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Interesting article on the "opioids" crisis. Certainly NOT what we've been led to believe.
Quote:
In brief, while prescription opioids continue to play a part in the crisis, illicit opioids such as heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, not prescription opioids and overprescribing, are currently the driving forces behind the increase in unintentional overdose deaths in the United States
What's even more interesting is a web search comes up with many articles saying that the deaths attributed to prescription opioids is overstated by at least half.
This is reportedly due to how LEO's and medical report the deaths. They are reported as "opioid overdose" and rarely is the actual opiate described.
My question is "if the NIH and CDC report are correct what exactly is the agenda behind this hysteria"?
The opioid shortage described in this recent article was caused by a manufacturing glitch, but it delineates some of the problems that hospitals and patients face from inadequate supplies very well.
What's even more interesting is a web search comes up with many articles saying that the deaths attributed to prescription opioids is overstated by at least half.
This is reportedly due to how LEO's and medical report the deaths. They are reported as "opioid overdose" and rarely is the actual opiate described.
My question is "if the NIH and CDC report are correct what exactly is the agenda behind this hysteria"?
My BIL's death certificate said something like cardiac event caused by opiate use. It did not specify the opiate. Prior to that, when we were called to the hospital, the doctor told us he had been brought in in cardiac arrest. He tested positive for opiates. She said they didn't know which one(s) and it didn't matter to them in terms of treatment (life support). She said if we wanted to know, they could run a full panel, but it would take weeks for the results. We declined. He was a long-term heroin user who had been clean or several years (supposedly) until he had a painful motorcycle accident. He had a legitimate prescription for Tramadol, but he was found with drug paraphernalia. So, yes, he had opiates in his system, but which one? Did he take too many pills, did he combine them with heroin or did he simply shoot up? How can his death be classified if no one knows what he took?
My BIL's death certificate said something like cardiac event caused by opiate use. It did not specify the opiate. Prior to that, when we were called to the hospital, the doctor told us he had been brought in in cardiac arrest. He tested positive for opiates. She said they didn't know which one(s) and it didn't matter to them in terms of treatment (life support). She said if we wanted to know, they could run a full panel, but it would take weeks for the results. We declined. He was a long-term heroin user who had been clean or several years (supposedly) until he had a painful motorcycle accident. He had a legitimate prescription for Tramadol, but he was found with drug paraphernalia. So, yes, he had opiates in his system, but which one? Did he take too many pills, did he combine them with heroin or did he simply shoot up? How can his death be classified if no one knows what he took?
Much easier to just say "opiate overdose" and move on. The bad part is deaths like you describe, while certainly sad feed into the "opiates are evil" hysteria.
I think there needs to be a heavy push to actually identify which opiate the person overdosed on AND clear reporting on if it was a combo overdose or a pure opiate overdose so we all have a clear understanding of the issue.
Of course we could just keep doing what we're doing and run around wailing that the opiate sky is falling...
NH is insane enough to impose exactly the same bureaucratic nightmare requirements on Schedule III medications as they do on Schedule II meds like Oxycontin. Doctor visit every 28 days or no pills, 4X per year random drug tests, and now random, be at the doctor's office before close of day when they leave a message at 11:00 a.m., PILL COUNTS--all for drugs that you can't get high on, are of very low risk of abuse, and are impossible to overdose on without mixing them with 3 or 4 other illegal drugs.
Why would anyone in NH bother to switch to the less powerful Schedule III medications, when they get 100% of the hassle but no mood-boosting "high" that Schedule II meds give?
Here's what politicians should be focused on, if the "War on Drugs" wasn't yet another power-grab and money-grab by Big Government that imposes more hassles on long-term, 100% compliant and zero-risk pain patients than it does on convicted felons who have served time for drug law violations and are currently on probation:
According to the CDC, "Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure." https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_sta...acts/index.htm
Alcohol deaths also outnumber all drug overdose deaths put together (let alone the ones involving opioids): "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), excessive drinking is linked to 88,000 deaths each year — more than all the 64,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016." https://www.vox.com/policy-and-polit...emic-emergency
Deaths due to the made-up "Opioid Crisis" (that will literally torture pretty much every American eventually): "According to the US Centers for Disease Control, in 2016, there were 63,632 drug overdose deaths in the United States. The CDC further estimates that of those, 42,249 deaths involved any opioid. Annual Causes of Death in the United States | Drug War Facts
Every bit of research proves that the harder you make it to obtain legitimate pain medication prescriptions, the MORE OVERDOSE DEATHS you get, as pain patients are forced to buy street drugs (where content/dosage varies incredibly from one pill to the next) just to continue functioning (and sometimes to continue surviving at all).
GOVERNMENT CREATED THE OPIOID CRISIS, to fill the pockets of Big Pharma and already-wealthy doctors even more, and to get away with stealing the money and property of Americans while bypassing any Constitutional restrictions on their abuse of power.
first of all I'm so sorry for anyone who lives in pain who has to jump through hoops to get their medication. I can't imagine living like that
Two- when you hear the phrase "Addiction is a disease" what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that the people gets the disease first, or is born with it, and then they become an addict? Or does it mean that once a person is already an addict, then they have the disease? I realize some people are born predisposed to being addicted, so I guess that is what they mean?
I ask because I read a lot of addicts who have zero intention of seeking help because, well, they have a disease and they can't help it.
Lastly, I just want to vent with everyone here. Earlier this winter I had a horrible cough. I was miserable for days. Went to the doctor and was given steroid pills that made me feel jittery, heart racing, and restless legs. I got cough pearls that did nothing. And I was given a prescription for an inhaler. I was told they don't do the cough syrup anymore . I felt resentful of addicts. The last time I'd been giving cough syrup was 2007. So it's not like this was a yearly occurrence for me. And yet here I had to suffer with a cough that lasted two weeks because of addicts. Like my being sick and not being able to sleep because of a cough made the streets a little bit safer. Sure.
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