miserble . 12 step meetings are not going to end or even relieve severe pain. Walk a mile in a pain suffers shoes before spouting this unsceintific and potentially harmful drivel and gibberish . I should give this quackery and claptrap a negative rating. Good for a socilogical readoing on the mytology of opiods thopugh.and how to fearmonger. ther is not an epdemic if even a million people thoughtthe US alone even try a prescition drug for a high . we live in a naton of nearly 300 million . It shows Pinsky has little real knowledge of opids and what they really are if he did he would at least know that pain Patients do not get "high" from these medcations .
Try real research by unbiased reseachers not 12 step prohibitionists such as Pinsky

Second parentsand shpould keep thie meds away from thier children and talk with them about them if they cannot then there is a serious prbl;em in that family ,that is the real problem

Pinsky should do his reseach better less than 1 % of all paitents prescibed narcotic pain relivers become even close to being addicted. Pinsky would also know that long term use of NSAIDS cause serious and fatal effects with in a few weeks . He should know the difference between addction a social construct and depandancy a biological action . and psudoaddcition due to the pain reliever not working .
Pinksy's prohibtionist agenda comes through clearly .His demonizing and distortions of medicince that help millions of law abiding people live fulfilling and healthy lives depend upon narcotic pain rleivers . To take them away from them is both cruel and inhumane . If Pinsky does not like narcotics he does not have to take them . His hyperbole and hystronics only serve to make the lives of those who suffer from long term chronic pain more miserble . 12 step meetings are not going to end or even relieve severe pain. Walk a mile in a pain suffers shoes before spouting this unsceintific and potentially harmful drivel and gibberish . I should give this quackery and claptrap a negative rating. Good for a socilogical readoing on the mytology of opiods thopugh.and how to fearmonger. ther is not an epdemic if even a million people thoughtthe US alone even try a prescition drug for a high . we live in a naton of nearly 300 million . It shows Pinsky has little real knowledge of opids and what they really are if he did he would at least know that pain Patients do not get "high" from these medcations .
Try real research by unbiased reseachers not 12 step prohibitionists such as Pinsky

Second parentsand shpould keep thie meds away from thier children and talk with them about them if they cannot then there is a serious prbl;em in that family ,that is the real problem

I loved Drew's other book, Cracked, and was hoping for some useful information about Oxycontin in here. I do take this drug periodically and was wondering about some of the more odd side effects (hearing issues, sleep disturbances, overheating, and anxiety), and basically just wanted to know all about it from the guy who knows it all. Unfortunately, almost none of the book is about Oxycontin. It mostly details the addiction process and the various detox treatments. Worse, only the very first section is actually written by Drew (!), so this book is a tease if you're even partly in it for him.
I gave it a 2 since it does offer some interesting factoids about the history of prescription pain meds, but overall I would not recommend this book. Don't judge it by its dramatic cover that makes it sound like you're in for a useful experience. This is more like a dry, impersonal, and uninteresting version of "Cracked."

Out of the whole 180 pages of the book, you're lucky if there's 10 pages SPECIFICALLY addressing oxy & prescription addiction verses addiction in general. even when you read it as a general addiction book - it's pretty superficial (main treatment suggestion is 12 step program)& not quite accurate - first chapter premise is that addiction only happens to people with genetic predisposition &/or "trauma" issues...how about the fact that some substances are highly addictive regardless of the others

Written by the program medical director of chemical dependency services at Las Encinas Hospital of Pasadena, California, When Painkillers Become Dangerous offers straight facts and medical information concerning legal, painkilling prescription drugs. These drugs are highly effective, but also severely addictive. When Painkillers Become Dangerous is emphatically not a substitute for the diagnosis and evaluation of a physician, as an internal disclaimer warns, it is a "must-read" to acquaint oneself with the basics of the drugs and their dangers, how addiction develops, how addiction treatment works, how to intervene on a loved one's addiction, and much more, all presented in terms immediately accessible to the lay reader. Highly recommended.

i would like to comment on the review by miss dautzenrot but i do not know german or whatever language it is in. so i guess i will have to give a bad review. next time write in english please!

Herr "Doktor" Pinsky kommt hier eigentlich jemand aus Hollywood, mit das Radioprogram namens "Loveline". Er hat ein "co-host" namens Adam Carolla und er verlor dabei. Sie abpoofen und anschaffen gern.(...)Schlafen sie vor dem Kabelfernseher? Ja, naturlich.(...)Also sprach Herr Carolla, der Degen ausersehn: "Wie lang aufdiesen Heide soll ich dir Beichte stehn?" Ha ha, sehr idiotisch.

Tolles Spielzeug, alle unsre Kinder waren begeistert, und man staune auch die kleines konnte nach einem tag ihre Schuhe vernuenftig zubinden! Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen durch des Himmels praecht'gen Plan, laufet, Brueder, eure Bahn, freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen!

I cannot find enough words to say about this book. I have been waiting for months for it to come out and it's just amazing. I've known for a while that my mother was addicted to pain meds, but had no idea just how addicted she was until i read this book. I bought this at 9pm on friday night... and by 1am I had read almost the whole book. It is very easy to read (with the minimum of hard to understand doctor jibberish) and it draws a very crystal clear line of knowning addiction from need. (my grandmother needs her pain meds, my mother does not) She has nearly every tell-tail sign of addiction!
Amazing job Drew Pinsky! Thanks to you and the other specialists who made the effort to make this book that is like no other! I commend your efforts and really appriciate the book!
A.D
Indianapolis In.
cldnslnt@aol.com