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I think you've got it completely backwards. The "conspiracy" was between big pharma and our government. Even though it was obvious that opioids are extremely addictive and that they were being sold at a rate that could not be justified our elected officials forced the DEA to turn a blind eye to the activity. Why did they do it? Because big pharma has big pockets.
The resulting turn to heroin is simply the the government FINALLY starting to police the distribution of these drugs in an appropriate manner combined with a failed war on drugs. Opportunist dealers taking advantage of addicts with nowhere else to turn.
LOL..If big pharma had such 'deep pockets' and they had so much influence over our Govt...why did they permit DEA/Govt to crack down on opioids, to the point that hardly any doctor will give them out anymore? That doesnt make any sense.
Opioid drugs were their cash cow, some of these pills were selling for $200 for one single pill on the street!, doctors were writing scripts for Oxy left and right, in other words, big pharma was making a killing....but when DEA came in, they crashed the party, very rare for doctors to give out Oxy now.
Ultimately 'big pharma' was competition for the drug cartels, they used DEA to shut pharma down...dont you think its kind of strange not a single pharma company tried to challenge the tough new laws from taking effect, (since pharma stood to loose so much money if they heavily restricted opioids), this would be like Budweiser and Coors being totally fine with Govt bringing back alcohol prohibition and not trying to fight it in court.
I am game for this, sucks they are committing suciide vs getting help getting off them. Not our problem, we cant keep throwing drugs out.
Shouldnt this decision be between a doctor and patient though? Why should the DEA be a factor in what kind of treatment you receive?
If I was a pain patient and was cut off due to these restrictions, I would overly upset, especially considering the reason they are doing this, ultimately is to benefit criminal organizations, and ensure they continue to rake in the cash.
Maybe all the pain patients need to file a class action lawsuit against the DEA, or hire private investigators to dig up the illegal and corrupt behavior at the DEA, I think it would be fairly easy to prove collusion between DEA and the drug cartels...
Not to mention, DEA has violated 10s of 1000s of patients rights (HIPPA) A patient has to authorize another person to even know what medications they receive, if an agency or person accesses this info without the patients consent, its a violation.
LOL..If big pharma had such 'deep pockets' and they had so much influence over our Govt...why did they permit DEA/Govt to crack down on opioids, to the point that hardly any doctor will give them out anymore? That doesnt make any sense.
Opioid drugs were their cash cow, some of these pills were selling for $200 for one single pill on the street!, doctors were writing scripts for Oxy left and right, in other words, big pharma was making a killing....but when DEA came in, they crashed the party, very rare for doctors to give out Oxy now.
Ultimately 'big pharma' was competition for the drug cartels, they used DEA to shut pharma down...dont you think its kind of strange not a single pharma company tried to challenge the tough new laws from taking effect, (since pharma stood to loose so much money if they heavily restricted opioids), this would be like Budweiser and Coors being totally fine with Govt bringing back alcohol prohibition and not trying to fight it in court.
Data on their most popular drugs and profit margins seems to suggest otherwise.
The data goes back to 2013.
Most of the drugs are for cancer, diabetes, and heart treatments with a profit margin up to 40 percent.
Opoids are just one of the thousands of drugs they make.
Their money maker is in cancer and heart medications.
With holding pain meds from severe chronic pain patients is a form of physical torture. Yes someone needs to be held accountable. Doctors should not have tossed oxy around so easily for anyone with an injury or dental work. But chronic pain patients need them.
With holding pain meds from severe chronic pain patients is a form of physical torture. Yes someone needs to be held accountable. Doctors should not have tossed oxy around so easily for anyone with an injury or dental work. But chronic pain patients need them.
The CDC has established rational guidelines for opioid treatment that makes provisions for patients with non cancer pain; there are essentially no limits for pts with cancer.
Having practiced pain management for 30 years, I can say that the CDC guidelines are very rational and reflect the science and data regarding medical management. The prescription of opioids, prior to this initiative, had no established guidelines (beyond some state suggestions); the CDC guidelines has brought some order to a chaotic situation in which patients were dying due to cavalier prescribing practices.
Interestingly, a VA study in JAMA in May randomized patients with new onset back and knee pain to opioids or non-opioid medicines over the course of a year. Those on non-opioid medicines actually did better with pain scores and ADLs. I think that pts with multiple back surgeries is a unique group of pts with non-malignant back pain. However, rarely, if ever, does one need to exceed 90 mg equivilents of morphine if one properly rotates meds and uses other adjunctive treatments.
