A few days ago, my wife slipped on ice, fell against a step and fractured a rib. A lot of pain of course. Doctor prescribed 800mg tablets of Ibuprofen.
Taken at six hour intervals, it makes the pain tolerable and allows her to get about, although not to continue life as usual.
I have read that a mixture of acetaminophen (Paracetamol, Tylenol) and Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) is actually more effective than the opioids. Certainly, in my wife's case, with Ibuprofen alone, healing can take place and life can carry on. Dhe is in no danger of becoming addicted.
My conclusion: that there is a lot of money to be made in prescribing opioids rather than the everyday pain-killers that have generic versions because patents have expired. Am I cynical? No, follow the money to understand what is going on.
3
Yet more crocodile tears from the NYT for all the millions of hopeless, unskilled or low skilled Americans killing themselves because they know, even if the NYT does not, that they have no future.
What with all the manual jobs lost to China and Mexico, and the low pay and poor working conditions in the USA generated by the millions of illegal (sorry, 'undocumented') Mexicans in the country, those with low IQs, little schooling and poor health know that they have little to look forward to.
These folks have no future. Moreover, for all their lack of education and low intelligence they know it. Hence, they are making the economically rational decision to get off the merry-go-round in their own way and shuffle off this mortal coil in the way they choose.
Moreover, no earnest, patronising waffle from a well-paid judge and her ilk will change that basic fact one little bit.
1
Nice to know the cities in the U.S. are studying how best to increase the income from the drug industry.
They could look at the Scandinavian countries or read the Newsweek study of
controlling drugs in Portugal.
But anything like reducing drug trade might lead to the reduction of donors in the drug addiction industry.
1
" ...rather than a lasting solution in the overwhelming crisis, which the president’s Council of Economic Advisers last month estimated as having cost $504 billion in 2015."
Those words above couldn't better show and articulate the real causes and reasons behind the Opioid Crisis and why it has reached such alarming levels:
MONEY...Greed and the addictive desire for ever increasing profits no matter the actual cost in terms of lives lost, families destroyed and societies frayed.
So...this crisis cost $504 Billion in 2015?
Is that the concern and cause for worry? How many dollars it is costing?
One day America will put the real value and costs of human lives ahead and above that to the bottom line that dominates so many peoples moral values, attitudes and actions.
Until that day arrives, America will remain a country far poorer and divided than it should be for so many millions of its people than any other advanced country and clearly relegates itself behind those many countries far more successful, equal, secure and confident in themselves because their people and their welfare, security and opportunity underpin those nations very success and advancement.
In so many ways on so many important social norms and measures of a people's advancement and success, America is not only lagging those doing much more , much better for its citizens, it is almost not in the same class of the many more developed and more advanced countries that once it led and was ahead of.
2
Why? The GOP Congress has made it clear by their war on health care, they’re perfectly happy if millions lose healthcare, thousands die, families are disrupted and medical bankruptcies rise. Seems the opioid epidemic just plays into their narrative of “allowing citizens the freedom to opt out of health care.” (Since they also wish to restrict government help in overcoming addiction and mental illness while making 90% of us pay for their own generous tax cuts.)
1
This is crazy. We are going overboard on the use of prescriptions, yes. But, no one makes you use these drugs. On a few occasions I was given a prescription for 10 or 20 pills. I used maybe 3-5 of them. The rest sat in a bottle for months or years. Let's start with health education - both mental and physical. Share the use and dangers of opioids. Make sure young people get the social services they need so they don;t take to drugs. Suing the manufacturers will hurt many and not help those who are addicted.
2
As a reader deeply interested in sources regarding the trajectory taken by the makers and sellers of opioids, I suggest reading the article in the New Yorker, October 30th, titled "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain," by Patrick Radden Keefe, which is the most thorough investigation into the opioid epidemic and mentions names--in particular, the Sacklers, whose family business is Purdue Pharma. I think it's important to discover whose pockets are being filled off of the backs of addicts and a lot of former addicts who are now dead. You won't find their names easily on the Purdue website, but they are ardent backer of art galleries--you'll find the Sackler name there. This is the article everyone needs to read. We are indeed wasting money and time trying to sue these companies. Here's the link:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-e...
