Deaths from painkiller overdose surge to record

[Marazinia]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Nearly 15,000 Americans died from an overdose of prescription painkillers in 2008, a record rate that has outstripped fatalities from illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin combined, health officials said on Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/01/us-usa-painkillers-overdose-idUSTRE7A06I120111101

---

Thoughts?

[Blue Owl]

1. The war on some drugs

Robert Anton Wilson really said it best.

[Lionessa]

9. Yep, we gotta war on those drugs that keep the pharmas from making huge profits

on the much more dangerous stuff.

[justabob]

14. indeed

It is crazy that pot is devil weed and must be punished, demonized, and altogether misrepresented while "legal" drugs are sold and advertise on prime time national tv with the disclaimer that they may cause death and/or a long list of organ failure risk, heart attacks, stroke, blood issues etc.

[Uncle Joe]

24. Yes but the jury isn't in yet, that would only be 15,000 overdoses from legal drugs pushed daily by

the corporate media to 0 overdoses for cannabis.

Furthermore big pharma and the for profit prison industry need more evidence that legalized cannabis can't be fatal to their bottom lines.

[justabob]

26. Oh! Right... my bad

How could I have forgotten to give a shit about the bottom line of Pharma and the private prisons especially? Naughty me. Lol. This is whole situation is totally nuts.

[TK421]

52. we'll give out Xanax like it's candy in the meantime...I agree 100%

[justabob]

57. .

I love your user name :)

[MrSlayer]

2. I know a lot of people hooked on that shit.

Bad news.

[HereSince1628]

3. Tinfoil I know, but CNN was also attacking overuse of antibiotics today.

It gave me the feeling that the necessary propaganda is being put in place to justify 600 billion in Medicare cuts.

You just can't have your baby-boom relatives exposed to inappropriate use of pain killers and antibiotics. Huge waste in money and worse it will HURT them!

on edit...make that BILLIONS!

[Lionessa]

11. I think both are worthy and truthful concerns, and the long term

effects of antibiotic overuse and misuse are pretty darn serious in drug resistant strains and all.

[HereSince1628]

20. So is the need to cut medical costs...n/t

[w8liftinglady]

28. unfortunately,I care for the multidrug-resistant infected patients.

It is horrific...requiring multiple weeks of IV HIGH DOLLAR antibiotics to kill the MRSA and VRE that antibiotic overuse has created.
Maybe these patients will just drop dead instead of being treated...who knows?

[nobodyspecial]

51. The overuse of antibiotics has been a topic of concern

in the medical community for at least a decade and studies show the concern is very real. What's added to the problem is the that livestock and poultry are also pumped full of antibiotics.

Medicare cuts are very serious. It doesn't help your argument to base it on wild speculation and make inaccurate statements.

[arikara]

56. People get far too many prescriptions nowadays

antibiotics are unnecessarily prescribed far too often by doctors. For example, they are useless for a viral infection such as a cold or flu and yet are routinely prescribed for that. If taken too long, pain killers can cause not only addiction but rebound pain themselves. If there are to be cuts, some judicious and sensible consideration of over medication and inappropriate medication would certainly be in order.

[Sub Atomic]

4. And zero deaths from overdose from marijuana.

I'm sure glad that evil, evil weed is illegal!

[Supply Side Jesus]

31. +1

[Dont call me Shirley]

5. The drug companies need much greater scrutiny from the FDA.

That they are given the nod to kill and maim as many people as they wish is immoral. Western medicine is fine for emrgencies but for all else it stinks like a skunk.Let's go back to using herbs and other non-harmful methods of healing as a first. We must topple these immoral giants if we want to live in a humane world.

