4 ms·

My girlfriend was recently prescribed Norco for a sore throat. I was flabbergasted. I don't know why you were prescribed Oxycontin, but there is definitely a p

My girlfriend was recently prescribed Norco for a sore throat. I was flabbergasted. I don't know why you were prescribed Oxycontin, but there is definitely a problem with the way doctors prescribe drugs these days... prescription drugs kill more people than illegal drugs. And your kind of story is very common (my brother has / had a heroin addiction).

MichaelGG 12y ago
Do prescription drugs kill more people relative to their popularity? With an branded pill like an Oxycontin 20mg, you know what you're getting. With assorted powders, you've got no idea and people are often too lazy to do test shots. Opiates themselves are relatively safe, with a fair therapeutic index. But taking random quantities of drugs seems like a poor idea all around.
- UrMomReadsHN 12y ago
  After personally meeting quite a few people (the unusual suspects...not teenagers) develop a serious addiction to the opiates that were prescribed to them... I would have to say we might want to reevaluate how things are done.
sjf 12y ago
Opiates are the most effective cough suppressants, I'm guessing that was the reasoning behind it.
- patzerhacker 12y ago
  Cough suppression is one of the first things that heroin was marketed for: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--k12ZMisi--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/18p5js1ac32mcgif.gif http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--k12ZMisi...
- crpatino 12y ago
  You don't prescribe cough-suppressing opiates for a soar throat, the same way you don't prescribe a guillotine for headache. Cough is a symptom, meaning there is a problem in the patient's respiratory system the doctor should be looking into. Suppressing it is the equivalent of pasting a post it with a happy face over the fuel gauge when the needle is approaching the Big-Red-E.
eng_monkey 12y ago
> there is definitely a problem with the way doctors prescribe drugs these days Why? Painkillers have a clear function and are useful in many scenarios. Most people using them have no problem quitting when it is time. The minority of people abusing painkillers do it because they have an addiction problem (which is the actual issue to target) and obtain them through the black market. > prescription drugs kill more people than illegal drugs Most likely not.
- encoderer 12y ago
  Why? Because the last I heard, doctors wrote like 300 Million prescriptions for pain killers last year. So, one prescription for every man, woman and child. You might say that if all are medically necessary than who cares, but why the ramp-up over the last decade?
  - btian 12y ago
    Maybe it's because people are getting older? I'd like to see some statistics on prescription pain killers for people of different age.
    - UrMomReadsHN 12y ago
      Found this on wiki- Opioids are being used more frequently in the management of non-malignant chronic pain.[9][10][11] This practice has now led to a new and growing problem with addiction and misuse of opioids.[3][12] I saw a documentary a few months ago. It was saying how many herion users got first addicted to the medicine prescribed from their doctor. They resorted to herion when they couldn't get more from their doc and they were hooked. They had this doctor saying how back in the 90s drug companies encouraged prescriptions of their pain relievers for chronic pain and talked about how safe they were. They played a few of those ads. I only caught it in passing for a little while, but is interesting if true.
    - encoderer 12y ago
      America consumes 80% of the worlds prescription painkillers. It's not because we're getting older. We have a problem.

MichaelGG 12y ago

Do prescription drugs kill more people relative to their popularity? With an branded pill like an Oxycontin 20mg, you know what you're getting. With assorted powders, you've got no idea and people are often too lazy to do test shots. Opiates themselves are relatively safe, with a fair therapeutic index. But taking random quantities of drugs seems like a poor idea all around.

UrMomReadsHN 12y ago
After personally meeting quite a few people (the unusual suspects...not teenagers) develop a serious addiction to the opiates that were prescribed to them... I would have to say we might want to reevaluate how things are done.

sjf 12y ago

Opiates are the most effective cough suppressants, I'm guessing that was the reasoning behind it.

patzerhacker 12y ago
Cough suppression is one of the first things that heroin was marketed for: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--k12ZMisi--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/18p5js1ac32mcgif.gif http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--k12ZMisi...
crpatino 12y ago
You don't prescribe cough-suppressing opiates for a soar throat, the same way you don't prescribe a guillotine for headache. Cough is a symptom, meaning there is a problem in the patient's respiratory system the doctor should be looking into. Suppressing it is the equivalent of pasting a post it with a happy face over the fuel gauge when the needle is approaching the Big-Red-E.

eng_monkey 12y ago

> there is definitely a problem with the way doctors prescribe drugs these days Why? Painkillers have a clear function and are useful in many scenarios. Most people using them have no problem quitting when it is time. The minority of people abusing painkillers do it because they have an addiction problem (which is the actual issue to target) and obtain them through the black market. > prescription drugs kill more people than illegal drugs Most likely not.

encoderer 12y ago
Why? Because the last I heard, doctors wrote like 300 Million prescriptions for pain killers last year. So, one prescription for every man, woman and child. You might say that if all are medically necessary than who cares, but why the ramp-up over the last decade?
- btian 12y ago
  Maybe it's because people are getting older? I'd like to see some statistics on prescription pain killers for people of different age.
  - UrMomReadsHN 12y ago
    Found this on wiki- Opioids are being used more frequently in the management of non-malignant chronic pain.[9][10][11] This practice has now led to a new and growing problem with addiction and misuse of opioids.[3][12] I saw a documentary a few months ago. It was saying how many herion users got first addicted to the medicine prescribed from their doctor. They resorted to herion when they couldn't get more from their doc and they were hooked. They had this doctor saying how back in the 90s drug companies encouraged prescriptions of their pain relievers for chronic pain and talked about how safe they were. They played a few of those ads. I only caught it in passing for a little while, but is interesting if true.
  - encoderer 12y ago
    America consumes 80% of the worlds prescription painkillers. It's not because we're getting older. We have a problem.