Do we somehow really believe that treating one addiction (heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone...) with another similar addictive drug (legal methadone) is going to solve any kind of problem with addiction? What if we just took the bull by the horns and actually treated addiction through neurorecovery and simultaneous withdrawal? Once the drugs are out of the system it becomes possible to deal with that which caused them to be prescribed in the first place - and I’m not just talking opiates. We see similar - albeit less obvious - issues with all the psychotropic drugs, the bentos, the antidepressants... the list goes on... First treat the body - get rid of both the drugs AND the cravings. Then treat the root of the problem. Neurorecovery is possible, and not especially difficult. It just takes willingness to spend the time and the money. Willingness is the key,
How about blaming the addict for once?
It's always someone else's fault in this country, that's the problem.
Let's blame the junkie that is simply too weak willed to use prescriptions responsibly.
3
What about the doctor who wrote the prescription?
2
Can we also start filing some criminal charges against the corporate officers that have been encouraging these sales?
3
Who says the opioid epidemic and its death toll is something that needs to be fixed? Seems to me like a self cleaning oven that works just fine.
3
Republican there, BP?
Heartless, certainly.
And very little brain, to boot.
You may get little chills down your spine when you dream of addicts dead on the street. I get that.
But they're the outcome, not the issue.
The issue here is a massive (and expensive) social problem created out of whole cloth by out of control, under-regulated corporations with an eye exclusively on their own profit.
I know, that's where we lose you: "Corporations exist only to make money", you say.
Perhaps in BP World. But they don't exist in a vacuum; like it or not they are members of our society and as such they bear certain responsibilities.
Not killing everybody is one.
It's why every notable theorist of capitalism demands comprehensive, effective, as minimal as possible, regulation.
Practitioners, on the other hand, have no such compunction. Armies of the dead are just fine with them as long as they can shift the costs.
"Well, what about those greedy doctors who write he scrips?": You say, suddenly recognizing the concept "responsibility".
Good point. But there we must start with the premise that, initially at least, they were victims, too. Aggressively lied to and 'sold' by the same corporations.
Doctors who made the choice to profit from inappropriate sales, like corporate officers and board members, must be jailed and lose their license, in the case of doctors, and their fortune, which will go to treatment and support of addicts and their families.
How about blaming the individual who took the drugs. I have continual pain but would never take opiods or other strong drugs. Sure doctors give folks too many, corporations encouraged use, but nobody shoved them in your mouth and forced you to take them.
11
Just another example of overdosed America compliments of Big Pharma. Pharmaceutical companies have been pushing all kinds of drugs on Americans for years. They are the drug pushers in the country not the criminals.
4
You have got to be kidding. Drug pushers are criminals, last I heard.
sick and tired of the excuses. The FDA will only approve if the drug is safe when used as intended, but if you as the company are trying to sell as many drugs as possible you are a dealer, no more, no less.
4
We should honor the addicts for contributing so mightily to the economy. The makers, doctors, judges, lawyers, guards and prison owners are all making good money because of these low level drug offenders. And these offenders are willing to give their lives for this economic prosperity. We should erect a statue to the dead addicts.
2
Stop the witch hunt -- Opioids do good things for the majority of those who use them. Should people who abuse ice cream and gain 100 pounds be permitted to sue the makers?
7
Manrico
Stop the meaningless argument.
Maybe opioids do some good for some people, although the developing consensus, medically speaking, is that as a society we rely far too much on such things.
But they were marketed aggressively as non-addictive by corporations and distributors who knew very well how addictive they are.
Heroin and its sister drugs do plenty of good. You for legalization?
Or how about the opposite approach? Marijuana does very little bad, and helps people with no other alternatives. You for legalization there?
Your argument is foolish 'business good/everybody else bad' tripe. And it ignores the fact that all our most serious drug use challenges were in some way purposely created by corporations or the government as an expedient source of easy, untraceable money.
That's there where your concern should be.
To answer your question: absolutely they should be able to sue, they have a responsibility to sue, if the ice cream was sold as diet ice cream.
I don't think you can overdose and die from eating ice-cream.
Culling the herd, GOP style. Humongous profits, huge political " donations" MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. The Deaths are just collateral damage.
