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I don't feel you can accurately compare the US to Europe when our healthcare systems are so very different.
In the US many people do not seek medical care until their situation is dire because they can't afford health insurance or they can't afford all of the co-pays and deductibles. Many people also forgo testing because our healthcare system is so complicated they avoid taking the chance that a suggested test won't be covered. Many do not realize a test they thought was covered isn't covered until they are surprised with a whopping bill they can't afford to pay. If every "T" isn't crossed and every "I" dotted exactly right.....too bad for you.
For instance, when you have surgery it is not enough to make sure the hospital and the surgeon are on your insurance. There are a multitude of other medical professionals involved and it is near impossible to find out and line them all up to make sure they all take your insurance. Radiologists, anesthesiologists, labs, etc., do they all take your insurance? And if one of them doesn't, can you easily replace them with one who does? Not likely. And of course, we are all as sharp as a tack when we are sick and worried the hell out of our minds, aren't we?
Let's not forget the time and stress involved trying to correct mistakes made in billing codes and services rendered.
All of the stress created by trying to navigate our healthcare system undoubtedly increases pain levels. Lay back, relax, concentrate on healing? Oh hell no! Time to fight with your doctors and insurance companies to make sure you haven't been overcharged or outright cheated.
Must be nice to just see a doctor, schedule tests, have surgery without adding the stress of surprise bills showing up in your mailbox and gearing up to fight with everyone involved.
And, in the US many insurance companies do not cover alternative treatments like acupuncture and chiropractic care, etc.
As far as I know in most of Europe patients aren't deterred from seeking care at the first sign of a problem which no doubt prevents many pain situations from developing in the first place.
And, as far as I know, they also have more alternative treatments available under their healthcare systems.
I'm not trying to compare the two in that way. The subject of the thread is moving to get pain pills. Moving away from the country that prescribes the most.
If they are putting 'concerns about law enforcement' first....there is a problem, and the state medical board should investigate.
I never thought I would see the day when so many Americans bow down to appease criminals and terrorists!
Maybe doctors need to start hiring armed security services for their offices, so if the DEA tries to 'raid' them, they can protect and defend the office and patients?
The DEA raids in conjunction with state medical boards. Usually these raids are large-scale operations with multiple state and federal agencies, using confidential informants and tons of manpower. This is your pet cause, but you seem to have no clue what goes on behind the scenes. If the DEA tries to raid them, the state board can just suspend the license calling it an emergency. That can usually happen within a week or two.
You need to tell jencam this, dk. She won't believe a word I say, despite other people backing up my assertions.
I know what you're talking about. Currently I am on a benzo I've been taking for 18 years after a serious auto accident that left me with TBI which causes myoclonus. Wasn't a problem getting it until 2 years ago. My doctor up-ed my visits from every 6 months to 4, then 3, now 2 and he says pretty soon every month. I've talked about the situation with painkillers with him and he mentioned two of his colleagues got into trouble with the DEA for prescribing them and have now stopped talking any pain patients and have dismissed all the rest. I asked him if the DEA is planning to go after tranquilizers too and he said it's already happening. Doctors are nervous about prescribing benzos and they are Schedule 4 (opioids are schedule 2) He said to look for the FDA to move benzos to Schedule 3 and then to 2--the same class as opioids, and we all know what is going on with the opioids in this country.
Jen won't believe me when I tell her there's a conspiracy afoot in this country to get all these mood-altering drugs banned and we can all see the evidence right before our eyes. When benzos get to Schedule 2 not a doctor in the country will prescribe them and withdrawal from benzos is worse than from opioids. I forgot to take my dose one day and my heart started going into severe fast irregular beats. I realized what was happening, gulped my dose and within about ten terrifying minutes was normal again. If I didn't have this medication at hand I could have gone into cardiac arrest. They are not a medication to be trifled with, but they are a two-edged sword. They make my life bearable, keeping the myoclonus at bay. It's being caught between a rock and a hard place taking them but as long as the supply isn't interrupted people function with them just fine. Without them who knows how many people will commit suicide because of life being unbearable, and then we get right back to the issue I raised with the hundreds of thousands of dollars SS/Medicare saves every time a person kills themself.
