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What can be done to help fight prescription drug abuse?
Monday, December 31, 2007
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help fight? good topic because you will never totally erradicate drug abuse , at least as long as there is a cash society, and I for one, do not want to go to a cashless society, no matter what.
One answer to the question would be snake venom. Snake venom is being tested as a pain killer without the buzz effects that traditional pain killers offer people. It is a highly effective pain killer and if we can do away with certain pain killers that are now on the market, we will do away with people getting the buzz off them.
The pain pill addiction around here is awful. I wouldn't know how awful it really was if it wasn't for me being a part of that scene at one time. It has got to come to a stop. People are overdosing all the time, making senseless amounts of money off selling them...it's all unreal.
I have to agree with MikeM68. Get these people off the narcs. and prescribe them something non-narc. As a "former" drug addict believe me, there are medicines that can be prescribed that have no addictive personalities to them. They work just fine for me and have for almost 10 years. I don't have to worry about relapses either.
Doctors are too eager to dole out those pain pills to their patients. Maybe in fear they will lose their business?(That's just my own thoughts)
Another idea would be for those patients to have to have 2 medical doctors mutually agree that there is a real need for them before prescribing a narcotic prescription. I guarantee you the doctors wouldn't be so fast to prescribe them if it came down to that. I know it is more costly but would you rather have all these people walking around taking other peoples pain pills and all these un neccessary deaths? It could be one of your family members next time that dies.
What about referring them to a pain clinic where the patient learns how to cope with the pain without narcotic prescriptions? What did the world do before narcotics were invented?????
I know for a fact I can go to just about any doctor and make a false complaint about my back and I guarantee you, I will walk out of there with a narcotic prescription in hand if I wanted. My thoughts is that they want you addicted so that you will have to continue to keep coming back to them. The drug manufacturers probably are really enjoying this as well rolling in that dough!! No matter what the cost. Who knows maybe the manufacturers and the doctors work in cahoots together. (Again just my own thoughts)
Stop the problem at the source- the DOCTORS.
One thing that has not been mentioned yet is what doctors get out of prescribing medications. They are paid by the pharmaceuticals to prescribe medications. As long as they are prescribing, there are going to be addicts. I do believe there are people who are in a lot of pain, but I also think doctors take the easy road and prescribe drugs just to satisfy their patients. Doctor shopping also happens very frequent in our area. I know of a person who is an addict that uses three doctors to receive their pain medications. Until pharmacies work with doctors to monitor these numerous perscriptions, nothing will change.
Yes there are many non-narcotic drugs available to use for pain.The doctors need to check people over better and see if there is maybe another way to treat, the pain or what ever the problem maybe,without drugs.Some people doctors know what they are after and they need to say NO!! NO drugs,and more and more docs are starting to do this.the drug problem wasnt started over night ,it wont be resolved over night.We all make some bad choices in life.Drugs never solve any problems they just add to,make a problem so much bigger than it should have ever become.that gos for all the nerve pill,diet pill,addicts as well.taking a valuim never helped one problem,it just delays the issue..happiness cant be found in pills,booze,sex or anything this world has to offer.try JESUS.and thats all i have to say.have a happy /safe new year.
Legalize Drugs!
shannonhoon, I have to say that ur response is probably the most tasteless response that I have seen in the Daily Statesman so far. You must be an ACTIVE drug user for you to reply like that. Could you imagine a majority of the world HIGH???? Or the number of deaths, wrecks, murders and suicides because of HIGH people????? Oh lets not forget birth defects to that list too.
So, ur saying the world just legalize something that is already killing people? Way to go!!!!! I pray you never enlist in the military, you might just shoot our own troops.
legalize drugs? maybe you need to do some real serious re-thinking on that hon.
Hon....I was just kidding. But my response wasn't far off in the stupidity department as saying we need to go after Doctors! What has happened to personal responsibility and consequences?
Go Barack Hussein Obama. He will have an answer to this problem I know.
shannonhoon I don't think that saying go after the doctors was stupid at all. It is a real issue nationwide and a serious problem. There are too many doctors who will prescribe a person narcotics for simple things.
Like I said in my earlier post, I GUARANTEE you that, I can go to any one of numerous doctors in the area and lie and say my back is really hurting and walk right out their door with a prescription narcotic in my hand. I KNOW cause I have done it before. Go figure!!!