3
Litigation will cure the opioid crisis.
3
Cannabis. Hey, it ain't heroin.
5
Just as surely as the sun rises in the east, Washington politicians will come to the aid of big pharma. The industry has spread too much money around for them to have to worry about lawsuits.
6
Meanwhile impoverished people the world over struggle to afford
pain relief. Drug companies and their shareholders at every level of investment are complicit.
1
They need not look far. Just down the road to Columbus and The State of Ohio government. The State government government is either unable or unwilling to prioritize treatment in underserved areas across the state. These are among the areas struggling most with opioid abuse. Everyone knows that. Enacting broad new laws to take down pill mills and lessen access to prescription opioid drugs alone isn’t going to fix the problem. The State of Ohio steadfastly refuses to provide more resources directly to the first responders. Local governments are left on their own. This is incredibly callous and mean-spirited.
1
There is no recognized treatment for addiction. That's it in black and white. Shove more money at it, finance the drug treatment centers, the social workers, all the stuff you can think of with lots of tax money. It won't make a difference.
1
If you prosecute the family who owns the pharmaceutical company (If you can find them)--for they are ones who invented the drugs--there might be some solution--ultimately. And if we could do this a LOT, we might see a real change. Unfortunately, like tobacco, prosecution of the real demons is rare, as I said, because they are hard to find and are protected by lobbyists and others just like them.
What kind of country, what kind of society, deliberately hooks an entire generation on opiate drugs, just to make a profit? Then when these millions of opiate addicts turn to heroin to get their fix, and start to die by the tens of thousands every year, no one goes after the corporate criminals who created this public health crisis. Sue the drug companies, the drug distributors, the insurance companies, the doctors, and the politicians who created this catastrophe? Sure. But where are the criminal charges? Why aren't these crooks being charged, arrested, tried, and sent to prison? Because no one goes to jail anymore in this country, not anyone of any power, position, or wealth. Wall Street crooks destroyed the economy with vast amounts of law breaking, and not one of them went to jail. Not one. Guess how many of the criminals who created the opiate crisis are going to go to jail for killing scores of Americans every single day? Not a one.
Without restoring justice we have no hope of curing all of the problems we face as a society.
6
No one 'hooked' anyone on opioids. There are lots of kids that are not addicts. People that need pain medication use it the way it's supposed to be used. It's not the company's fault that someone used it to get high, it's the addict's fault. As for heroin, well the 'war-on-drugs' will take care of that, doncha' know. Prohibition has worked so well in the past. The only people to blame are the addicts themselves.
2
Moira,
You repeat a common but long disproven myth. In fact, as many as 25% of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain end up abusing them.
1
are they suing car makers for highways deaths and damage? or hospitals for wrongful deaths or, or, or.
When does it finally become clear that people , in a world where they are clamoring for their personal rights are the BIGGEST part of the problem. There are lots of solutions but they also have to start with the user, and now we have something like 27 states where DRUGS are legal---this must be just a business decision, who cares about the people?
Governments (e.g. elected PEOPLE) should be working to make a better living environment for all and then maybe people wouldn't have to resort to drugs to survive the man-made craziness. The GOP just passed a soul-crushing tax cut because while it will give a few dollars to a lot of people, it will give a LOT OF MONEY to a few people who could not care less about their fellow man. MERRY CHRISTMAS DONALD. you are the worst human on the planet.
1
The solution was proposed by the CDC years ago. Stop making and selling combined pain pills. No more Tylox, Percocet, and the like (oxycodone and acetaminophen). Make doctors try acetaminophen and Ibuprofen-like agents first. Then add opiates in small doses, small quantities, and for short courses.
People will be amazed how well the combination of acetaminophen and Ibuprofen-like drugs work.
Why wasn't this done years ago? The pharmaceutical companies made huge profits off these combination drugs and the doctors saved time by writing one prescription and avoiding teaching patients about how to control pain with non-opiate medications.
5
Your history is a bit off.
Tylenol was added to many opioids because there was a belief that physicians would know that Tylenol was potentially toxic above therapeutic doses and that adding it would limit how much of the opioids they prescribed. Of course,
they overestimated the extent of physician knowledge and many patients ending up suffering needless liver damage from the Tylenol.
