3-day pain pill limit heads to Gov. Bevin

[TexasTowelie]

The Kentucky General Assembly sent a drug bill to Gov. Matt Bevin on the final day of the legislative session that limits some narcotics prescriptions to three-day supplies and increases trafficking penalties for fentanyl and heroin.

Bevin is expected to sign this measure, House Bill 333, into law since he backed the proposal publicly earlier this year and encouraged the legislature to approve it.

The bill would prohibit medical professionals from giving patients with acute pain a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance like OxyContin that lasts for more than three days at a time.

It does include several exceptions that allow prescribers to give patients a larger supply when, for instance, it is necessary to treat chronic or cancer-related pain or is required to treat pain after a major surgery or significant trauma.

Read more: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/30/3-day-pain-pill-limit-heads-gov-bevin/99852342/

[get the red out]

1. Is this just window dressing?

The Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy says on their website:

A key driver behind the uptick in heroin abuse was the reformulation of two widely abused prescription pain drugs, making them harder to crush and snort. Drug manufacturers reformulated OxyContin in 2010 and Opana in 2011.

The growing number of people who began abusing expensive prescription drugs are switching to heroin, which is cheaper and easier to buy. The reason may come down to basic economics: illegally obtained prescription pain killers have become more expensive and harder to get, while the price and difficulty in obtaining heroin have decreased. An 80 mg OxyContin pill runs between $60 to $100 on the street. Heroin costs about $9 a dose. Even among heavy heroin abusers, a day’s worth of the drug is cheaper than a couple hits of Oxycontin.

http://odcp.ky.gov/Pages/The-Heroin-Epidemic.aspx

[Warpy]

3. Pretty much, the asshole is pretending to be tough on drugs

when all he's doing is creating more paperwork for doctors and consigning a hell of a lot of people to enduring hideous pain just so he can get reelected.

This is Draconian, cruel, unconscionable. I'll bet the DEA loves it.

[get the red out]

4. For sure!

Innocent people are generally who gets hurt in these cases. And the drugs dealers just keep doing business.

Republican bait and switch; and Dems too, since going against this would make people think you don't care about people dying of overdoses. The people can keep on dying, as long as politicians don't "look bad".

[mopinko]

2. 3 days?

what good does that do anyone?
i just had a rotator cuff repair. i was taking percocet for 2 weeks!

they did, however, prescribe a very good pain regimen. the gave me that hard stuff, but also several other choices. aspirin, tylenol, and celebrex. no need for a hammer all the time. i could get away w the lighter stuff as i healed up. i had something for breakthrough pain. i had something if the percocet didnt get me to the next dose.
this is apparently getting common.

this will stop people getting addicted.