Anti-Drug Strategy to Include Pain Killers

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's national anti-drug strategy will for the first time target the use of pain relievers, sedatives and stimulants for nonmedical purposes, a problem that has exploded in the last decade.

A key part of the strategy being released Monday involves government efforts to help states develop monitoring systems to track a patient's use of prescription medicine. The monitoring programs flag cases that indicate a pattern of abuse, such as "doctor shopping," where a patient gets prescriptions for drugs from multiple physicians.

Prescription medicine now ranks second, behind marijuana, among drugs most abused by adults and young people, said the report by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. It cited a recent study by the Health and Human Services Department.

Twenty states have prescription monitoring programs, the report said. John Walters, director of the drug policy office, said he expects to expand the program to 11 more states by next year. About $10 million in federal funds will bankroll the expansion.

MORE..............

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-bush-drug-policy,0,4423610.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[phillybri]

1. Does this make Rush public enemy #1?

:evilgrin:

[ender]

2. no, it makes law-abiding citizens P.E. #1

there are some people who, positively, absolutely need large doses of pain-killers, sedatives, and stimulants.

it will be the law-abiding citizens who get suffer for this.

[Beaker]

6. I'm one of those people.

I take methadone to treat the pain from a congenital and progressive spinal disease for which there is no cure.
The pain-killers don't get me 'high', they allow me to function almost normally- but the law makes it a huge pain-in-the-ass to get my meds.
My Dr. has to write a new script every month- no refills are allowed, and the prescription cannot be called into the pharmacy by the Dr...I have to go to the Dr.'s office every month to get the written prescription, and then take it to the pharmacy within 48hrs., or it expires, and a new script is required.
and it actually used to be worse, when they required all the scripts in triplicate, and you needed to show a valid ID to pick up the meds.

[pop goes the weasel]

3. doctor shopping

"doctor shopping," where a patient gets prescriptions for drugs from multiple physicians.

This is outrageous. People who have very complicated medical conditions have multiple physicians and get their prescriptions from multiple physicians. As it is, these people can rarely get adequate pain relief when pain is a significant problem. Look for more suicides as people give up the constant struggle against unremitting pain. But maybe that's the * agenda. More suicides=fewer people on SSDI.

[Tippy]

4. Drug Companies are to blame

SNIP: The principal impact of this campaign when you step up the law enforcement response is that doctors will err on the side of under-treating pain

I fear this will happen and their are many who need pain killers...I think the Drug Companies themselves are to blame for this...they encoruage Doctors to prescribe heavy pain killers and many did when they were not really needed or called for...It's all about profits ...if you have never been prescribe Oxycotin you probably have no idea how much it costs...believe me it's expensive...The drug companies knew how addictive it is but they pushed for it's use...now we have many who use it as intended but are addicted to it...

[ender]

5. you must have a different definition of "expensive"

>if you have never been prescribe Oxycotin you probably have no idea
>how much it costs...

without insurance, the last time i bought it was 8.65 for 20 pills.

lets see here:
865/20
$0.43/pill

that - is damn cheap.

[Beaker]

8. what strength Oxy, and where did you buy it?

there are different strengths of OxyContin, but 43 cents/pill for even the lowest dosage is way cheaper than it should be...

http://www.oxycontin-detox.com/

How much does Oxycontin cost?

When legally sold, a 10-mg tablet of Oxycontin will cost $1.25 and an 80-mg tablet will cost $6...

[Tippy]

9. With Insurance

the cost here is $74...for a 30 day supply

[Beaker]

7. I used to take OxyContin, but had to switch when I lost insurance...

I took OxyContin for a while about 7 years or so ago, and found out very quickly what fun it was to chew the tblets, rather than swallow them whole.
But when I was dropped by my private insurance provider(loooong story), I couldn't afford the high cost of Oxy, so my Dr. switched me over to methadone, a very cheap alternative, and one that has worked very well for me for controlling chronic pain.

[CheshireCat]

12. living with under-treatment of pain

is something I understand. My husband fell off a ladder years ago and crushed a couple of disk and ripped another one.

He has tried almost everything the doctors have suggested, but no improvement.

His first doctor put him on oxycontin and it really helped with the pain. He didn't get a high from it after taking it for a while, but it did allow him to sit for 15 minute intervals and stand for 5 minutes.

Then the witch hunt started for doctors that prescribed oxycontin. His doctor decided not to chance prescribing it and put him on morphine. It helped the pain, but caused major problems with his urinary tract. He had to use a Catheter to urinate. Then his doctor gave him Duragesic Patches which helped with the pain more than oxy, but after a week he could not urinate.



Still his doctor would not put him back on oxy. This doctor said that he knew that he should be on oxycontin, but that he would have to find another doctor. This doctor was so afraid of being hassled about writing this med that he would not give me husband the treatment he needed.



Long story so I'll cut it short. Oxycontin is the only pain reliever strong enough to help him at all that does not cause his urinary tract to shut down. Every doctor he has been to over the past 5 years has told him this is true. I know its true because I have lived thru it.

His current doctor gives him oxycontin, but workers comp will not pay for it. They say he has changed doctors too many times. He is on doctor #4 in 5 years. Two of the doctors left the state, so he has only changed doctors once due to medication.

I am sick of the government stinking its nose in medicine. Doctor's are no longer given the freedom to treat their patients as they see fit.