Hopefully sane courts will toss these cases. Has an auto maker or distiller ever been sued for a drunk driving fatality?
3
Joe — Not to mention gun makers for shooting deaths (by both police and civilians), sport motorcycle manufacturers for speeding deaths, fast food restaurants for obesity and heart disease, etc.
These people clamoring to sue drug makers and distributors are vacuous knee-jerk thinkers who don't put more than 3 seconds of thought into any comment they write. And that includes the Attorneys Generals of the states looking for a payday.
Behind every prescription drug death or addiction is a medical doctor that those same AGs are responsible for regulating through their state boards of medical examiners. These lawsuits are a deflection by those culpable AGs to get the heat of their own negligence for failing to discipline the doctors, since medical boards are little more than captured lobby groups for the medical industry and licensees whom they claim to 'regulate.'
1
We rail against the illegal drug cartels in Mexico and opiate production from other countries. Our president talks about a wall.
There is a legal drug cartel in this country: Big Pharma. Nothing is effectively done to curtail this cartel. President Obama ignored the growing heroin crisis for years. 60 Minutes reports highlight how our government aids this cartel with less regulation and oversight.
Tom Marino advocated and passed reduced regulations and oversight. Marino is gone but has Congress repealed those laws? NO. Rather, Mitch McConnell stated the legislation was passed properly. He could have said it was a mistake and worked immediately to repeal those changes. They remain in place.
Bills are signed into law (CARA) with no funding. The Opioid Commission Report makes recommendations with no resulting government action or funding. These are check-off boxes for Congress to claim success to constituents and move on.
Switzerland's approach attempts to manage the crisis’ effects, not prevent the madness. This is a crisis of mental health and physical addiction, both well documented diseases. Government is in bed with Big Pharma for one reason- money. Our families suffer.
How many do you know who battle or lost the battle to the disease of addiction? I lost my son 6 years ago. Why does this continue for so long? Answer: It’s more profitable than to resolve. The level of death associated with this crisis is acceptable. Is there no shame?
2
Too late . What was once a somewhat hidden and small scene , that of heroin use and abuse has become main stream . The drug companies knew what was happening but hid behind the medical community as the prescriptions flew out the doors. No more pills ? I can get a ten dollar bag of heroin . This scourge has exploded in the pills wake and it will continue . Make the legal grug companies accountable . I won’t hold my breath. What a country.
1
That is the US healthcare.
Battling the symptom (pain) instead of fixing the root cause with an expensive operation makes economical sense to the insurance company.
I myself am dependant/addicted to Fentanyl (1 plaster every 3 days) after a handgrenate took my legs in Afghanistan (following the US call for help after 9/11 as a NATO alley, but that was after four major operations. Getting opiods after a dental appointment is just ridiculous.
2
It was after dental surgery, like taking a tooth out. That can be really painful. For a lot of people surgery would not help, might even make it worse. The only people to blame are the addicts, no one else.
1
I gotta think that marketing PR and sales people should be facing homicide charges in some form. At a minimum this is manslaughter with depraved indifference.
2
Most politicians know what side of their bread gets buttered and act/vote accordingly.
2
At the local Post Office earlier this week I innocently heard an "older" woman tell another customer that she suffered some horrible debilitation condition that caused her bones to be extremely brittle and easily broken by normal movements. As a consequences, she took methadone for five years while gettting help for the medical condition. She finally stopped methadone and has been clean a few months now. That is a rare success story, which is a sad testament to our society's efforts to help those who need it, AND to stave off SOME of the financial and personal tsunami that continues to hit us.
I heard a similar story, except the patient's PCP weaned her off of her methadone, possibly because the state medical board though he was prescribing too many narcotics. The patient's pain came back, and she ended up dying of a Tylenol overdose.
Comments are speaking about "underlying pain" as if that's in every case something psychological, and writing about the "psychiatrists" who are needed to address this problem. The judge quoted thinks that "rainbows and unicorns" are what is being sought. Maybe for people with personality/mental health problems, maybe they're just after the high, and then counseling would get to a root cause and have some positive results. But if the "underlying pain" is physical pain from injury or disease, no amount of talk therapy will help.
