Dangers for teens lurk in medicine cabinets

By Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When she saw the empty medicine bottle on the front seat of her son's car, Misty Fetko knew something was wrong.

Carl Hennon died at age 18 after taking an overdose of cough syrup in 2003 and his mother has been telling his story ever since.

A registered nurse from New Albany, Ohio, Fetko will testify before Congress on Thursday as part of a series of briefings she hopes will put the issue of over-the-counter and prescription drug abuse higher on the agenda.

"By the time I got up to his bedroom he was already gone. I tried waking him, then my nurse training took over, but it was too late," she said in an interview.

According to the most comprehensive study on U.S. teenage drug abuse, the intentional abuse of legal medicines continues to be a "pernicious problem".

"Overall prescription drug abuse has become a more important part of the nation's drug problem," said Dr. Lloyd Johnston, who runs the ongoing University of Michigan study.

Last December, the survey found that 9 percent of 16- to 18-year-olds intentionally abused prescription narcotics such as Vicodin in 2006.

"The use of Oxycontin has doubled among 8th graders (12- to 14-year-olds) since 2002," Johnston said.