The surgeon general just sent a worrisome letter to every doctor in America
In case you have been living under a rock , the batteries in your hearing aide are dead, both your computer and TV/cable are not working.. The Surgeon General of the US .. just attempted to turn the “opiate guidelines” of the CDC into the “law of the land”. The impact on the chronic pain community could be substantial.
Let’s talk election… These two people are DEMOCRATS and if Hillary Clinton gets elected.. they will most likely stay in their appointed positions. This Surgeon General will keep “ringing the bell” of reducing opiate/benzo prescribing. Ignore the facts/discussions about Clinton’s email servers, Benghazi and the Clinton Foundation. Hillary has come out in support of the proposed “soda tax” in Philli and Sen Manchin’s “opiate tax”… those taxes will fall under the same category of Alcohol and Tobacco as “sin taxes”. Manchin’s tax is suppose to go to treat/help those who are suffering from a “opiate use disorder”… what was previously known as “ADDICTS OR JUNKIES”.
Of course, this “opiate tax” won’t/can’t be collected from all the opiates/Heroin that is illegally sold on the street. Can’t catch the street suppliers, can’t stop the flow to the street.. so you tax the people who have a legal/legit medical necessity…
Opiate prescribing peaked in 2012 and has been dropping ever since, but the number of people OD’s… continues to increase.. but all the stats that the bureaucrats and the media is using is from 2012 or before for the number of opiate Rxs being written and compare them to current OD deaths… Is this a “apple to oranges” comparison ?
We all know that both AG’s under this administration has done NOTHING to enforce the ADA discrimination when it comes to chronic pain pts. His first AG (Holder) left office being held in CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS… because according to our system the President is the final authority if/when laws are enforced.
Could this help explain the dramatic change in direction of the DEA toward prescribers and pts in the war on drugs/pts during the 2010-2012 period.. which is still accelerating ? So if you are a chronic painer .. you need to look at your life 8 yrs ago and your pain management and ask yourself “Am I doing better or worse than 8 yrs ago”. This administration is part of the problem… but there is enough blame to be shared by Congress… which – IMO – consists of 535 self-centered, egotistical, narcissists in one very large “sand box” .. called “the establishment”.
Few like either Presidental candidate of the two major parties and everyone seems to ignore the Libertarian Party Candidate… Gary Johnson… soft spoken, two term Governor of New Mexico, in favor of legalizing MJ/MMJ , wants a smaller government and successfully ran New Mexico while reducing the size of government and creating a surplus for the state. Other countries have multiple political parties running their governments… why have we allowed only two parties to control/dominate the way our Federal government functions ?
http://www.businessinsider.com/letter-surgeon-general-sent-every-doctor-on-opioids-2016-8
America’s doctor just knocked on the doors of every US physician across the country.
Virtually, at least.
On Thursday, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy sent this letter to 2.3 million American doctors asking for their help to curb what’s being called an “unprecedented” epidemic of opioid painkiller overdose deaths.
It’s the first time in history that a surgeon general has sent a letter directly to American physicians.
This is a major signal to doctors and the public that it’s time for something to be done about the thousands of Americans who are dying each year from overdosing on prescription painkillers like oxycodone, fentanyl, and morphine.
Between 2013 and 2014, deaths from synthetic opioids skyrocketed by 79%, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday.
Since opioid painkillers slow breathing and act on the same brain systems as heroin, they carry serious risks of overdose and, in rarer cases, addiction. But cases that would normally be rare are happening with increasing regularity as the drugs are being given to so many people. Despite being home to 5% of the world’s population, America consumes 80% of its opioids.
These drugs are powerful. Fentanyl, the drug that killed Prince, is roughly 50 times stronger than pure heroin. And although the deadly drug is legal with a doctor’s prescription, it’s also being made illegally in underground labs and traded across the US.
Still, doctors’ prescriptions are a sizeable part of the problem.
A 2014 report from the American Academy of Neurology estimates that more than 100,000 Americans have died from prescribed opioids since the late 1990s. Those at highest risk include people between 35 and 54, the report found, and deaths from opioids in this age group have exceeded those from firearms and car crashes.
“As clinicians, we have the unique power to help end this epidemic,” Murthy wrote in his letter.
To make matters worse, the drugs are often prescribed alongside other drugs, like tranquilizers, which can raise the chances of accidental overdose and death. Yet they’re often prescribed together anyway.
In 2011, 31% of prescription-opioid-related overdose deaths involved these two kinds of drugs used together, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Unfortunately, too many patients are still co-prescribed opioid pain relievers and benzodiazepines (tranquilizers),” the institute said.
