4 ms·

What are the rates like compared to other countries? Does the US just over prescribe painkillers, meaning more flood to the blackmarket? Is it people are gett

What are the rates like compared to other countries? Does the US just over prescribe painkillers, meaning more flood to the blackmarket? Is it people are getting it from the Dr and accidentally ODing? Are the Drs prescribing without care, so those who want the drug for a high and no medical reason can? I never knew painkillers to be used as party drug / fun drug in the UK (outside of the heroin using demographic) nor ever heard of some one ODing on prescribed painkillers. Seems strange it is such a big issue in the US

teslabox 11y ago
Some of the prescription opioids are contaminated with Tylenol, which is very toxic to the liver when consumed in excess.
- toufka 11y ago
  They incorporate tylenol to help prevent addiction and overdose. Too much tylenol makes you sick - very unpleasantly. Too much opiods and you feel great, until you die. The tylenol is designed to provide an edge to taking too much so that the curve correlatibg dose to pleasure doesn't always angle upwards. Being very sick, and even having liver problems is generally better than death.
  - dionidium 11y ago
    Being very sick, and even having liver problems is generally better than death. I would submit to you that deliberate contamination of a drug for the sole purpose of inflicting harm in search of a greater good is an outrageous policy.
    - neverknowsbest 11y ago
      Agreed. An opiate OD can be reversed if caught in time. NSAID ODs box your liver.
    - onetwotree 11y ago
      I completely agree. Former and current opiate addicts I've met have told me that when contaminated pills are all you've got to stave off withdrawal, the risk from Tylenol poisoning doesn't really even cross your mind. Adding risk (whether it's the risk of liver failure or prison time) to addiction behaviors doesn't do a damn thing, because addiction is a disease that fundamentally destroys our ability to make rational cost-benefit decisions when our drug or behavior of choice is concerned.
  - MichaelGG 11y ago
    That's an overly generous interpretation. For a long time, hydrocodone with APAP was scheduled less than pure hydrocodone. This is similar to denatured alcohol - designed to kill people that try to go around the law. I highly doubt the acetaminophen in vicodin is to limit abuse. Some of the pills I've seen are 750/5mg. Even a moderate addiction of 100mg a could easily kill you at that rate (that's 15g of acetaminophen). Though if you had no choice, a simple cold water extraction will eliminate enough of the acetaminophen to make it safe. While not quite as evil as all the deaths and stripping of civil liberties the "drug war" has caused, this is a pretty obviously wicked thing to do (while still ineffective).
user_0001 11y ago
I probably should have read the article ------- Since the 1990s, doctors have been under more and more pressure to treat pain as a serious medical issue. Pharmaceutical companies took advantage of this desire, marketing opioid painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin as a safe, effective solution to pain. ------ privatised health care and the profit incentive to prescribe high cost pain kills. I believe the Drs get a kickback from the companies for pushing a particular brand (could be wrong on that though). Also, who put the pressure on the Drs to treat pain as such? Politicians? Why would they? I imagine leant on (or the term is "lobbied" by big pharma. Would be interesting to see the "donations"* paid to politicans from big pharma right around that time and who profited from this. * I always find this funny who we in the west call this "donations" but when reporting on third world countries it is termed a "bribed". Paying money to get what you want from government so you can make more money....
- maxerickson 11y ago
  It's not entirely doublespeak, campaign funds aren't simply a personal slush fund. (it's probably even useful to speak of legal campaign contributions, because then when illegal bribes happen, they still get attention)
- anentropic 11y ago
  drug companies get money from 'treating' pain no one gets rich from preventing the causes of pain, though of course the country would save money and less people would die
- marcosdumay 11y ago
  OT, but... > I always find this funny who we in the west call this "donations" but when reporting on third world countries it is termed a "bribed". Well, if resolving the hypocrisy would mean calling our bribes by "donations", please, let it unresolved. We at third world countries gain a lot from your transparent accounting of what happens here.
- sliverstorm 11y ago
  who put the pressure on the Drs to treat pain as such? I don't have evidence of this, but I expect the patients. People don't like pain, and they want a silver bullet to make it stop.
xlm1717 11y ago
I think it's a big issue in the US because of how easy it is to obtain. Anecdotally, I have talked with people in foreign countries (I'm from the US) who say it's much harder to obtain Vicodin even with prescription. I know one who had to steal Vicodin from the doctor's office where they did clerical work because they had insomnia that had not responded to any medication they were prescribed. If they were easier to obtain abroad, I imagine other countries could have as big an issue with painkillers as the US does, and as the article says one of the main reasons painkillers were so easy to obtain in the US is the push within the medical and pharmaceutical industries to treat pain.

