Latest news with #MichaelGuerin
Irish Examiner
11-08-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
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Opioid painkillers are 'not being given out like smarties' by medics but an increase in their use likely reflects a failing health system, a leading addiction counselor said. The Irish Examiner reported recently of a 25% rise in opioid use and a 50% increase in medication containing oxycodone, medications which can be highly addictive. 'Inevitably, where you have a 50% increase in the prescription of something like oxycodone, you're going to have a corresponding but not necessarily proportional increase of cases presenting to addiction services because opioids are addictive,' addiction counsellor Michael Guerin said. 'The root cause of this increase is most likely a failing health system exacerbated by a period of time of nearly two years during the pandemic where no elective surgeries were done and where hospital capacity was basically taken out of action to cater for patients who were suffering from covid." Addiction to opioid pain killing medication "is something that has been on our radar for years," Mr Guerin said. 'It can start with something as innocent as Neurofen Plus. 'But we haven't necessarily seen a spike [in need for addiction services] that would correspond with the 50% increase in prescribing.' A new study which included UCC academics found that Irish people use far more pain medication than patients in England. Long waiting lists for orthopaedic care, such as knee operations, can leave people with severe chronic pain 'potentially waiting several years to be considered for joint replacement surgery' and relying on medication in the meantime, the study team warned. Medicines given to patients with medical cards in Ireland between 2014 and 2022 were examined in the research. Mr Guerin said that GPs are both responsible and very well aware of the ramifications of prescribing medication like oxycodone or any opioid-based painkiller. 'But when they have a patient presenting with chronic pain long-term due to the fact that they either have a chronic condition or are awaiting some sort of surgery or intervention that there is an inordinately long waiting list for, the doctor has a moral and human responsibility to alleviate that suffering. 'If you take something like oxycodone over a period of time you would certainly become dependent on it and if you are somebody who is predisposed to being addicted, you will become addicted. 'They are traded, not to any great extent, but they have been encountered in the black market. And they're something that people need to be very wary of." Doctors are prescribing them "as a very last line of defence," Mr Guerin said. Some 10,000 Americans now die every year from opioid overdoses, many of whose addictions were sparked by poor prescribing practices for Oxycontin, he said. 'I don't think we have a situation with prescribed opioids anything like that here but I suppose there is the danger if somebody is prescribed something like that that they could potentially graduate [to something stronger] or supplement it with over-the-counter opioids." And supplementing with over-the-counter opioids like Nurofen Plus and Solpadine is extremely damaging because such high volumes of the tablets are taken to get enough codeine (an opioid) to quell the craving, he said. 'So people can end up with all sorts of problems with their internal organs – liver, kidneys, GI tract, stomach, bowels - they can end up with all sorts of problems."
Extra.ie
24-07-2025
- Health
- Extra.ie
Teens budgeting for cocaine alongside gowns and suits for Debs celebrations
As part of their end-of-school-year celebrations, some teenagers are now including the cost of cocaine alongside traditional Debs expenses like dresses and suits. Latest reports suggest that teens are choosing cocaine over alcohol as their drug of choice during their Debs night out. Journalist with the Irish Farmers Journal Jacqueline Hogge decided to investigate this growing trend and spoke to Andrea Gillian on Lunchtime Live on Newstalk. Pic: Getty Images Jacqueline spoke to a bus driver who has ferried hundreds of teenagers to their Debs parties over the years, and he claims cocaine use among leaving cert age teenagers is getting more and more common. 'He's been bringing young people to events for the last three or four years and he says the first time he was cleaning the bus after an event, he found 10 to 12 wraps, didn't know what they were and had to be told it was from the cocaine.' Jacqueline Hogge continued that while cocaine use is not a problem at every school or with every child, she suspects that 'normally three or four that are causing the trouble'. Pic: Getty Images 'Where there is money, there is cocaine', she added. 'With young girls in particular, they see it as a body image thing – it's less calorific than alcohol'. Pic: Getty Images A leading addiction therapist claimed back in 2020 that the teenagers going to their Debs, or Graduation Balls, are now factoring in how much money they will need to keep themselves in cocaine for the night. Michael Guerin, from the addiction charity Cuan Mhuire says he was told this by a number of concerned parents and older siblings who are already in rehab a number of years ago. 