Do you know the name of the Rx drug that can be prescribed for alcoholics so they can't drink & if they do they get very ill?

There is a great deal of NEW research about addiction (of which alcoholism is but one).  The newer medications used to help with alcohol addiction include Naltrexon (Revia), approved by the FDA in 1994, with an injectable product version (Vivitrol) approved in 2006, and Acamprosate (Campral), approved in 2004. However, treatment of addiction (alcoholism) requires more than just medications. You may also want to browse through my website for more information, www.breakingthecycles.com.

I think the medication described in your question is probably is Antabuse (disulfiram).  Following is a description I found online of that medication:

Antabuse, or disulfiram as it is also known, was the first medicine approved for the treatment of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. It works by causing a severe adverse reaction when someone taking the medication consumes alcohol.

I would assume that the newer medications, as described by Ms. Frederiksen, have greater benefits and/or fewer negative side effects than Antabuse, which is not a new medication, by any means.

I concur with Ms. Frederiksen's statement regarding the treatment of addiction requiring more than just medications.   If an alcoholic is not willing to do the work involved in true recovery, nothing has really changed, and once the medication ceases, he or she will inevitably drink again.  Just taking a pill will never cure someone of alcoholism.  If there was some medication or medical procedure that could do that, every alcoholic I know, including myself, would be lining up to receive it.  True recovery requires a change in all aspects of the alcoholic's life, routines, and character -- including mindset and attitude -- and much, much more.  It is not a change we can will or make happen.  It is a change that is spiritual at its core.  It is a change requiring a complete commitment to a new way of life, and it is that commitment which makes it possible for an alcoholic to enter into and remain in true recovery. 

We alcoholics and addicts are NEVER cured.  Only recovering.

It is called:   Antabuse and you can find more about it here:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000726

Hape that helpes a little. 

Matt