Painkiller addiction troublesome in New Castle

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — After Work-Med Chiro-Med, a pain management/chiropractic office, was shut down in 2003, and two physicians and a chiropractor were arrested, authorities touted it as the closing of a major supplier of prescription narcotics being abused in the area. Four years later, it’s hard to say what effect that raid has had on the illegal use of prescription drugs.

“We are seeing the same drug trends,” said Darcy McKinney, case manager supervisor of the Lawrence County Drug and Alcohol Commission. “Our office is just as busy.”

McKinney’s office serves about 1,500 people each year and still sees a fair number of people addicted to prescription pain pills like Oxycodone — a powerful painkiller that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office cited most in its prosecution of physicians Philip Wagman, William Mangino and chiropractor Thomas Wilkins.

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