Are the new opioid prescribing restrictions pushing innocent people to the streets to buy heroin? (generation, drugs)

[Vector1]

Originally Posted by thrillobyte

* Doctors for most part have stopped prescribing opioids under any circumstances.
* about 100 million people in this country live with chronic pain
* OTC NSAID's don't work for them
* in the amounts they need to control pain they'll die from liver/kidney failure first
* many have been pushed off their pain meds abruptly and are going through withdrawals
* this leaves them with 3 choices:
a. live with the sometime unbearable pain
b. commit suicide
c. buy opioids on the street and risk death from OD

They've tried to get other doctors to help them to no avail. Many doctors hang signs on their front door "No pain patients accepted".

What should they do?

I don't know where you live, but no such problem exists in S FL.
Heck, there are plenty of MD's that advertise as pain specialists. They treat with a variety of methods, including local injections, nerve blocks, etc. and are typically anesthesia practitioners by training. I know of at least one who is an interventional radiologist.

Furthermore, your "3 choices" indicate a very limited thought process. There are legitimate patients who can get pain meds by MD's who will prescribe them.
Presumably MD's will not prescribe the drugs in large quantities due to concerns of addiction or illegal distribution.

[thrillobyte]

Originally Posted by rstevens62

Another aspect often overlooked about this, when these tough new prescription drug laws went into effect, NOT A SINGLE pharma company tried to legally fight or challenge them!!

Keep in mind, this was at a time when opioids were flying off the shelves, docs everywhere writing millions of scripts for them, and the companies that were raking in billions off this dont care if Govt cracks down on their cash cow?? YEAH RIGHT! Something seriously wrong here.

Seems like this was a HUGE wealth re-distribution, from the US to the mexican cartels, they knew once addicts could no longer get opiate painkiller from their doctor, heroin was mysteriously available everywhere and for very cheap...this was planned from the start imo, and now the cartels weigh their cash by the dump truck load.

There is just NO WAY the cartels can CONSISTENTLY keep the entire US supplied in heroin, enough to cause a nationwide epidemic, without some level of collusion, especially in a post 9-11 world, and if you ever notice, there is never any talk about going after the source of the heroin problem, its always local, thats a big red flag to me.

You know, rstevens, you absolutely right. I have asked this question here and elsewhere "Why did Big Pharma, who stood to lose BILLIONS from the DEA clampdown on painkillers, simply roll over and essentially die instead of flooding Congress with millions of dollars in lobbying money to stop the crackdown because that's exactly what BP did--stay absolutely mute on the matter.

The pieces of the puzzle that I see on the table are

1. CDC guidelines clamping down on opioid painkillers
2. de facto legalization of marijuana going on in the US
3. drug cartels losing billions of dollars in revenue from state-legalized MJ
4. drug cartels making millions of dollars in "contributions" to "someone"--I don't know who, maybe Congress, maybe the FDA, maybe the drug companies--who knows?
5. clampdown on opioid painkillers
6. Big Pharma totally silent
7. sales of street heroin skyrocketing
8. prison-industrial complex investments and profits skyrocketing as more and more people are busted and sent to prison for buying heroin
9. deaths from heroin/fentanyl OD's skyrocketing because painkillers cannot be prescribed anymore

Somehow all these pieces fit together to tell us exactly what is going on behind this clampdown. But the one thing people should remember is that it has absolutely nothing to do with saving lives, because alcohol kills more people than heroin and legal painkillers combined and then the number doubled and it will always remain legal even though deaths from alcohol-related diseases are skyrocketing too as people turn to alcohol to numb their pain.

[mike1003]

Of course it is a strong contributing factor. As a pharmacist working in a not so great area. I saw people that brought in Rxs from all over the country. We wouldn't fill them then and , if still practicing, I wouldn't today.

I still see them on TV for drug busts and heroin and fentanyl ODs, and I retired over 3 years ago

[2sleepy]

Opioids never should have been prescribed long term for chronic pain, i.e. bad back or sciatica. Not only do you develop tolerance and need increasingly higher doses as time goes by, but at least some people become more sensitive to pain than they were before they started taking opioids. The good news is that even with chronic opioid use, only about 10% of users become addicted. The bad news is that most users will undergo physical withdrawals and they will have find an alternative means of living with pain.