The plight of those in physical pain is always being lost in these articles and reader comments about the "opioid crisis." Give a moment's thought, have some sympathy for the injured and chronically ill -- many never abuse these medications, and they are now, in addition to coping with their physical breakdown, being made to feel like criminals or psychopaths for asking that their prescriptions be refilled. And their physicians are being browbeaten as well.
8
Thank you for adding your voice to al those who are being thrown under the bus in the rush to "solve" this problem. Most people use these substances legally and without problems being created for anyone.
The only time I felt even slightly "high" from taking one of the pills I use, the lowest dose available, was the very first time I used it. No big deal, I can't see why people would care for much of that, but obviously a few do, and never felt anything like that first little buxx again. It also made the pain go away to the extent I can carry on with many normal activities - consistently.
I use it when I hurt, which is the way to do it, not to think you must get all the pills given down. at an appointed time. Many pain programs penalize patients who don't use the meds as quickly as they "should." It's not about feeling no pain, but about managing it.
Am I supposed to give that up in order to fulfill some politician's wishful thinking about the problem that government itself has created by mistaking moral posturing for effective public policy? Cars kill 10,000s every year, yet no one suggests most of us could just do without them because they're too dangerous, thank you. Junkies may hurt or kill themselves, but they rarely hurt others with what they do like cars do in the hands of stupid or drunk people.
3
It is not the drug makers who are at fault. It is the practitioners who prescribe them and the insurance companies who pay for them. Just a few years ago only MDs and dentists were allowed to prescribe opioids. Now nurse practitioners and physician assistants have the same privilege. And they all, except for dentists, tend to prescribe in large quantities. It is not unusual to see prescriptions in the pharmacy from 120 to 180 hydrocodones. Why? Many times the insurance copay is the same whether you get 18 or 180. So the sensible financial thing to do is to prescribe the larger amount and trust your patient to use them in a prudent manner.
2
Pointing a finger at the Manufacture, is not the answer. Legal prescriptions, refills, and the epidemic escalation of pain clinics, freely filling this addictive demand side of the equation, should be the focal point of controled substance abuse. Opiates, are only needed 24-48 hours after a major procedure, for most individuals.
3
For the second year in a row, the opioid crises has reduced the life expectancy of the U.S. citizenry. Not terrorism, not illegals and not Iran or N. Korea, but opioids. The fact that the federal government has decided to tackle this problem using rhetoric instead of money, science and law enforcement resources at their disposal, shows you how hollow their agenda and rhetoric has become.
8
The pendulum will swing the other way and opioids will be removed entirely from the market. Be careful what you ask for as there is no middle ground in America.
4
I must live on a different planet. In 1978, at age 25, what was misdiagnosed as an ankle sprain was an ankle bone broken into 6 pieces. I kept off the foot for 5 days, laced my boots tight, and went back to work in the woods. Fast forward to a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2006, hormone blockers caused the ankle to swell. MRI revealed the multiple breakage and subsequent scar tissue. Operation for cancer and 2 opioid prescriptions later that year, I still haven't taken more than a couple tablets. At 64, I have chronic ankle pain daily, but manage it mostly with diet and exercise. The intensity of pain at times can cause me to gasp. I have no interest in taking drugs, never have. So when I read of opioid (pain reliever) abuse, I cannot relate. Lose the weight, exercise, walk daily, do whatever you can to avoid pain relievers. Don't chemically block the pain, deal with it.
6
In April, I had major surgery and after a few days in the hospital left with a prescription for 60 Tramadol pills. I could manage my pain during the day with Tylenol, and would take one-half a Tramadol at night to sleep and be pain-free. After several more days I was just a bit sore and off all pain meds -- but still had 56 Tramadol pills! I asked a nurse why I was prescribed so many, and she said "Oh, some people need them." Everyone has different pain tolerances, but people should get maybe 5 or 10 pills and if they need more, call the doctor and discuss pain management strategies and, if necessary, then get more drugs. But why give someone a boatload of narcotic pills right off the bat? I know if there's cookies in my house, I'm gonna eat them. And for many people, if there are drugs in the house, they'll take them. Doctors who write large prescriptions (and maybe pharma companies who encourage it) play a large role in exposing people to these dangerous drugs. The neurological mechanisms that lead to this addiction are powerful; writing scrips for these drugs is playing with fire -- and with people's lives.