Here’s the surgeon general’s letter:
Filed under: General Problems
The SG goes on to say, ” Now, nearly 2 million people in America have a prescription opioid use disorder, contributing to increased heroin use and the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.”
“Opioid use disorder” is a new “polite term used instead of calling people” addicts. ”
From the Journal, “The President also tweeted that heroin-related deaths nearly quadrupled between 2002 and 2013. This is exaggerated, and more importantly for developing evidence based policies, it is only half of the truth….only when the number of prescription opioid- related deaths stabilized after 2009 did the increase in heroin related deaths accelerate.
Another message in the same POTUS tweet is that four in five heroin users started out by misusing prescription opioids. However according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly half of the young people who inject heroin surveyed in three recent studies reported abusing prescription opioids before starting to use heroin. (36)….In fact, harmful use of heroin and overdose is a decades long problem in the United States as well as many other countries that have very low rates of prescription opioid prescribing.” The reference for the last two posts is from the Journal I discussed above on Negative outcomes of unbalanced Opioid policy….http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/15360288.2015.1136368
The surgeon general letter is full of holes and out of date information. for example he says: “The results have been devastating. Since 1999, opioid overdose deaths have quadrupled and opioid prescriptions have increased markedly – almost enough for every adult in America to have a bottle of pills.” On page 6 of the Scholten and Henningfield document I told everyone to copy, under “Symptoms of Ill-considered policies, it says: In reality, the 2012 annual consumption of opioids in the US was 7.4 defined daily dosages per capita. (33)…Bottles exist in many sizes, but the President’s message (2015 tweet) was based on a bottle size of only 7 to 10 pills. “
Why doesn’t the AG do some research and then Legalize medical marijuana in every state.
Those of us living with actual chronic pain just want quality of life. Cannabinol can give that to us without the stigma and shame these so called PM Doc’s put on us.
To Annie,,,my Pain management doctors does not put ANY shame on me,,as a matter of fact,,the man saved my life,and never gives me any crap about my meds,,,his old nurse on thee other hand was a bitch,,and tried to set me up to get kicked out,,but the spy pen got her fired..,I was shocked when I saw posts that not all chronic physical pain people were NOT in actual pain management w/a m.d. pain management doctor..Not that I disagree,,but I thought ALLL people with chronic pain HAD to be in pain management w/ a painmanement Doctor w/a m.d….I never knew your primary care physician could treat chronic pain,,,my primary,my cardiologist,Mayo Cl.inic,,,all referred me to a pain management doctor.years ago..and like I said,,I have never got any crap from my Doc,,,,knock on wood,,,but I kinda get pist when people make this statement that marijuana will stop your pain,,,,it might for u,,,,,but since it is factually impossible for u or me to physically feel the physical pain of another,,,NO-ONE,,,NO-ONE,,, has some sorta divine rite to decide who or how much anyone should suffer,,or what works for u,,,thier not u,,,,,thus the big picture is,,,no-one has a rite to decide how much we are to suffer,,,as a so-called humane,evolving CIVILIZED society,,,all we can do is try to EFFECTIVELY lessen the physical suffering of another w/what-ever works for them,,,jmo,,maryw
Agree…we just want quality of life but cannibus I’ve had just makes me feel weird and sleepy…I would not want to walk around high. It’s fine on rare occasion but can’t even imagine doing that everyday and the cost would be prohibitive.
My vote will be for Gary Johnson. With no media coverage to speak of, he is polling st 10% – 13% depending upon who you believe.
Americans get the government they deserve.
What ever we do, and however you usually vote, please, it can’t be to leave the current administration’s appointees. CDC Tom Friedan is an appointee..Murtha is an appointee. If we split the vote with three parties and Hillary gets in , we’ll have another 4 years of this, and more, and the ball is rolling downhill FAST> more nanny state invasion in our daily lives including at the doctors office.
Many more doctors will stop prescribing because of the bureaucratic hassle. I know this for sure.
New Mexico has a horrible heroin problem.
Those with real pain won’t survive another 4 years of this intrusion into medical care…
On my forced dea appointment w/my P.M. doc last Monday,,that is exactly what he said,,,the doctors are fed-up,,their tired of all the bullshit from our government and they are LEAVING the field of Pain Management,,going back to doing just surgeries,,,mary
My life is worth voting for Gary Johnson. I hope that enough chronic pain patients feel the same and make that choice come November. Main stream media convinces you that he doesn’t have a chance. Prove them wrong! He is polling at 10% to 13% now depending upon who you believe.
