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Does anyone struggle with the fact that 1) people who are very sick or injured need pain control and 2) the only tool in a doctor's bag is an opoid and 3) we ar

Does anyone struggle with the fact that 1) people who are very sick or injured need pain control and 2) the only tool in a doctor's bag is an opoid and 3) we are somehow going after the people that produce the opoids that patients need, to live a less-painful life? Far more people die annually of alcohol related illnesses, than do opoid overdoses. This is the "crisis" is not a crisis at all. In fact, if you review the CDC's numbers, the rate of increase in opoid related deaths and the total number, relative to other more significant causes of death, are unremarkable. [link] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm By the numbers, we should be tripling and quadrupling the amount of money for mental health treatment to reduce suicide and alcohol dependency. Please, before you vote down or troll me, review the numbers yourself. The numbers speak for themselves [link]https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus16.pdf#019 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus16.pdf#019

ejnulls 9y ago
No, because there are many other treatments for pain. The best one is often physical therapy and other repeated physical treatments (especially for back pain), but these are more expensive than a pill! Additionally, there are other alternatives that people like this billionaire have vested interests in keeping illegal. Such as marijuana, there has been some decent evidence that it can be used to replace opiates as a pain treatment for some people (and has waaaay less side effects). I don't even work in healthcare, so I imagine there are a ton of options I am overlooking.
vesrah 9y ago
I think you should look into Insys before you use them to take a stance like this.
colordrops 9y ago
You changed the subject to alcohol though. No one said alcohol wasn't a problem or that opioids have no use. We might as well start talking about first addressing everyone killed in car accidents or unjust wars.
- PrgsvThgt 9y ago
  I was trying to bring into focus some key challenges. I've personally known two people whom overdosed on heroine. It's a tragedy, for certain. However, I'm just trying to indicate that we have tragedies happening, all over. I think everyone has a very emotional reaction to this issue. I'm just asking people to think about the data... As for this company, maybe they are guilty, I don't know. If they are, shame on them!! My uncle eventually died of bone cancer (metastatic). His last few months were awful. They were less-awful, because he had a fentanyl patch, that we replace every 24 hours. Please be thoughtful, that's all I'm asking.
  - mustacheemperor 9y ago
    As another commenter noted, you are not looking at the data thoroughly yourself. Also, nobody is arguing these opiods don't help the people who need them. The atrocity here is that doctors were bribed to prescribe them to patients who didn't need them at all.
kolbe 9y ago
The vast majority of "alcohol related illnesses" hit people late in life--taking a decade or so off of their life. The opiod epidemic is hitting people in their prime. It's the leading cause of death for 15-65 year olds, and it dwarfs any other cause for people in their prime. https://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/leading_causes_of_injury_deaths_unintentional_injury_2015_1050w760h.gif https://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/leading_causes_o... (for reference, 90% of "unintentional poisonings" are opioid/opiate related, and it's data from 2015. By some measures, the increase in 2016 was an additional 10,000 ODs) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/05/upshot/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdose-deaths-are-rising-faster-than-ever.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/05/upshot/opioid...
notl4wy3r 9y ago
The issue here is not the production of opiod drugs. The issue is bribing doctors. This guy would not be under prosecution if he had just produced opiods.
ElatedOwl 9y ago
I don't think the numbers agree with your assessment. Taken straight from your PDF link, (emphasis mine) "the increasing overuse of prescription opioid painkillers, contributing to a national drug overdose epidemic and rising drug poisoning deaths" Look at pages 153, 154 and 155. Drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 resident population (age adjusted) 1999: 6.1, 2015: 16.3 Drug poisoning deaths involving opioid analgesics (other than heroin) per 100,000 resident population 1999: 1.4, 2015: 7.0 Drug poisoning deaths involving heroin per 100,000 resident population 1999: 0.7, 2015: 4.1
amigoingtodie 9y ago
Where did you come from?

ejnulls 9y ago

No, because there are many other treatments for pain. The best one is often physical therapy and other repeated physical treatments (especially for back pain), but these are more expensive than a pill! Additionally, there are other alternatives that people like this billionaire have vested interests in keeping illegal. Such as marijuana, there has been some decent evidence that it can be used to replace opiates as a pain treatment for some people (and has waaaay less side effects). I don't even work in healthcare, so I imagine there are a ton of options I am overlooking.

vesrah 9y ago

I think you should look into Insys before you use them to take a stance like this.

colordrops 9y ago

You changed the subject to alcohol though. No one said alcohol wasn't a problem or that opioids have no use. We might as well start talking about first addressing everyone killed in car accidents or unjust wars.

PrgsvThgt 9y ago
I was trying to bring into focus some key challenges. I've personally known two people whom overdosed on heroine. It's a tragedy, for certain. However, I'm just trying to indicate that we have tragedies happening, all over. I think everyone has a very emotional reaction to this issue. I'm just asking people to think about the data... As for this company, maybe they are guilty, I don't know. If they are, shame on them!! My uncle eventually died of bone cancer (metastatic). His last few months were awful. They were less-awful, because he had a fentanyl patch, that we replace every 24 hours. Please be thoughtful, that's all I'm asking.
- mustacheemperor 9y ago
  As another commenter noted, you are not looking at the data thoroughly yourself. Also, nobody is arguing these opiods don't help the people who need them. The atrocity here is that doctors were bribed to prescribe them to patients who didn't need them at all.

kolbe 9y ago

The vast majority of "alcohol related illnesses" hit people late in life--taking a decade or so off of their life. The opiod epidemic is hitting people in their prime. It's the leading cause of death for 15-65 year olds, and it dwarfs any other cause for people in their prime. https://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/leading_causes_of_injury_deaths_unintentional_injury_2015_1050w760h.gif https://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/leading_causes_o... (for reference, 90% of "unintentional poisonings" are opioid/opiate related, and it's data from 2015. By some measures, the increase in 2016 was an additional 10,000 ODs) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/05/upshot/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdose-deaths-are-rising-faster-than-ever.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/05/upshot/opioid...

notl4wy3r 9y ago

The issue here is not the production of opiod drugs. The issue is bribing doctors. This guy would not be under prosecution if he had just produced opiods.

ElatedOwl 9y ago

I don't think the numbers agree with your assessment. Taken straight from your PDF link, (emphasis mine) "the increasing overuse of prescription opioid painkillers, contributing to a national drug overdose epidemic and rising drug poisoning deaths" Look at pages 153, 154 and 155. Drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 resident population (age adjusted) 1999: 6.1, 2015: 16.3 Drug poisoning deaths involving opioid analgesics (other than heroin) per 100,000 resident population 1999: 1.4, 2015: 7.0 Drug poisoning deaths involving heroin per 100,000 resident population 1999: 0.7, 2015: 4.1

amigoingtodie 9y ago

Where did you come from?