Representative Patrick Kennedy (D – Rhode Island) has admitted to an Oxycontin addiction, which he sought treatment for after an auto accident outside the U. S. Capitol building last year that made national headlines. Kennedy checked himself into the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in May 2006 after the crash for “addiction to painkillers”. At that time Oxycontin was not named specifically.

Kennedy joins Rush Limbaugh as another notable with a highly publicized case of Oxycontin addiction. In October 2003, Rush Limbaugh admitted to an addiction to this prescription pain medication as the result of recovering from spinal surgery. After much talk of charging Limbaugh with “doctor shopping” in Florida, prosecutors decided to drop this charge.