As far as personal responsibility, well hon..... I think that went out the door when chemical dependency walked in.
my choice is what i choose to do
and if i'm causing no harm
it shouldn't bother you
your choice is who you choose to be
and if your causin' no harm
then you're alright with me
The problem as I see it stems from too may "Pain Clinics" and other types of Dr's who are looking to give this type of medication to people. Most of the "Pain Clinics" are a sham, and are just a easy way for Dr's to make a buck. Most if not all of these people are "Disabled" and have a medical card or Medicade or other type of assistance. I am all for people having the thing's that they need, but the system is being abused. Anytime people who are known Felons and drug abusers can get their pain medication for a fifty cent or two dollar co-pay something is very wrong. I don't have a fifty cent co-pay mine is sixty five dollars, like most other people. These people are taking a bottle of pills that they paid fifty cents for, and then they turn around and sell them for a couple of hundred dollars. My view is that they system is broken, and that until their are reforms in the disability and Medicade system, you will never stop this type of drug abuse, never. Their is just no oversight of this system. anytime someone can have three diffrent Dr's giving them the same type of medication for the same thing, something is wrong.
Spartan you sound more like a person that just has issues paying other people's medical bills and I do not blame you there except for the fact alot of the people doing the complaining are the people hiring individuals for their place of employment and then not offering insurance or paying people so little that they cannot afford the necessities. Before you bash me, I am not saying you are one of these people but alot of the complainers are. They complain about taxes and think taxes are too high for them because of people receiving medical assistance. Well my kids get med assistance and it's not because I am lozy or a drugf addict. I worked 16 hours a day for 2 yrs or better to provide for my family but now it's hard for me to find a decent job because most employers around here want to hire people that either A. quit every job they ever had after a few days or weeks or B. get fired in that same amount of time. One job I had for over 14 yrs and I cannot find a decent job but I see people here that cannot hold a job to save their life, finding them left and right. I am very mechanically inclined and electrically knowledgable. I worked in Florida 2 years with a company doing maintenance for Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral Air Force Staion (NASA) and Patrick AFB. So my skills and work history are not to blame.
sorry for the mispelled words. I was typing too fast and did not proof read it but anyhow the newspaper I am sure has proof readers and they misspell all the time so I assume it's all good.
Sweet, if you lie to a Doctor about your back pain and the Doctor prescribes you a pain medication how can you say the Doctor is at fault and is the problem? Who told the lie? Who was trying to help a person in pain? How can you twist that to the Doctor was the problem? I guess you can if you would lie.
I agree with alot of you,I don't think they will ever be able to stop it completely for starters all of it really kicked into high gear when Blunt came up with the spendown amount making it where the people that had worked all of their life had to suffer the most alot had to sell their homes move into houseing etc.because of the spendown taking so much of ones check, your blessed to the one that only has to pay $65.00 my husband has to pat over $700.00 in order for him to have medicaid after working all of his life and now being disabled and to old to work, now the girls that go out and have'em a baby every year sure didn't knock on that door and not knocking those cuz I know some can't help it! Other reasons being they'll never stop is,have the U.S. ever been able to stop drugs?NO!!!It's just a fad so to say,just like the 60's it's been going on for awhile now the bottom has to fall out soon,it's a shame that just in Stoddard Co.so many lives have been lost,they have nothing to do for the younger people "getting high" seems to be the thing, it's sad!not only is the younger ones but the pain pill high has all ages just like beer,pot,coke,xanax,Addition isnt something one grows up intending on being which is what the court system in Stoddard Co. doesn't care about they don't seek help for our people they shove off in jail lock'em up that'll teach and the co. can make money while we do it!!Instead they should being trying a different approach,yeah I agree some you can't help but there is alot of good people out there that end up going all the way bad just because "we didn't take the time"
#1 = SPENDDOWN has been in existance for YEARS, Blunt had nothing to do with it.
#2 - the amount of a SPENDDOWN is based on YOUR INCOME. Less income, lower spenddown.
Medicaid is a broken system, true. However it is broken because of YEARS of abuse by people lying and cheating the state. Because of that those folks who NEED the help can't get it. Don't blame the system blame the abusers of that system.