When a doctor makes a patient choose between severe pain and the ability to urinate on their own rather than prescribe a med that treats pain without the side-effects, things have gone too far.

[Beaker]

13. has your husband tried methadone?

it's inexpensive, and because it comes in 10mg tabs, it's easy to regulate your use as you need it. it's been very effective for me, I've used it for 6+ years now, and I haven't had any of the type of urinary problems that you've described.

[CheshireCat]

17. No, he hasn't tried methadone.

One doctor mentioned it, but never prescribed it. I will tell him what you have said about it. Maybe it could be an alternative.

Thank you!

[JPace]

10. "President Bush's national anti-drug strategy"

Isn't it hypocritical that AWOL who used to
be a drunk and a drug abuser now wants to
control the usage of others?

What he is saying is "I got mine...all I could
get for as long as I wanted and only when I was
ready to quit did it happen. But now I am going
to stop everyone else from doing it because now
I am ready to make you stop too."

It is that "I am God's chosen" complex. He has
it in spades.

[Mandate My Ass]

11. Yup

This is another example of the costly, ineffective and intrusive drug policy in this country. If anyone thinks they're going to do random testing and snooping into people's prescription drug use so that addicts can get early intervention, I have this bridge in Brooklyn that I can let go of for a good price.

This is so they can warehouse even more non-violent drug abusers. Gotta keep the cash flowin' to Wackenhut.

[JPace]

14. The AWOL regime is not interested in true intervention....

a true and compassionate intervention would require
a health care system that would provide detox and
counseling for the addicted as well as social
services and counseling for the family.

The AWOL regime will never want to pay for this, their
approach is sadistic....keep the addicted living in
fear with constant threats and throw away the key
when they do get them into the prison system. Families
can fend for themselves.....people like rush Limpballs
can get treatment on demand $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
the lower classes cannot afford it.

Just ask any chemical dependency counselor how easy it
is to get a job (almost impossible) and the pay that
they get is laughable while the education they must
have is high. Our system is not interested in looking
a addiction as a disease....they look at it as crime
and treat people as criminals. Without true intervention
and treatment for the whole family the problem becomes
generational and children follow in their parents
footsteps.

And the beat goes on....

[papau]

15. Afghanistan Opium Soars and Bush Anti - Drug Plan to Target Pain Killers

Afghanistan Opium Soars and Bush Anti - Drug Plan to Target Pain Killers


I am sorry - but these two breaking news items on the AP wire MUST be read together!

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-US-International-Narc...

Afghanistan Opium Production Levels Soar
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: March 1, 2004

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Opium poppy cultivation levels in Afghanistan approached the highest levels ever recorded last year despite the counterdrug efforts of the U.S.-backed government, the State Department said Monday.<snip>

They have ``exploited poor farmers in a rural economy decimated by war and drought,'' the report said. It said drug-related corruption at the provincial and district levels is believed to be pervasive. It added that at the national level, corruption of officials is believed to be much less of a problem.

Opium poppy is the raw material for heroin.

Robert B. Charles, the State Department's top counter-narcotics official, said the Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai should not be held responsible for the situation.<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Bush-Drug-Policy.html

Bush Anti - Drug Plan to Target Pain Killers
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: March 1, 2004

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's national anti-drug strategy will for the first time target the use of pain relievers, sedatives and stimulants for nonmedical purposes, a problem that has exploded in the last decade.

A key part of the strategy being released Monday involves government efforts to help states develop monitoring systems to track a patient's use of prescription medicine. The monitoring programs flag cases that indicate a pattern of abuse, such as ``doctor shopping,'' where a patient gets prescriptions for drugs from multiple physicians.<snip>


To highlight the problem among youth, it noted a University of Michigan study that found abuse by high school seniors of Vicodin more than double the use of cocaine, Ecstasy or methamphetamine. One in 10 seniors, it said, reported nonmedical use of the painkiller.<snip>


Bush outlined other facets of his anti-drug strategy during his State of the Union address in January. They include additional financing for drug-prevention efforts and a sharp increase in funds for schools that want to use drug testing to expand early intervention programs.

His proposal to boost funding from $2 million to $23 million for student drug testing has come under fire from some parents, school administrators and civil liberties groups concerned about privacy violations and the effectiveness of the testing.

^--------

[Tempest]

16. What About Steroids?

Bush made such a big deal out steroids in the SOTU speech.

How come no mention of it now?

[FormerOstrich]

18. Yes, let's spend all our money on drug testing

Is it only me that finds the obsession with testing for drugs so bazaar in light of lack of testing on the food supply (i.e. Mad Cow). Plenty of money to monitor your drug usage, test you, but we'll check one cow in a million for a deadly disease. Go figure

[gulfcoastliberal]

19. Prohibition Will Never Work

But the law enforcement-judicial-prison industrial complex has a vested interest in keeping things in this miserable status quo. The entire "war on drugs" is a fucking living, breathing catastrophe. Fucking hypocitical bullshit. Fuck them.

[Moderator]

20. Kick!

Hiccup!

}(

[Sugarbleus]

21. LOL Mod....

This thread is one helluva great subject. All the posters have valid complaints and assessments..I can't ad anything else.

I agree; we are either denied any health care OR we are being bullied by the system in terms of what kind of help one can get when we do get to see a doc.

It all has to stop. Will it ever?