Did anybody actually take the time to read what Steve wrote? Come on people. Before commenting at least read the entire post!
Trump has promised to become the law and order president. Hillary as you pointed out will be more of the same. I desperately would love to see Gary Johnson become the next president.
For one I am certain that cannabis would be completely removed from the controlled substances act. Secondly I am extremely confident that the war on drugs and the war on paying patients would lose their teeth.
But for the chronic pain community who can’t even organized themselves into a national group they can agree on, the chances of getting them to vote for Gary Johnson even if it means savings are very LIFE, are slim to none.
People have the come party before country and now party before they’re very own life.
It makes me extremely sad but that’s the way I see it.
Forgive the talk to text errors.
True addicts get free morphine as well as needles. Pain Patients pay full price for what little treatment we can find. Perhaps that should be the clear line between abusers and patients. Diabetics have to pay for their needles and testing supplies. Once again criminals get it all and law abiding people pay in every way.
While the two party system is terribly flawed voting a third party will do nothing but give votes to the democrats. I will vote for the removal of incumbents of either party but can’t throw away the little power my vote has by voting third party in the presidential race. It’s pretty bad when a purely medical issue has become a political issue! I don’t remember offhand how long prohibition lasted but sadly the “war on drugs” has already gone on longer and is less successful! When the government is losing they look for job security and we as people in pain are sitting ducks on that score. Hopefully when drug abuse and deaths continue to rise they will come to their senses and stop this stupidity. Sadly, in the meantime too many will suffer and die before that happens! They’re not likely to kill this golden goose especially if the idiots get the tax laws they want.
Next up:
His statements of “2 million Americans have opioid use disorder”-“we will screen for opioid use disorder”
From the ones who have his ear- more PROPaganda –
” Misdiagnosis of addiction as “chronic pain” by medical community is perpetuating epidemic by maintaining patients on opioids.”
There it is…..”maintaining addicts.” Does that mean everyone is pain? In there eyes…..time to turn the tide with truth.
Watch who has your ear.
Those in real pain survive another 4 years of these people! They are appointees….
VOTE THEM OUT!
Bingo,,u nailed it,,I urge all chronic pain people imo to email the human rights council at the U.N,…they are thee only ones with any pull to formally stop this discrimination,,,the more they hear from us,,the more likely they will bring the United Staes up on formal charges of genocide and torture to the medically ill w/painful medical condition..I will forewarn anyone who contacts the U.N,,,They will NOT ACCEPT anonymous emailers,,they will NOT email u back,,because they know the n.s.a, is watching all of us,,soo to protect YOU,, they will not respond to your emails,,,but they do receive them…They only way u get a responds from the U.N,,in via snail mail,,and u have to fill out their formal paper work to do soo,,,,but they do get your emails,,,jmo,,I think we need to go w/thee International Court Of Law,,,,,there have been 32,000 letter sent to every member of Congress,, thee out going Prez,,,they know full well the torture and genocide their doing to us,,,,they willfully choose NOT to hear us,,,maryrw
Mary, I keep seeing that and have been waiting until I’m feeling fully informed as to what to say but I did call them and I will confirm what you said about e-mailing them as that’s what they told me to do and I’m glad you let us know they will not reply unless you send a written letter. You said that 32,000 letters have been sent to every member of congress. Who sent and what letter please?
Besides sharing our personal stories, which per the HIPPA law, is not necessary to write every little detail to become a two page letter that will never be read, I would suggest and encourage everyone to look at the scientific studies that back up the facts we are trying to get heard and understood. I’ve provide a couple of links and quotes from that for people to use in letters to Human Rights Watch, their doctor’s and pharmacists, senator’s and congress. The more they get the actual facts from legitimate studies; and not just opinion, which is what the surgeon General’s letter is made up of…OPINION, his very often misguided opinion. And what is an opinion but another Ars hole, everyone’s got one.
Look up ,,Petition To Congress,dea targets physicians,do no harm,”’..when u sign that petition,,u have thee option to write a letter to your state representitives and thee President of the U.S…u will see,32,000 letter have been sent to far,,,,the comments over their are HEARTBREAKING,, be prepared,,,your soul /heart might just break,,,U go deep enough into the comments,,their are a couple of suicide letters in there also,,,,its aweful,and soooo inhumane,,,I truly see it as the dark ages all over again,.hope this help you,,maryw
I’m sorry but you aren’t being realisitic. Gary Johnson doesn’t have a chance, Trump isn’t going to save you and Hillary Clinton is probably going to be President so we have to work with what we have. At least she is intelligent and respects research even though she has been given the wrong information since her words are all about the “addiction problem” Not all Senator’s suck, some of the longest serving are the best (and the worst) and many of the newest are even worse; so as I said above, we have to take upon ourselves to educate the people who can make a difference including our doctor’s and pharmacists.