[luvspeas]

6. suicides?...n/t

[Dulcinea]

34. That was my first thought. eom

[Newest Reality]

7. Not to be outdone by NSAIDs:

Then there are the NSAIDs, (Ibuprofen, etc.):

?Estimates are that more than 16,500 persons die from NSAID-related GI adverse events each year in the U.S. alone.?

http://updates.pain-topics.org/2010/03/nsaid-dangers-may-limit-pain-relief.html

[Maraya1969]

30. Ibuprofen ruined my gut over the years. Now I take opioids and I have to watch

every time I take them. I'm still pissed off that no one told me how dangerous the ibuprofen was.

[libodem]

8. At least it's not illegal

:sarcasm:

[frylock]

10. has obama's drug czar weighed in on this yet?

knr

[Demeter]

12. Suicides, I Reckon

Working with elderly and infirm, can't say how many threats to overdose I've heard this year....

[HuckleB]

39. Some, probably.

For others, it may be simply a matter of taking too much when faced with too much pain.

This issue has many layers.

[Crunchy Frog]

13. Probably alot of people being given pills rather than having the

underlying condition treated, if they can't afford it.

[LongTomH]

15. Ding, ding, ding, We have a winner!

That's the most probably explanation for what's happening!

[Marazinia]

21. That, and being denied disability and forced to work

Despite being in agony.

[DeSwiss]

16. ''Thoughts?''

This is a perfect example of Republican healthcare planning. You see, if you can't feel the pain then you must not be sick. And if you can feel the pain then you need to take more painkillers until it stops.

- Until everything stops......

K&R

[Marazinia]

22. Yeah, it makes it cheaper

when people who are too ill or injured to function just go away and die. :(

(And that is one scary image!)

[Tsiyu]

17. It will be double that this year

That was 2008.

But the Big Pharma keeps spewing those puppies out with no regard.

And they're legal if you have a scrip.

We really DO live in Bizzaro Land, when a plant that's safe is illegal and pills that can hook you and kill you quite easily are passed out like candy and perfectly legal.

Where you can't have a plant even for your own use, but the Pharma Hawks are making millions off the deadly pills.

Obama, what say you?

[lib2DaBone]

18. Well.. if Obama can put a few million more in jail for micro amounts of Marijuana.......

Problemn solved.

[tawadi]

19. Maybe people can't afford surgery? So they self-medicate? Who knows.

Maybe they can't afford to be out of work, don't have insurance, or have high deductibles if they do have health insurance.

Just guessing.

[HuckleB]

40. There are many conditions causing pain that are not understood well enough to treat with surgery....

etc...

[tawadi]

44. Of course there are. There are probably many reasons for the increased overdoses. eom

[backwoodsbob]

23. suicides

why are people avoiding this answer?People suicide with pills all the time.

[mike_c]

25. NO ONE ever died from an overdose of cannabis....

Just wondering why THAT one is illegal.

[shanti]

27. thank you!

no overdoses even if you wanted to, yet......

[HuckleB]

41. It shouldn't be illegal.

On the other hand, that has nothing to do with this matter.

[defendandprotect]

29. Big Pharma strikes again --- !!!

[HuckleB]

46. Big Red Herring Strikes Again --- !!!

[Quantess]

32. I am certain that many of them were suicides.

A large portion, intentional. Or maybe half-intentional.

[LeftyMom]

33. Oh great, a new excuse to leave people in pain rather than treat them adequately.

Especially the poor, they're probably faking it anyway. :eyes:

[HuckleB]

42. +1

[Seeking Serenity]

35. Where are all these doctors writing pain-killer scripts willy-nilly?

I have a dear friend who lives with chronic, intractible pain. Every day of her freakin' life. Yet, her doctor (I won't elevate the man to call him a physician) has cut her off from all opioid pain killers, and there are no "pain specialists" who will even look at her (apparently, if you don't have terminal cancer, pain doctors won't prescribe anything; all they want to do is jam blood-pressure-raising steroids into your spinal cord). And, because she's a GI bleeder, she cannot take NSAIDs. What is she supposed to do?

I'm worried that she could end up dying from an UNDERDOSE of prescription painkillers.

