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Did the opioid epidemic simply not happen in your world? > Purdue has known about the problem for decades. Even before OxyContin went on the market, clinical t

by Jochim 4y ago

Did the opioid epidemic simply not happen in your world? > Purdue has known about the problem for decades. Even before OxyContin went on the market, clinical trials showed many patients weren’t getting 12 hours of relief. Since the drug’s debut in 1996, the company has been confronted with additional evidence, including complaints from doctors, reports from its own sales reps and independent research.[0] > OxyContin taken at 12-hour intervals could be “the perfect recipe for addiction,” said Theodore J. Cicero,[0] > Patients in whom the drug doesn’t last 12 hours can suffer both a return of their underlying pain and “the beginning stages of acute withdrawal,” Cicero said. “That becomes a very powerful motivator for people to take more drugs.”[0] Richard Sackler: > When another family member sent him a press cutting in 2001 about 59 deaths in a single state linked to their drug, he responded: ‘This is not too bad. It could have been far worse.’ Then he asked a friend why addicts deserved sympathy, since ‘they are criminals’.[1] Preventing companies from pushing doctors to prescribe medication in a manner that encourages addiction isn't anything like saying they should be banned. [0] https://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/ https://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/ [1] https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-scandal-of-oxycontin-the-painkiller-that-caused-untold-pain/ https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-scandal-of-oxycontin...

renewiltord 4y ago
If you've never needed a high grade analgesic, you're going to lecture from a screen. But I recovered without significant emotional trauma and with great sleep and rest as a result of a month of oxycodone which I tapered with ibuprofen. The opioid epidemic happens because 1/10 is a crazy ratio. It means every doctor is creating multiple addicts a week. I'm fine with them denying this degree of painkiller to most people so long as ones like me can receive it. From my actual lived experience that it is not addictive, and that all of fentanyl, hydromorphone, and oxycodone were tremendously helpful, I'm not going to go along with this banning stuff.
- yung_steezy 4y ago
  The ratio is probably more like 1/5 if you believe the results of the Capture Rates study on wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence. That said, I agree with you that patients who need these drugs should get them. I had to get emergency surgery a few years ago and they also gave me morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl at the hospital. I find it hard to imagine how awful the experience would have been without medication.
  - Jochim 4y ago
    > That said, I agree with you that patients who need these drugs should get them. I had to get emergency surgery a few years ago and they also gave me morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl at the hospital. I find it hard to imagine how awful the experience would have been without medication. Almost no one is suggesting this medication should be banned. A significant driver of the problem was that Purdue pushed heavily for 12 hour dosing periods despite knowing that the medication wore off in only 8 hours for a non-negligible number of patients. Their motivation for this was explicitly financial. Patients were faced with following the dosing periods Purdue were strong-arming which meant enduring 4 hours of pain, finally salved by an addictive opiate or taking the medication more frequently than prescribed, running out early, and exposing many of them to black market alternatives.

by Jochim 4y ago

renewiltord 4y ago

If you've never needed a high grade analgesic, you're going to lecture from a screen. But I recovered without significant emotional trauma and with great sleep and rest as a result of a month of oxycodone which I tapered with ibuprofen. The opioid epidemic happens because 1/10 is a crazy ratio. It means every doctor is creating multiple addicts a week. I'm fine with them denying this degree of painkiller to most people so long as ones like me can receive it. From my actual lived experience that it is not addictive, and that all of fentanyl, hydromorphone, and oxycodone were tremendously helpful, I'm not going to go along with this banning stuff.

yung_steezy 4y ago
The ratio is probably more like 1/5 if you believe the results of the Capture Rates study on wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence. That said, I agree with you that patients who need these drugs should get them. I had to get emergency surgery a few years ago and they also gave me morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl at the hospital. I find it hard to imagine how awful the experience would have been without medication.
- Jochim 4y ago
  > That said, I agree with you that patients who need these drugs should get them. I had to get emergency surgery a few years ago and they also gave me morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl at the hospital. I find it hard to imagine how awful the experience would have been without medication. Almost no one is suggesting this medication should be banned. A significant driver of the problem was that Purdue pushed heavily for 12 hour dosing periods despite knowing that the medication wore off in only 8 hours for a non-negligible number of patients. Their motivation for this was explicitly financial. Patients were faced with following the dosing periods Purdue were strong-arming which meant enduring 4 hours of pain, finally salved by an addictive opiate or taking the medication more frequently than prescribed, running out early, and exposing many of them to black market alternatives.