One has to ask, "Why is the government doing this to people?" There's something going on which we are not privy to, but rstevens and I have discussed this problem and posited possible reasons on a different thread in the Politics forum. I only know that if I were to have to go through a withdrawal program after being on this benzo for 18 years it would be nearly impossible for me to do. At my age I'd be dead of natural causes before my brain properly rewired itself, which could take a decade. Not many people know that long-term use of benzos physically rewires the synapses in the brain so that they don't work naturally anymore. It's like a liver having to regrow itself but much more complex. I only hope I'm dead before the s really hits the fan in this country. This takes me right back to the reason for this thread: researching different countries to immigrate to where the government isn't trying to kill you by omission.
I'm just going by the numbers. Europe prescribes more than twice the number of opioid painkillers than the US does according to the graph.
That isn't how the chart works...it isn't additive...it's percentage of prescriptions per 1 million people...
The "number" doesn't go up if you combine all the countries in Europe...the percentages will still stay the same and will still be much, much lower than the US
As others have told you the US is still the most liberal country by a mile in terms of prescribing opioids there isn't another country that comes close....
To point of the OP "Will chronic pain patients have to seek treatment outside the US?"
If they are putting 'concerns about law enforcement' first....there is a problem, and the state medical board should investigate.
I never thought I would see the day when so many Americans bow down to appease criminals and terrorists!
Maybe doctors need to start hiring armed security services for their offices, so if the DEA tries to 'raid' them, they can protect and defend the office and patients?
Sure, because meeting the DEA agents with your own firearms will end well. Not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovorlando
I have chronic pain and am on just 2 mgs. of prednisone. Why are people not taking that instead of pain pills? It's NOT addictive.
Prednisone doesn't work for everyone, and has its own set of nasty side effects.
I have chronic pain and am on just 2 mgs. of prednisone. Why are people not taking that instead of pain pills? It's NOT addictive.
Prednisone has significant side effects, particularly when taken for a chronic condition on a daily basis. Not everyone has pain that would be responsive to prednisone.
I have chronic pain and am on just 2 mgs. of prednisone. Why are people not taking that instead of pain pills? It's NOT addictive.
Maybe it depends on the level of pain. Mine was truly 10 out of 10, I was crawling to the bathroom and even that took 20 minutes because it hurt so much. I had four epidurals which didn’t work. I had PT and myofascial release for six months before the day I woke in 10/10 pain, I even practiced an MP3 pain manage visualization program. Nothing helped. It was not chronic pain, it was acute pain from a herniated disc pressing my sciatic nerve. I would not have survived without the pills. I still feel like I have a form of PTSD from that period of my life. There are other people, especially people who had significant trauma from a car accident, etc. or some very severe spine problems that are not candidate for surgery, that may require a lifetime of pain management.
The DEA raids in conjunction with state medical boards. Usually these raids are large-scale operations with multiple state and federal agencies, using confidential informants and tons of manpower. This is your pet cause, but you seem to have no clue what goes on behind the scenes. If the DEA tries to raid them, the state board can just suspend the license calling it an emergency. That can usually happen within a week or two.
Yes I realize that...the DEA is at the root of all of this, they are why state medical boards OBEY and COMPLY! (the DEA are the true criminals).
Sure, because meeting the DEA agents with your own firearms will end well. Not.
Prednisone doesn't work for everyone, and has its own set of nasty side effects.
The Constitution allows the 'public' to forcibly remove a Govt/ or agent of, from power if it becomes tyrannical or if unconstitutional laws are created/ enforced, its actually a DUTY for American citizens to stand up against this kind of thing, (under certain circumstances).
What would you call a federal govt agency, whose purpose is to benefit foreign criminal organizations?! (that is 'tyranny' imo), not to mention how many American lives have been lost or ruined, due to laws they had a hand in creating (laws that benefit and enable drug cartels to be so profitable here).
Also notice how its the law abiding citizens, the doctors, the medical institutions, who fear the DEA, its certainly not the criminals, they LOVE the DEA, (without them and their tough drug laws, cartels and dealers would not have such a profitable marketplace, and unlimited customer base).
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