teslabox 11y ago

Some of the prescription opioids are contaminated with Tylenol, which is very toxic to the liver when consumed in excess.

toufka 11y ago
They incorporate tylenol to help prevent addiction and overdose. Too much tylenol makes you sick - very unpleasantly. Too much opiods and you feel great, until you die. The tylenol is designed to provide an edge to taking too much so that the curve correlatibg dose to pleasure doesn't always angle upwards. Being very sick, and even having liver problems is generally better than death.
- dionidium 11y ago
  Being very sick, and even having liver problems is generally better than death. I would submit to you that deliberate contamination of a drug for the sole purpose of inflicting harm in search of a greater good is an outrageous policy.
  - neverknowsbest 11y ago
    Agreed. An opiate OD can be reversed if caught in time. NSAID ODs box your liver.
  - onetwotree 11y ago
    I completely agree. Former and current opiate addicts I've met have told me that when contaminated pills are all you've got to stave off withdrawal, the risk from Tylenol poisoning doesn't really even cross your mind. Adding risk (whether it's the risk of liver failure or prison time) to addiction behaviors doesn't do a damn thing, because addiction is a disease that fundamentally destroys our ability to make rational cost-benefit decisions when our drug or behavior of choice is concerned.
- MichaelGG 11y ago
  That's an overly generous interpretation. For a long time, hydrocodone with APAP was scheduled less than pure hydrocodone. This is similar to denatured alcohol - designed to kill people that try to go around the law. I highly doubt the acetaminophen in vicodin is to limit abuse. Some of the pills I've seen are 750/5mg. Even a moderate addiction of 100mg a could easily kill you at that rate (that's 15g of acetaminophen). Though if you had no choice, a simple cold water extraction will eliminate enough of the acetaminophen to make it safe. While not quite as evil as all the deaths and stripping of civil liberties the "drug war" has caused, this is a pretty obviously wicked thing to do (while still ineffective).

user_0001 11y ago

I probably should have read the article ------- Since the 1990s, doctors have been under more and more pressure to treat pain as a serious medical issue. Pharmaceutical companies took advantage of this desire, marketing opioid painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin as a safe, effective solution to pain. ------ privatised health care and the profit incentive to prescribe high cost pain kills. I believe the Drs get a kickback from the companies for pushing a particular brand (could be wrong on that though). Also, who put the pressure on the Drs to treat pain as such? Politicians? Why would they? I imagine leant on (or the term is "lobbied" by big pharma. Would be interesting to see the "donations"* paid to politicans from big pharma right around that time and who profited from this. * I always find this funny who we in the west call this "donations" but when reporting on third world countries it is termed a "bribed". Paying money to get what you want from government so you can make more money....

maxerickson 11y ago
It's not entirely doublespeak, campaign funds aren't simply a personal slush fund. (it's probably even useful to speak of legal campaign contributions, because then when illegal bribes happen, they still get attention)
anentropic 11y ago
drug companies get money from 'treating' pain no one gets rich from preventing the causes of pain, though of course the country would save money and less people would die
marcosdumay 11y ago
OT, but... > I always find this funny who we in the west call this "donations" but when reporting on third world countries it is termed a "bribed". Well, if resolving the hypocrisy would mean calling our bribes by "donations", please, let it unresolved. We at third world countries gain a lot from your transparent accounting of what happens here.
sliverstorm 11y ago
who put the pressure on the Drs to treat pain as such? I don't have evidence of this, but I expect the patients. People don't like pain, and they want a silver bullet to make it stop.

xlm1717 11y ago

I think it's a big issue in the US because of how easy it is to obtain. Anecdotally, I have talked with people in foreign countries (I'm from the US) who say it's much harder to obtain Vicodin even with prescription. I know one who had to steal Vicodin from the doctor's office where they did clerical work because they had insomnia that had not responded to any medication they were prescribed. If they were easier to obtain abroad, I imagine other countries could have as big an issue with painkillers as the US does, and as the article says one of the main reasons painkillers were so easy to obtain in the US is the push within the medical and pharmaceutical industries to treat pain.