14
In cases like yours, I think the medical establishment is absolutely to blame. 60 pills! A few years ago I slipped on ice and broke my proximal humerus in two. The break was in an area which could not be set/immobilized. To say it "hurt" is an understatement. At our local university hospital I was given a prescription for 10 Tramadols, with no refill without new authorization. Because I was terrified of becoming addicted I took only 6 halves over the next week, in order to be able to sleep. The 7 remaining pills are still in the medicine cabinet.
The medical authorities I see here are equally stingy with codeine cough syrups, even when one is coughing half to death. Now, THAT annoys me. :-)
And the Sackler name remains well away from the public. They may soon back away from the U.S. market and target other areas of the world for a fresh market. The pattern will follow the tobacco industry, inch by inch, eventually to severely restrict or outlaw these dangerous drugs.
5
As a physican who has been preaching and battling against the rampant over-prescribing of opioids and other addictive substances by physicians for 40 years, I am also waiting for the avaricious overprescribing physicans and clinic operators to be brought to justice.
13
Addiction is not the fault of the drug manufacturers, it is the result of doctors prescribing medications (in some cases with substantial incentive from the manufacturer via trips/dinners/etc). Sue the doctors and watch how fast these Rx disappear.
3
The recent exposes on 60 Minutes are mind boggling at best. Generally not litigious but I hope we tie up these companies in court for so long that every one of them goes under. I know this will never happen but one can hope. The greed in Corporate America especially Big Pharma is just mind blowing. Some people should go to jail. But we also must change the culture in this country that a pill solves everything.
3
The AGs and states won't sue the doctors because they would have to sue themselves since state governments license medical doctors and regulate them through their (corrupt) state boards of medical examiners.
1
It isn't possible that all the addicts started with a valid prescription. It is more likely that those who wanted the drug went to their doctor, dentist or the E.R. to complain of unbearable pain which required opioids. Most people can take opioids when they need them without becoming addicted.
The drug epidemic is all point of view. People used to think of drug addicts as poor blacks who had nothing better to do than to take drugs and support their habit by stealing. In those days the solution was to lock them up. Now that the face of drug addiction is white many are sympathetic to these addicts because they have a "disease". These addicts are no different from addicts in the past. Nobody twisted their arm to take drugs. In most cases, it is a lifestyle freely chosen. The solution should be the same; lock them up.
There are cities that no longer send out paramedics with Narcan because the addicts were playing games with overdosing knowing they would be "saved". It was costing the fire departments and taxpayers a lot of money.
The drug companies are making the drugs because there is a market for them. The market wouldn't be so large if the addicts didn't go to the doctor with phony stories of pain in the first place. This was their choice. They do not deserve any sympathy. Lock them up.
2
This issue is pain, which is an electrical signal transmitted along nerves. So a simple slice of a Surgeon's scalpel would sever the pathway of conduction. No more fiddling around with the entire brain, which is needed for other functions besides a debilitating pain in some localized area of the body.
Except that isn't the way pain works. The signals that come down from the brain as just as important as what comes up from the periphery. Severing nerves just creates a whole new pain causing pathology.
1
Suing the tobacco companies didn't make smoking go away. It made lawyers rich and raised the cost of cigarettes Suing the pharmaceutical companies won't end the opioid crisis it will only increase the cost of health care.
5
It's a start. Sue the makers of assualt weapons next, please.
2
Doesn't it seem more logical to sue those who are handing them out? Doctors, pharmacies?
3
This is an important story. If cities, counties and states are now using the power of lawsuits to create some change -- to help relieve municipalities that are overwhelmed with the burden of opioid-related hospitalizations, deaths, etc. -- this is a big news development in the long arc of this terrible story.
1
Yes, the pharmaceutical companies often falsely promoted the safety of the opioids they manufactured. However, any physician who prescribed these drugs should have know that the information these companies supply is often misleading and known the true risks of opioids.