I agree I agree but how do you find one that tells the truth about what you expect of them. Dishonesty is what most are about. I want people to stand up for the pain community rights. I have been trying to get that answer they won’t tell you at the present time, maybe election time. I can’t get the truth from them.
The scary thing is that someone with no compassion and no intelligence, but more than enough propaganda stuffed in his head can do this. He needs to add a paragraph – he doesn’t even have enough compassion for euthanasia? He, doctors and hospitals can no longer be trusted.
To to Living N Pain
I agree with you most doctors can not be trusted . It’s a shame. This new generation of them is after only money. They do not want to deal with sick people. They have made that clear.
Please start asking some real questions like are any real drug addicts no longer abusing drugs with these policies because we know that Prohibition does not work?If you take away a drug addicts drug of choice, in this case pills, they will turn to whatever they can find. Those are fact! The country is so concerned over the raise in heroin addiction and you will find, that the raise is directly connected to these policies as they will and are turning to heroin and now our government is supporting the Drug Cartels who will get a drug addict anything they want just as the “Mob’s” did for alcohol. Did we learn nothing from history?
Why is the life of a drug addict more important than the lives of those who are in pain? This is about quality of life, a life that is worth living. Suicides are on the raise and will continue when that life is not worth living.
Why are politicians acting as doctors in the decisions of what is the best way to treat us?
Mothers can no longer care for their children and bread winners no longer able to support their families. Who is going to pay for that care and where will that money come from? Who is going to care for those like myself who strive to stay independent and live within the boundaries of our disabilities but can no longer do so without the pain relief we need?
Health Care in this country is going to fail under these policies and it must when doctors refuse to take on patients who are in pain, clinic are closing and good doctors can no longer treat their patients in the way they know is best without fear of prosecution? Who are they going to blame for this? Obama Care? Someone must be blamed for the failure of our health care system to deal with those who are in pain.
Chronic Pain is a disability and we are being discriminated against because of those who will and do abuse drugs just like any religion or race who is discriminated against because of the actions of a few. We need someone to stand for us, talk about us, do something for us in this losing war on drugs.
We are told that 13% of Veteran’s abuse drugs but what about the 87% who need relief from pain and now can’t get that relief? Chronic Pain can and does kill and those who can no longer deal with a life in pain 24/7 will take their own lives and Veterans are the most vulnerable after the horrors of war. America makes these Veterans and makes the pain they now live with and yet we are turning our backs on them and telling them there is nothing we can do for the pain they are in.
Why aren’t pain patients given the same rights as others to decide what is the best care for their problems? Politics needs to stay out of our relationship between our doctors and the care we need.
Please do your jobs, do it right, look into the problems these policies are making that no one will talk about because of the fear of supporting drug addicts but we are NOT drug addicts, we are patients who need help.
Please look into the politics of all of this as we know the reasons behind this attack on pain medications after losing the war on Marijuana, which will become legal in this country, in order to validate their existence and the billions of dollars wasted in this losing war on drugs are now attacking those who are in pain. Look into the big pharmacies and the fight against them and yes, they need to be held responsible for never finding cures but only drugs that mask the symptoms to make more money but taking all of this out on those who’s only sin is that they are in pain, is not the right way to fight any of these injustices.
Please, think of the quality of life of those who are suffering in pain and think of your families, your parents, your children and how you would feel if they were suffering in pain and told there is nothing that can be done.
Help us, help the millions of American’s both Veterans and civilians alike who are actually being tortured because of these policies. Please look at all sides of this war on drugs and the dangers of drug abuse but remember, there are millions of us who need relief from our pain. They can’t fix the problems, can’t give us what we need to live with any kind of quality of life without the pain medications that are available so why are they torturing us?
Preaching to the choir is not going to change a thing. Steve pointed out that Gary Johnson is our best chance. See post above yours.
The 2 comments from me which are not a few down from you.
Dream on. As if the country is going to turn around and vote for Gary Johnson in the next two months. Everyone needs take responsibility and make up several packets of the latest information that is being withheld and personally deliver it to doctor’s and pharmacist’s and mail and/or e-mail to their congress person and senator’s as well.
