Opioids

Chief Medical Officer at Baystate Franklin: Should we prescribe opioids to addicts?

Link Miss Poison Articles, Opioids , , ,

http://www.recorder.com/Chief-Medical-Officer-makes-recommendations-to-halt-fentanyl-crisis-8308618

My one experience with fentanyl patches was when my father was dying from cancer. I came to visit him and there were multiple patches affixed to his skin because the staff hadn’t bothered to remove the older ones. I was afraid he’d been overdosed, so I went over the nurses station (where no one was available) and waited to speak to someone. I forced the issue my demanding to speak to the doctor on call. I was furious. The doctor tried covering everyone’s ass, but I ultimately said that if I came in again and found something like this, they’d be reported to the state medical board. It never happened again.

If prescribing fentanyl patches to legitimate addicts will keep them from seeking out street drugs, then monitor them closely, but don’t just give up on them and allow heroin, or other drugs, to destroy them.

1 in 3 Americans Blame Doctors For National Opioid Epidemic, STAT-Harvard Poll Finds

Link Miss Poison Articles, Opioids , , , , ,

https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/17/stat-harvard-opioid-poll/

The “epidemic” was created by the government. It’s another way to try and control patients. The pharmaceutical companies are jacking up their prices left and right, and I know a lot of people who are fighting their insurance companies to pay for their medication each month.

When you’re telling cancer patients that you’re not going to keep them comfortable, it’s a legitimate problem. Anyone who is terminal or in chronic pain should not be told that there’s nothing that can be done for them.

When you’re drug-testing your patients who have not signed a pain contract, you’re violating some serious laws under the guise of “medicine”.

I make no apologies for blaming doctors who are refusing to be doctors. The Hippocratic Oath states “Do No Harm”. In the past year, it’s become “Do No Harm To Me Or My Bottom Line”; because people are no longer being treated like patients. I had a doctor cut my pain medication off five years ago. I’ve struggled terribly ever since. There was no weaning process (It wasn’t a narcotic.), but I’d taken this medication for Fibromyalgia for fifteen years. I took it as needed. Between that medication and a muscle relaxer, I was better able to function most days. Five years later and I find myself in a place where the disease has progressively gotten worse and there’s no relief in sight. My options are Kratom and CBD oil. Over time, both can become extremely expensive. The CBD oil recommended to me is $224 a bottle. I know it’s something that will last six months or longer because the dosage is tiny, but then I wondered what the hell I’d do if it didn’t help me. I’d not only be out the cash, I’d be back at square one.

I would love to see doctors fighting back against this insanity. Prescribing monthly medication to someone to ease their suffering and give them a slightly better quality of life is far different from legitimate addicts who choose street drugs. Are Vicodin and Percocet the problem? No. Is heroin a problem in North America? Hell yes. It’s a problem in many countries, we aren’t special snowflakes. But let’s not accuse sufferers who are going to doctors for help and call them addicts. People with pain matter.

Doctors are leaving this country to practice medicine elsewhere. This will inevitably lead to less medical school enrollment, leaving us short on potential doctors who could actually do some good.

In a time where the government is fucked beyond words, pain patients MUST support each other and stand up. Voices make a difference when they’re powerful enough to be heard.