Some say it's the spend downs, some say the abusers of the system, some say drugs are ok...could this be the reason we can't ever come to a decision? We all need to be better informed, a/b EVERYTHING! I.B. is one of the most intelligent commenters this paper has, and he knows how to make a good point in a short paragraph. He seems to be VERY well informed on a lot of different subjects. My question for everyone is this...is he more informed b/c he wants to be? Maybe, just maybe, if we all took the time to hear different sides of every story and demand more info on whatever the topic, we could be as "decided" as I.B.
I agree that the people who abuse the system should be to blame. But also the doctors for not taking the time to see if the claim their patient is making is, in fact, true, or a drug-induced lie. My children have premium-paid medicaid (which simply means they get medicaid, but we have to pay a premium for them to do so), my husband's insurance is paid by his employer (though his deductible is $2500 a year), and I have nothing. Make too much for medicaid, and we can't afford $95 a week to get me insurance through my husband's employer. And I have genuine back problems. I've been to doctors for it, but all tell me they can't do anything long-term until I fork out the varying price for an MRI. But most of the doctor's wouldn't even treat me short-term. W/o proof of that MRI, they cannot justify my claims of pain, or my claims of burning in my spine, so I must deal w/ this until I can fork out the money for an MRI. But my doctor has me on a weight restriction until I can get one. So what good does ANY of this do me??? I can't find a job having a weight restriction, or find one offering INSURANCE! I cannot sleep in my own bed b/c I can't get out of it. We can't afford insurance through my spouse. What else can I do? NOTHING! B/c doctor's are either too scared to have compassion, or just don't. But who's to blame? That's the real question right? I can't figure it out.
What if medicaid/medicare could put a alert system in place to alert them of all the doctors and meds each month on a person that has been reported ,by a concerned citizen,and trace that person if found they have 2-3-or 4 docs prescribing the same drug or refills being made at different pharmacies,then put that person on a watch list for 2 months and send them a warning and if they cant prove that they have a legitimate reason for their activities then they get booted off the system for life.The problem is peolpe abuseing the system and getting away with it. Someone in the system isnt doing there job. To me its like takeing an abused child out of the home that they know without a dout that child is being abused in and putin that child right back in that home.They do it all the time,then you hear a week of a month later that child has died from a beating or fall down some steps.This is another thing that needs to be stopped as well. Mrs D. I understand what you mean about insurance we are having trouble finding affordable insurnace because my husband has sleep apnea,he is on a CPAP machine and has done had the surgery.But no one wants to give him any coverage in a resonable price range and we arent eligable for medicaid or medicare.Not that we want to be on this program.I would rather have a good insurance we pay for ourselves ,( i think it would be more respectful to pay for your own insurance if possible).I worked for many years as a nurse and retired due to a lot of reasons but mostly my memory was getting bad,my mother had alzheimers disease and I have 2 aunts that have it now.I dont nor have i ever done drugs,and dont even take a tylenol until I have to.And dont care to tell you if you do drugs ,STOP IT!The system is in a sad shape.I sure wish someone had a good answer for all these problems posted.I think if you know someone is abuseing medicare/medicaid you should report them,just like someone faking for a SSI disable check . One thing for sure this has caused some interesting comments.
There are many things being done right now to fight prescription drug abuse. But the bottom line is, it's always going to be here just like all the other crimes that we see around us all the time.
But bashing the doctors and insurance companies and all the people that are unable to work is definitely not the answer.
I have been disabled for almost 20 years and during that time I have taken many prescription narcotic pain pills.
But at no time have I ever sold a single pill to anyone.
Thankfully I don't have to take them but just occasionally now.
So let's lighten up a little on the folks that need them, what do you say?
I know there are many that take advantage of the system and always will.
But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Thank you and God bless you.
Mrs. D, did I understand you right that a doctor wouldn't prescribe you medication for back pain without an MRI? That doesn't sound like what Sweet was saying. I have never tried any of this, so I don't know. So if the Doctors aren't giving out these prescriptions to people who don't need them, where are they coming from? There may be another culprit here. Just how does all this work?
If what I understand is right there are far too many legal prescription drugs out there to be coming solely from Doctors. We need a law enforcement person to tell us where this problem lies.