(edited for missing words)

[BlueIris]

36. HMOs. They drug people up to keep them from complaining. nt

[HuckleB]

49. Uh, say what?

:shrug:

[LeftyMom]

43. They won't even give you decent meds if you DO have terminal cancer.

A friend who died a few months ago learned that one the hard way.

[JoeyT]

37. I think they're going to use this as an excuse to make it harder to get pain medication.

Because what we really need, in addition to people not being able to afford to go to the doctor in the first place, is to make it so even when they go to the doctor they're left in agony because the doctor is afraid to write them a prescription.

Watch: The "solution" will be something stupid like preventing doctors from writing more than a week's prescription at a time.

[HuckleB]

38. That's one of my concerns.

Unfortunately, this is ignored, for the most part, at DU. It's quite sad.

[JoeyT]

45. Yep.

Stronger regulation of pain medication will hardly be a blow against "big pharma". Most prescription painkillers are generics now, so I'm not even sure how anyone thinks that. It will be a blow against poor people that can't afford to doctor shop until they find one willing to go out on a limb for them and ease their pain.

[HuckleB]

53. Exactly.

[Seeking Serenity]

60. Yes. The DEA and the state medical boards...

will just ratchet up the pressure on doctors who prescribe narcotics, for any reason. Will only serve to make it damn near impossible for people who can actually benefit from narcotics (quality of life, remember that?) to get the help they so desperately need.

[HuckleB]

63. I know. I know.

:(

[ileus]

47. What % of those that OD actually have a Rx for the drug the OD'd on?

[Defectata]

48. Legalize medical cannabis

and see those numbers drop!

[AngryAmish]

50. This is caused by many factors

1. Folks are getting older on average. When the population ages then there are more disabled folks and more access to these drugs.
2. There are doctors who run pill mill type operations.
3. Oxycontin and other painkillers are more popular, just a fashion. Qualludes were fashionable in the late 70s iirc. Cocaine in the 80s.
4. There are more heavy narcotic products out there. Patches and the ilk.
5. Many junkies have wised up and just get their drugs through the medical community. If you have a prescription you can't be arrested and sent away for ten years.

[LynneSin]

54. That's because they are way too easy to get with the 'Pain Clinics'

I watched a documentary about this on TV. Alot of these pain clinics are run by unscrupulous doctors that if you pay him $200 he'll get you a prescription for whatever you want. You don't even get checked out to see if you are actually hurt or not.

It was done by the people who put together Intervention. At the time there was no regulations for Pain Clinics in Ohio and they were showing how these clinics were just sprouting up everywhere like Starbucks. However at the time of airing, it seems that Ohio had pass some laws and were trying to shut down these clinics.

[Seeking Serenity]

59. BULL!

Where are they??? My friend could desperately use one!

[LynneSin]

62. They use to be in Florida but they've cracked down on the laws

But these are Pill Mills and without a doubt are legal only because of lax rules within the state. People are not getting treatment whatsoever for their pain - they just pay their money and buy pills. Then they hit about 5-10 other Pill Mills shops (Pain Centers) and do the same thing.

If your friend has serious pain I would help that he/she is getting some sort of treatment other than a handful of pain pills.

[workinclasszero]

55. But thank you Mr President for keeping that KILLA WEED illegal!

Imagine if people in pain could legally smoke grass to alleviate their pain!

Oh the HORROR!

Just think how many would die from overdose!

I mean at least....Oh....

Nevermind.

[Seeking Serenity]

61. Weed doesn't help.

Not an effective pain manager.

Believe me, I wish it was. It's a lot easier to get weed than it is prescription medication.

[HuckleB]

65. Indeed.

Marijuana should be legal. Still, there is no reasonable excuse for pushing that issue when it has nothing to do with this topic.

[fascisthunter]

58. Yet Marijuana, a harmless Herb is Illegal

I think it is safe to say people are tired of the bullshit.

[HuckleB]

64. Marijuana should be legal.

On the other hand, bringing it up in this OP is bullshit.