The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's previous guidance, issued six years ago, helped slow the kind of prescribing that ignited the worst overdose epidemic in U.S. history. But it also caused some doctors to become too quick to cut off patients taking prescription painkillers and too strict in keeping the drugs from patients who might benefit, CDC officials said.
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Thank God. My wife has been in constant and severe pain for the past 6 years. Maybe now she can get a little relief.
I have always said most of these "tough guy" drug warriors would suck start their shotguns if they had to live a week with the pain they think the rest of us should suffer. Self medication is a right.
ReplyDeleteI guess the " pain management " clinics in Florida are about to throw open it's doors again
ReplyDeleteJD
Friend of mines wife has a really nasty back condition, and requires some serious painkillers just to function during the day. She could get a one-month supply, no matter what. Which means she couldn't refill it until the day it ran out, so if there was any kind of supply or other problem, she was screwed.
ReplyDeleteKnown other people having to chase around to refill such a prescription. Because "Your Government is saving you!"
My wife's the same way. If it wasn't for painkillers, she'd be bedridden. Unfortunately, the doctor's regulated on how many she can give her, so she's still in pain.
DeleteWhat really sucks is she gets a 30 day supply every time but unfortunately there's 31 days in half the months, so she's got a day without painkillers every other month.
Same thing with a couple of people I know/know of in the situation.
DeleteThis is a really stupid mess
When JCAHO, aka Joint Commission, added pain as the “5th vital sign” we were screwed. Vital signs (pulse, respirations, blood pressure, temperature) are OBJECTIVE, they are measured. Pain is SUBJECTIVE, each person reacts differently.
ReplyDeleteIIRC, either OR or WA saw physicians being sued in the 90s for failure to “adequately controlling pain.” So physicians started prescribing more, increasing the risk of addiction. Now they’re sued if a patient overdoses or gets addicted. (Take oxy out of the equation, that was from the manufacturer).
How about letting docs get back to treating patients without all the regulatory issues??
THIS! Exactly. The all protecting .gov sat and watched in the 90s as big pharma paid for studies encouraging treating pain more aggressively, particularly with their drugs, and agencies jumped on board. Then heroin makes a resurgence, China floods us with cheap synthetic opiates and all knowing all protecting .gov goes after patients and doctors as a solution (easy optics). There was a day when we treated people as appropriate based on their individual needs and our education and experience, and we were held accountable if we did something illegal or stupid. Docs and patients are now at the whims of a see-saw government blowing in political and financial winds. Sued if ya do, sued if ya don't, and to hell with the patient. If these asshats or their families had to go one day in intractable pain I suspect the expectations would be different. Sorry Kenny, that your wife and so many others are caught up in this mess.~~dirtroadlivin
DeleteGood deal.
ReplyDeleteMy boss' wife has narcolepsy and the drug to treat is the 'date rape' drug. Hearing him on the phone trying to get refills, it sounds like it would be easier to order an LA Class nuke sub.
All cases of accomplishing nothing while torturing normal law abiding people.
My dad and one of my uncles were dying of bone cancer secondary to prostate cancer. My dad was prescribed what he needed by home hospice care and my uncle would be crying in pain waiting for his oral morphine every four hours at the nursing facility. Everyone knows that painkillers don't last four hours. Why oral? It took an hour to take effect and stopped working two hours later. They both died before the clamp down but I'd hate to have seen either of them getting less or none. I have read contrasting opinions that the opioid crisis isn't among those who are prescribed painkillers but among the usual suspects.
ReplyDeleteI am right there with Miss Lisa. Unless you lose a lose a limb, it is hard to get the ER to prescribe any opioids. They have gotten where they don't even prescribe anything for kidney stones, and I have had them a lot of times. Enough to know that many nurses have told me that they would rather have another baby than to pass a kidney stone again.
ReplyDeleteI have passed 3- six mm stones on my own, with just pain medicine from my urologist. Those are as big as I can pass, and often we just get them broken up by ultrasound.
Because I suffer from severe migraines, I have gotten a lot of opioids over the years to abort them. So now, I am on the naughty list, and the doctors are especially careful about giving me any kind of narcotic, thinking that I am a junky or doper. Of course, when they see the kidney stone on the x-ray, and that it is blocking the duct, it is pretty obvious that I am not faking, but doctors would rather a patient suffer, rather than endanger their license.
I can understand their reluctance to prescribe narcotics, when the DEA tells them not to prescribe too much opioids, but then won't tell them how much is too much.
I am of the opinion that if they just regulated opioids like they do tobacco, you would see a great reduction in drug deaths, with the added bonus of additional funding of taxed for the government. Of course, it will never happen, the politicians have too much at stake from the drug companies kick backs, to ever consider legalizing drugs.
The stories that really slay me are the ones about terminal cancer patients being denied opioids because "they might get addicted", which translated means the Dr. is more concerned about his/her license than the patient.
ReplyDeleteNemo
It looks as if Pfizer is coming out with a new very expensive medicine called Pfizerine or Pfizervil. Taxpayer provided of course and everybody will have to take it whether they need it want it or not.
ReplyDeleteJust legalize THC and I'll bet a lot of this opioid addiction will be replaced by cannabis addiction, which doesn't tend to OD you.
ReplyDeleteTHC is legal in Michigan, and all it has done is made more pot users. It has had little to no effect on the number of crack or meth users. A lot of the heavy drug users have come from those who have been kicked off of meds from their doctors or hospitals. I know a few of them, so if I know some of them, it is fair to say that there are a good number of them out there.
DeleteOh, thank God.
ReplyDeleteTHANK GOD.
well, the god damn va only gives out enough for 28 days. and I had to fight like hell to get and keep them. one "doc" cut my pill count down without telling me, just did it.
ReplyDeleteand they wonder why vets off themselves like 22 per day. I just wish there was a way to make them feel what we go thru every day, just once. of course there are a few I like to make the pain last a bit longer. but hey, the va is giving people a second chance to die for their country. just a lot slower.
My wifes back is screwed up and has the X-Rays to prove it. F'ing doctors gave her a 7 day supply of the weakest pain pills availble. And wouldn't refill it. They sure as hell wanted to do surgery though. F them. We found out about some stuff called Kratom. Actually works and is legal - at least for now. You can find it at almost all vape/smoke shops. Nice buzz too. FJB and especially F .gov. I hate the bastards with a passion.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine just died of cancer. At one point the hospital sent him home with NO decent pain meds to manage his pain, which was two weeks before he passed away. I blame the feds for that.
ReplyDeleteThey also screwed up the at-home hospice scheduling (he would have gone TWO DAYS without pain management so I went full "squeaky wheel" mode), and I might have sort of gotten in the hospital's case manager's face a bit about that. Ok, it might have been more than just a bit. Of course, she tried to turn it around and blame me and my dying friend for the lapse, so fuck that cunt.
There aren't any doctors anymore, just political functionaries.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't going to be any changes, this is just another media lie.
.20 cents a milligram sure would be nice. Jussayin' Ohio Guy
ReplyDelete