'We have clients who started using cocaine aged 13. They're in their early 20s now, and telling us that they took cocaine that young and it had a huge psychological effect'. Michael Guerin says cocaine is now as much a part of the Debs ritual as all the other trappings, like the expensive dresses and suits, hair-styles, nails, and makeup, and he says it's becoming a very very, concerning trend. Pic: Getty images A report from the Health Research Board revealed a 50% surge in the number of people seeking treatment for cocaine addiction, making this the largest annual increase in what has been a growing issue over the past seven years. Michael Guerin adds 'That report only supports what professionals have been saying for the last two years — that cocaine is taking on a life of its own,'. Cocaine plays havoc with your mood. And when it's in the mix with adolescence, which is already a trying time, it can be disastrous. They become obsessed with cocaine to the cost of everything else, including their education.' However, despite being linked with violence, the drug is now widely perceived to be 'relatively harmless and fashionable', said Mr Guerin. 'It seems to be relatively easy to access and there's a status with it,' he said. 'Cocaine is now part of the mix with cannabis and alcohol abuse'. But this new worrying trend of 17 and 18 year old's budgeting for cocaine as part of their final night out with friends from schoo is a disastrous addition to an already worrying time for parents. With leaving cert results due out in August and the Debs season already underway, parents of graduating teens will need to have nerves of steel to handle this newest development during the whole 'leaving cert' party season ahead.
NZ Herald
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
James McDonald shines at Royal Ascot with Crimson Advocate win
By Michael Guerin in London New Zealand's greatest jockey, James McDonald, reminded the racing world why he is the best at Royal Ascot overnight. McDonald, who is predominantly based in Sydney but rides around the world more often these days, wasn't even confirmed to ride at this week's glamorous Royal
NZ Herald
16-06-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
One Ascot rides multiplies into 10 for James McDonald
James McDonald won the King's Stand Stakes on Nature Strip in 2022. Michael Guerin in London What started as a hit-and-run mission could become a doorway to one of his dreams for champion jockey James McDonald. The Kiwi, rated by many the world's best jockey, will return to his favourite race meeting, Royal Ascot, which starts just outside London on Wednesday at
NZ Herald
23-04-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Awapuni relaunch could see Group 1 bonuses next season
'When the track was pulled up we saw the drains on that home bend just weren't working,' explains Taylor. 'But that wasn't the only issue and the whole track was pulled up and re-laid. 'The track now has a better camber and the drainage is so much better. 'It has been a long process so we are thrilled to be back.' Relaunching a newly-laid turf track can be a nervy process in this age of way too many race meeting cancellations but Taylor and his team are confident the Awapuni track is ready to go back to work. 'I'd estimate we have had 500 horses gallop over the new surface,' he explains. 'We have had jumpouts and trials and we have around 200 horses trained here using it for at least some of their work. 'So it has had a lot of hooves go over it and the reports are all really positive. 'We had 30 horses gallop here on it on Tuesday and even after a fair bit of rain their riders were saying it was no worse than a soft 6. 'The main change is the drainage. We now have lateral drains that go right across the track and it has changed every thing.' The relaunch will be highlighted by the $80,000 Manawatū ITM Anzac Mile featuring Group 1 winner He's A Doozy while there will be an after party to celebrate the return of grass track racing to the track. The new surface will have another grass track meeting next month before the turf track is rested for the winter, with the synthetic track to be used. But the new, improved Awapuni could be in for two huge Group 1 bonuses next season with the last two legs of the Group I Triple Crown usually held at Hastings almost certainly heading to Awapuni. Advertise with NZME. With the future of the Hastings track still under a cloud the draft calendar for next season tentatively has the first of the G1 treble, the Tarzino Trophy, down to be run at Ellerslie before both the 1600m and 2000m legs being staged at Awapuni. The 1400m Group 1 being held at Ellerslie makes sense as it is closer to the elite horse population and that race can sometimes be used as a launching point for trainers wanting to head to Australia. But the latter two legs being staged at Awapuni would keep Group 1 racing in the Central Districts for spring, if in fact that draft of the calendar becomes the official version at the next New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing calendar meeting in May. While the Triple Crown of Group 1s being moved to Ellerslie and Awapuni may alarm Hawke's Bay racing fans, the Herald understands NZTR will make an announcement in coming weeks about the future of racing at Hastings. Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald's Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world's biggest horse racing carnivals.
