Northland faces an epidemic in opiate drug addiction
December 15, 2012 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
For the past 20 years, 39-year-old Esko native Clay Pirkola has had a drug problem. For the past 10 years, those drugs have been prescription narcotic painkillers like Oxycontin, Vicodin and methadone.
Continue Reading
CNN had a story the other day about how in some areas theres schools that now have “Guardian Day” because large percentages of kids are now parentless due to prescription drug overdoses.
Yet you know darn well that the budgets for any PD/SO/State Patrol anti-drug units go to busting marijuana. Because you know, we have so many MJ overdoses going on.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
43 
12
The pharmaceutical industry is heavily in favor of continuing the War on Drugs.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
36 
4
As are drug dealers & heads of L.E. agencies.
This is a huge clue that something isn’t right.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
21 
3
Doctor does not have to write a prescription. Don’t think too many addicts are filling out satisfaction surveys
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
37 
7
I agree with Sid, this is absolutely true. Doctors need to take responsibility for what they have created. To blame this on drug companies is a laughable cop-out. Anyone who works in healthcare knows this to be true. A monitoring program for doctors are in order, as they clearly have no idea of how to address this. If there is anything that will affect doctors decisions, it is liability.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
30 
6
Who do you think creates the ads to get the public to ask their doctor about trying Drug XYZ? Who do you think pays the doctors with “seminars”, kickbacks and any other little scheme they can to get their drug favored by the doc?
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
29 
3
When was the last time you saw a commercial for an opiate?
Hot debate. What do you think?
22 
10
Let’s not take a step backwards though. A decade or two ago, doctors were afraid to give opiates to people who really needed them. Terminal cancer patients and chronic pain sufferers that had controllable pain were being left on their own.
What’s needed is a way to keep excess meds out of and to remove excess meds from the system. Many years ago when my mother passed from a very agressive cancer we were left with more than a liter of morphine sulphate in IV bags. It ended up in the trash because no one would accept it.
On the other end, perhaps limiting the amount of opiates dispensed per visit could help reduce the oversupply to begin with. So instead of a bottle of 30 you’d have to pick up no more than 10 at a time. That puts a lot of burden on those who need opiates long term though.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
21 
5
I had a out patient knee scope and without asking they gave me 30 Oxycodone even though the [pain was tolerable without them. I took 2 and dropped the rest off at WLSSD for disposal. Maybe the doc could have gave me 3-4 instead of 30?
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
35 
8
Tim – Some people require more pain control after surgeries, some require less. If the doctor were to send 3-4 with every patient, many patients would be returning for more pain control, further putting a burden on an already burdened system. There is no cut and dry “this surgery will require 4 days of oxycodone, this one will take 10 days.” Different people require different pain control, for a variety of reasons.
Thank you for being responsible and disposing of your medication the correct way.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
31 
6
“Let’s not take a step backwards though. A decade or two ago, doctors were afraid to give opiates to people who really needed them. Terminal cancer patients and chronic pain sufferers that had controllable pain were being left on their own.”
I’ve been a nurse for almost 30 years and have never seen a terminally ill or cancer patient go untreated. Your inclusion of chronic pain patients brings up a delicate subject. Many addicts start out as chronic pain patients.
You cannot take ever increasing amounts of opiate medication, regardless of the cause or need for the medication without becoming addicted. It is simply not possible.
Opiate medications are simply sterile forms of heroin. If people thought about them that way there might be a greater understanding of how they work and when they are appropriate to use.
Oxycodone was reserved for cancer and other severe pain patient’s because it is so addictive. It was never intended to be used to treat your sprained ankle. That is what motrin is for. Yes, you are going to hurt. You sprained your ankle. What did you expect?
My aunt has been on daily Oxy and fentanyl patches for years. She recently was hospitalized for a GI bleed (complication for all her meds). Since she could not take her Oxy she went into withdrawals.
She had always bought into the hogwash that as long as you have real pain you cannot become addicted. It grieves me that there are still practitioners out there teaching that trash and that she had to find out the hard way just how false it is.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
28 
4
I understand what you are saying, but certainly you understand there is a difference between addiction and dependence. You say it is simply not possible to take ever-increasing amounts of opiates without becoming addicted. This is patently false.
The truth is that, when taken as prescribed (exactly) for legitimate (truly legit) pain, addiction is rare. Dependence is unavoidable and withdrawal will result. However, many people require opiate medications to function and live a relatively normal life. They are dependent on the drug, but not debilitated by it.
Like or Dislike:
6 
5
Heroin use has tremendously increased the last few years. Back in the 70′s, as I recall, it’s availability was very limited and it was a couple hundred dollars a dose. It’s easy to get now and costs $6. As for the prescription drugs, a survey done a few years ago at a local high school revealed that 80% of the students had used a prescription drug not prescribed to them, with the most common one being lortab (hydrocodone). Most of it was stolen from parents/grandparents medicine cabinets. A significant percentage also were selling their own ADHD/ADD meds.
Like or Dislike:
10 
0
At Essentia anyway, opioid prescriptions are controlled. A patient must meet with their doctor every month to get a prescription. Also, patients must sign an opioid agreement and undergo random urinalysis to ensure their levels are consistent with the amount of opioids they are prescribed. Even with the amount of prescriptions being written, chronic pain is still very poorly understood by many doctors. That along with the above requirements encourages doctors to avoid dispensing them. A chronic pain sufferer of my acquaintance has suffered because of this. He was prescribed Lortab, a drug to be prescribed for moderate to severe pain for short periods. The time restriction is because of the high amount of Tylenol in Lortab. After several months, he asked his doctor if there was something else he could take which didn’t have so much Tylenol. The doctor stated, “Nope! Can’t think of anything, and you need to find a new doctor”. There are many drugs that could have been prescribed, but the doctor didn’t want to deal with it. Since then, despite reporting his pain level as 8 or above, the best he has gotten is “Oh, I’m sorry”. Due to this, he is barely functional in his life. To ask for an opioid is to be labeled a “Drug seeker”.
Like or Dislike:
4 
1