I gave this to Governor Charlie Crist and Senator Alan Greyson with a cover letter which I will be happy to share. I’ll also post the other attachments included and e-mailed as well just in case they want to get to links you don’t copy.This document is six pages and scientific, so highlight it so they can see the main points.
Please copy this Feb 2016 document by the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy that blows SG & POTUS assumptions to pieces and backs it up with 2 page of references http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/15360288.2015.1136368
I’ll post the whole article (Negative Outcomes of Unbalanced Opioid policy supported by clinicians, politicians, and the media) and a summary of most of the important excerpts on my FB page if anyone has a problem accessing it.
Then go to this page for the latest August 2016 revelation and copy the whole page which this is just a sample of latest info: https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=16431
Critics of opioid prescribing have long maintained that opioid pain medication is often a gateway drug to heroin and other illicit substances, but recent research indicates that is not true.
“Although the majority of current heroin users report having used prescription opioids non-medically before they initiated heroin use, heroin use among people who use prescription opioids for non-medical reasons is rare, and the transition to heroin use appears to occur at a low rate,” researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Another recent study of military veterans found there was no significant link between heroin use and legally prescribed opioids or chronic pain.
Further compounding the problem is that some heroin and fentanyl deaths are falsely reported as overdoses from opioid pain medication due to inadequate or nonexistent toxicology tests.
The CDC itself admits that the guidelines were never meant to be policy or law. (http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54d50ceee4b05797b34869cf/t/578e661603596e40a74db59e/1468950040230/Houry+letter.pdf)
(http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/7/19/cdc-opioid-guidelines-not-rule-regulation-or-law)
I thought pot was the gateway to other drugs . Until they started making money on it my how things change for polititicans . Just always follow the money with them you will find the truth.
Judith Bruno, You make so many good points such as ” Why aren’t pain patients given the same rights as others to decide what is the best care for their problems?” and ” Politics needs to stay out of our relationship between our doctors and the care we need.”
Since politics is involved, we need to remind them of the associated costs you mentioned such as when people who are still able to work only thanks to their pain medication are no longer able to work to support themselves or their families, mother’s who can no longer care for their children and those of us who strive to stay independent and live within the boundaries of our disabilities but can no longer do so without the pain relief we need.
I would suggest instead of arguing about who to vote or not vote for, get the correct facts out to the public and to people who can do something. And lot of people need to send the SAME LEGITIMATE INFORMATION WHICH IS NOT BASED ON OPINION BUT real research so that the information cannot be denied when so many saying the same thing:
For example, When POTUS says in 2015 TWEET, ” 120 dying/day from drug overdoses – most involving legal prescription drugs.” it is misleading as according to the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy on Page 5 under “The epidemic of harmful use of opioids” ” The term “prescription opioid” was initially used to distinguish between opioid medications and illicitly trafficked substances such as powdered heroin.
However, what constitute prescription opioids (which may include stolen and illicitly trafficked medications) soon became unclear and was considered to be synonymous with prescribed opioids.
Consequently without much analysis of what actually contributes to non-medical use, measures were taken to limit the availability of such medicines that could be prescribed to patients with pain.”
I want to include a quote from the section on “Demonizing patients, Page 8 ” The authors concluded that the available evidence suggests that opioid analgesics for chronic pain conditions are not associated with a major risk for developing dependendence.
The most impressive finding of their review is the deficiency of good quality studies, in contrast to the widespread concern of doctors and authorities relating to the prescription of opioids for pain management” (thus why we always hearing about overblown epidemic) The low quality of some studies is another problem….unfortunately, once a study is published, findings from such low-quality studies can acquire equal status and influence as findings from high quality studies, sometimes even more-so when SENSATIONALIZED BY THE MEDIA.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/15360288.2015.1136368
Contact Carole Anne Respini on FB if you have trouble accessing this.
Lastly, copy this: August 27, latest CDC release: Fentanyl: Urgent Public Health problem which supports all of the above: https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=16431 ” In six of the eight states, the CDC said fentanyl was the “primary driver” of synthetic opioid deaths – meaning they outnumbered overdoses from legal synthetic opioids. That is a major concession by the agency, which has long maintained that prescription opioids were primarily responsible for the nation’s so-called opioid epidemic.”
The sharing of this information is not to suggest that harmful use of opioids whether legal or illegally obtained and heroin is not a major public health problem but to provide a perspective that is an equally important public health issue that is ensuring appropriate access to opioid pain relievers for the millions of people in the US and globally who suffer pain. (31)