If you know anyone who is in that situation you might suggest biofeedback. It worked for me, it basically teaches you how to compartmentalize pain and pretty much ignore it. Here's an explanation of how it works: https://www.practicalpainmanagement....ain-management

[mike1003]

Are Drs today afraid to prescribe opioids for legitimate pain patients?

I'm not talking about pill mills that sell Rxs to anyone with cash.

I am talking about established good practitioners with legitimate patients

[elnina]

According to medical survey more than 100M Americans is diagnosed with chronic pain. Is that possible that one in three people (incl.kids) are suffering pain, or are we a nation of fragile sissies and hipochondriacs?
None of my family or friends experience chronic pain nor take opioids. Sure, they get occasional headache, or other minor or temporary pain that is resolved with OTC medication, but no one takes opioids. Maybe they are just a bit more resistant to pain? Why so many people claim to have pain that could be only resolved by opioids. Or perhaps doctors used to prescribe opioids to whoever ask for it - justified or not?
Something is not right here: Approximately 80% of the global opioid supply is consumed in the United States. The US represents only 5% of the global population ....
In most countries, the use of opioid prescriptions is limited to acute hospitalization and trauma, such as burns, surgery, childbirth and end-of-life care, including patients with cancer and terminal illnesses. But in the United States, everybody can have "a bottle of pills and then some," U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has said publicly.
Are they really so sick or made dependant to opioid by their doctors, and why???

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by elnina

According to medical survey more than 100M Americans is diagnosed with chronic pain. Is that possible that one in three people (incl.kids) are suffering pain, or are we a nation of fragile sissies and hipochondriacs?
None of my family or friends experience chronic pain nor take opioids. Sure, they get occasional headache, or other minor or temporary pain that is resolved with ORC medication, but no one takes opioids. Maybe they are just a bit more resistant to pain? Why so many people claim to have pain that could be only resolved by opioids. Or perhaps doctors used to prescribe opioids to whoever ask for it - justified or not?
Something is not right here: Approximately 80% of the global opioid supply is consumed in the United States. The US represents only 5% of the global population ....
Are they really so sick or made dependant to opioid by their doctors, and why???

I don't know, it amazes me too. I can see taking them for a few days after surgery, but to take them every day for years because you have back pain? That's just nutty. Have you seen the commercial for some kind of laxative specifically for people who take opioids? I guess so many people take them now and have chronic constipation that some enterprising drug company came up with a special laxative for them

[CAjerseychick]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I don't know, it amazes me too. I can see taking them for a few days after surgery, but to take them every day for years because you have back pain? That's just nutty. Have you seen the commercial for some kind of laxative specifically for people who take opioids? I guess so many people take them now and have chronic constipation that some enterprising drug company came up with a special laxative for them

well I have known someone with a chronic pain issue. Its no joke.

And when the restrictions kick in- I can totally see how heroin becomes a totally viable alternative.

Its kinda sickening how much prescription opioids are marketed but theres a lack of transition planning to other non Rx remedies and life style changes that can ease pain-

our healthcare system is set up to authorize prescriptions, not wellness care.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by CAjerseychick

well I have known someone with a chronic pain issue. Its no joke.
And when the restrictions kick in- I can totally see how heroin becomes a totally viable alternative.
Its kinda sickening how much prescription opioids are marketed but theres a lack of transition planning to other non Rx remedies and life style changes that can ease pain-
our healthcare system is set up to authorize prescriptions, not wellness care.

You nailed it with the text that I bolded. Alternative non pharmaceutical treatments should have been offered before opioids were prescribed in the first place, but now when people can't get their prescriptions there still doesn't seem to be any effort to help these people live with chronic pain & that's really sad. PS I have chronic pain, and I know it's not a joke but I refuse to take opioids.

[elnina]

It's all about a (professional) approach.
Opioid therapy should only be initiated by competent clinicians as part of a multi-faceted treatment programm in circumstances where more simple measures have failed. Throughout, all patients should be kept under close clinical surveillance. As with any other medical therapy, if the treatment fails to yield the desired results and/or the patient is additionally burdened by an unacceptable level of adverse effects, the overall management strategy should be reviewed and revised. No responsible clinician will wish to pursue a failed treatment strategy or persist with an ineffective and burdensome treatment.
Emphasis on "responsible and professional" clinician.
Our healthcare in the US is focused on profit only, no one really cares about the citizens....