The patient described by the OP would probably benefit from a dorsal column stim coupled with a PT/cognitive behavioral program. Of course, meds can and are used, but just in rational doses that improve function. Keep in mind that opioid mortality increases 10X above 90 mg equivalent, thus the "90 mg number". I have cancer pain and am personally on pain medicines for that, thus I am not insensitive to the plight of patients in pain, but "drive up" pain management, in which the pts dictate doses, is not safe, rational medicine.
PS- Pot is a very poor cannabinoid receptor pain agonist. Tylenol has better pain action than pot.
The CDC has established rational guidelines for opioid treatment that makes provisions for patients with non cancer pain; there are essentially no limits for pts with cancer.
Having practiced pain management for 30 years, I can say that the CDC guidelines are very rational and reflect the science and data regarding medical management. The prescription of opioids, prior to this initiative, had no established guidelines (beyond some state suggestions); the CDC guidelines has brought some order to a chaotic situation in which patients were dying due to cavalier prescribing practices.
Interestingly, a VA study in JAMA in May randomized patients with new onset back and knee pain to opioids or non-opioid medicines over the course of a year. Those on non-opioid medicines actually did better with pain scores and ADLs. I think that pts with multiple back surgeries is a unique group of pts with non-malignant back pain. However, rarely, if ever, does one need to exceed 90 mg equivilents of morphine if one properly rotates meds and uses other adjunctive treatments.
The patient described by the OP would probably benefit from a dorsal column stim coupled with a PT/cognitive behavioral program. Of course, meds can and are used, but just in rational doses that improve function. Keep in mind that opioid mortality increases 10X above 90 mg equivalent, thus the "90 mg number". I have cancer pain and am personally on pain medicines for that, thus I am not insensitive to the plight of patients in pain, but "drive up" pain management, in which the pts dictate doses, is not safe, rational medicine.
PS- Pot is a very poor cannabinoid receptor pain agonist. Tylenol has better pain action than pot.
Why are doctors offices like mine, refusing to write prescriptions for opioids then?
There may be CDC guidelines in place, but its also a common occurrence to hear about DEA raiding doctor offices and taking their licenses away.
They are so scared they may be viewed as a 'pill mill', so they just refuse to give any opioids out.
PS- Pot is a very poor cannabinoid receptor pain agonist. Tylenol has better pain action than pot.
I have to call you on this when I see it, doctor.
I am a ham radio guy, have been since 1975. Believe it or not, that is related to your BS statement.
That's because I like to use the Ham Radio connection when discussing CBD oil and its effectiveness. Why? Because no matter the subject, when you are talking to fellow hams you are getting genuine, first-hand information, generally from people in their 70's through 90's. They have no agenda, and hams talk openly about all subjects. We are all friends, there is no need to lie to each other, making it a very valuable source for genuine, down-to-earth information. It's like we're all sitting around a coffee table talking.
I have heard several reports from these old folks, who don't believe in marijuana any more than you do. No one was more surprised than they were when CBD oil worked as a pain reliever for them, when nothing else they had tried did.
In my opinion, information like that is Gold compared to all the hype, misinformation, studies, and propaganda there is out there. It's like a minefield. Apparently, even some DOCTORS are still spreading propaganda. So, if these honest, old-timer, apprehensive, talkative hams are getting more relief from it than anything else they've tried, I believe them 100%.
I know you will never believe that, simply because it hasn't been put through decades of rigid medical study and testing. You know what? I don't care. It works, I can point you to Dr. Gupta of CNN fame if you want more information than a simple, down home, old-fashioned pain remedy that works, from old-fashioned gentlemen with no doctor-driven agendas.
Much more research has been done overseas over the last 20 years than has been done on this side of the pond. Especially in Israel. You should study the Israeli research thoroughly if you really want to get up to speed on the medical benefits of cannabis.
For another point of view, I have lost 3 friends I met in the young adult cancer world to opiate addiction/overdoses. They (like me) had chronic pain while going through cancer treatment and after treatment was over, they remained in pain. In these three cases, the pain eventually subsided but the addiction had already taken hold. They lived through their cancers but died in their 20s or 30s from the painkillers that got them through.
And that's only those who have died from their addictions. I can rattle off a dozen names just in my immediate circle of people who I know or suspect have addiction stemming from their legitimate initial use of opioids. I worry more about losing my friends to drug addiction than cancer at this point, which is a shocking change of events.
I don't know what the answer is. It's obvious that the pendulum swinging from everyone getting drugs to no one gets them isn't working. But I was also shocked at how freely my highly regarded oncologist was with opioids during my treatment in 2011. I refused to fill the Rx, and am thankful for that now.
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