Ok, I.B., I will rephrase myself. My own family doctor would not prescribe me pain meds for my back problems. I haven't tried going anywhere else...though I have seriously thought a/b it lately. My doctor doesn't like to medicate my son for his ADHD, much less for my back pain. Some doctor's are just that way from what I understand. But w/ the way his office is starting to become, where we have to call in that we need a refill at least 5 days before we run out, or they may not get it wrote out in time, I'm contemplating going elsewhere. Regardless of ANY factor, it should not take someone 5 days to write out or call in a prescription. That should be a part of any doctor's routine, daily. I'm not saying narcotics for pain are wrong. I only wish people who abuse them would think a/b what they are doing before they do it. All it does is make it harder for people like me, who actually need them, to get them. I'll more than likely be seeking a second opinion in the least. Can't afford it, but I have to do what I have to do.
Sweet..........your credibility just went down the toilet. You lie and take drugs you get dishonestly from a Doc???????Then say our country should go after the Doc's to solve a drug problem? I am confused.
Ok wanna clear something up real fast here....... my drug abusing was well over a decade ago and I am CLEAN. I don't have medicaid, medicare nor spindown for me or my sons. Matter of fact my co pays just went up $10.00 more effective 01/01/08.
2nd yes I could lie and go to any given doctor as a first time patient and walk out with a narc. script.
Correct me if I am wrong but narcotic prescriptions are to be a last solution just as is surgery. And are to be used only short term.
What I am trying to say is that there are way too many doctors who will immediately prescribe a narcotic before going through any other trials of different medications.
A drug abuser that wants pills is going to lie and do what ever they can in order to get them prescribed. If doctors would make it harder to get them then eventually they would give up. Besides the people who are getting the pills KNOW which doctors who will and who wont prescribe them.
My physician knows my drug past and I know there are other medications that are non narcotic that work just as well without the high buzzed effects.
So yeah I will have to stand by my claim to go after the doctors... so I think nothing has went down the toilet.
I am sorry Sweet. I think you are wrong here. Going after the Doctors is the wrong person to be going after. That will just hurt the people who really need the help. Going after Doctors is what has dramatically added to the cost of a Doctor visit now. You should be able to understand that the problem is the people who lie. Why should we allow the liars to make it more difficult for everyone else.
I think we have learned Le Truth.
Sweet, congrats on being clean for so long...keep up the good work.
I.B. maybe I am phrasing this wrong for you to not understand what it is I am saying. I am saying make it harder for those LIARS to get the prescriptions. Yes, it may be a little more complicated or an inconvienence for those who really do need to get the pain pills, but in the end it saves others lives. Weed out the doctors who just readily write them without doing any other testing done on the patients. As Mrs. Dolphin said her doctor (apparently a good one) wants her to have an MRI. So, that means he is seeking the source of the pain not just medicating it. Also seek out the doctors(the quacks)who prescibe these narcotics to their patient for more than short term. These medications shouldn't be taken over a long period of years, they are habitual. Most of these drug users "doctor shop" and they know who will and who won't easily prescribe the meds. How can one even try to stop drug abuse if you have some doctors who just write script after script every month?
I am sorry but I don't think I am wrong in my thoughts and after all it is my opinion just as yours is yours.
Thank you shannonhoon it was a long hard journey but it was definitely worth it in the end. I love my life!
Now Sweet, I'm not disagreeing w/ your opinion, b/c you are right in certain aspects. But, when you're in my position, having no health care, and needing an MRI that has a seemingly endless price tag w/ it...the short term is all I can deal w/. Even if I were to go back today, and make and keep the promise to fork out that kind of money at income tax time, my doc still wouldn't do anything. Not even so much as ibuprofen. How do I, as a person or a patient, deserve that? I don't go to any other doctor (yet), "doctor shopping" as ya'll call it, and I don't have a drug in my system anywhere what-so-ever. I don't get medicaid, so making a tremendous amount of profit definetely isn't my goal. I JUST WANT TO STOP HURTING! There are days when I can't get out of bed, I can't play w/ my children, I hurt so bad I cry...how is that justified just b/c I can't afford an MRI? A doctor who can't see his patients true motives by way of smarts or simple investigation is not a good doctor in my opinion. A few simple phone calls, bodily reaction to certain tests, whatever. You can tell a fake from someone genuinely in pain.