LITTLE ROCK — Dr. James Miller said he had never heard of the street drug concoction "purple drank" or "sizzurp" until a state investigator showed up asking why he was prescribing so much of its key ingredients.
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The West Memphis doctor said he had no idea that drug abusers mix the purple cough syrup with soda and a Jolly Rancher and drink the cocktail for a euphoric high. Miller began to get suspicious, he said, after hundreds of patients began crossing the state line from Memphis to come to his office. They all claimed to have back pain or chest pain and a bad cough.
For many of them Miller prescribed hydrocodone, an addictive pain killer, and the cough syrup Phenergan Expectorant with codeine. He says patients manipulated him into giving them the medication.
For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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