Unless the government officials are claiming that the companies allowed their products to enter the market through illicit means then it is the doctors who were complicit in the excessive availability of opioids.
Why then don't they go after the doctors who incorrectly prescribed the opioids?
2
prescription opioids are of great benefit to many people needing relief from pain, and are demonstrably safe when used responsibly and with due caution. also, "more than 183,000 people died from overdoses tied to prescription opioids in the 15 years leading up to 2015."
motor vehicles are of great benefit to many people needing transportation, and are demonstrably safe when used responsibly and with due caution. also, more than 570,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents¹ in the 15 years leading up to 2015.
there were over 3 times more motor-vehicle-related deaths than opioid-related deaths over the same period of time.
-----------------------
¹ source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year
3
As a long-term chronic pain sufferer myself, all too familiar with the desperation it brings, I can't help but wonder what percentage of these deaths are intentional suicides, as opposed to accidental overdoses.
4
The "opioid crisis" is in fact several interlinked crises. As such, legal action against producers, suppliers and over-prescribers of prescription opioids will assuredly have mixed results.
On one hand, there is powerful evidence that these folk put their interests far above those of users, with disastrous consequences. For this they should pay--not just in fines, but in long jail time. Some of these companies should be put out of business entirely. Let the legal cases come!
At the same time, because of the severe lack of counseled, supportive, long term, inexpensive addiction treatment options, restricting the wanton actions of these 'legal dealers' will lead many with addictions to street drugs, and many o these in turn to overdoses. So why not plan to MANDATE that a high proportion of any settlement monies go directly to treatment options that work?
3
Yes it is true the drug companies likely started the opioid epidemic by pushing opioids as pain killers and hiding their addictive properties. We should see this as a continuation of the marketing strategies of an out of control industry. Does anyone remember their marketing push of hormone supplements for post menopausal women. I do, because it caused my mother's debilitating stroke as well as a rise in breast cancer cases. And then there is the current price escalation strategy for once inexpensive life sustaining drugs and the drug companies successful legislative push for legislation to prevent price negotiation for Medicare. This is all happening because the drug companies have bought enough of our Representatives and Senators with campaign contributions to get what they want. The lawsuits are a sideshow. This can only get fixed with legislation that controls drug companies and provides funds for effective treatment. Finally we need to reduce demand for drugs with strategy for really helping those left behind by an economy driven by technological change and government policies that favor the rich. Don't hold your breath.
1
Before any drug is allowed on our national market there is first a long debate between four parties, the insurance companies, the government, the medical society and the pharma industry.
They decide what price the companies are allowed to ask and if they ask to much, the insurance companies will look for a generic substitute.
The doctors have to write a rapport for every opiod prescription, even for mine every month again, stating there is no alternative (like an operation or revalidation therapy) and dentists are not allowed to come even near opiods.
Maybe that is why our healthcare is both universal for all at around 100 a month and all around 50% cheaper then in the US.
The culprits here are not only our drug companies but a president and Republican Congress which are more interested in lining the pockets of said corporations than the health of their electorate. This group above who feign anger and dismay over our opioid crisis instead abet it by chipping away at Medicaid and even the ACA.
It is a sad irony that the counties which are filing law suits are in Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee, all three of which voted for Trump and gave him the election. I am not angry with our neighbors in other states. However, I do hope they are awakening to the disastrous ruse that was spewed upon them and on us who did not vote for any of these fools.
Yes, it is good that these suits are occurring. But the roots of this evil lie in DC.. the White House and the Capitol. Because we can sue all we want, but nothing will be done until the public demands more from this administration and its cold-hearted sycophants.
2
You are correct that the root cause of this "epidemic" is in Washington DC. However, the problem is the attempted prohibition of drugs and the congress who funds it. Legalizing all drugs would sharply lower societal costs, put drug dealers out of business, reduce crime in inner cities, and lower drug deaths.
1
The opiod crisis is real and tragic. I just don't understand what the drug companies are being sued for. They can ship a zillion oxycodone pills to any community in America; but if docs are not prescribing them, if pharmacists or techs are not giving the pills away or leaving the door unlocked, people still have to go through a medical gatekeeper to get access to those pills. Sure, drug companies peddle their products to medical professionals and buy ads on TV, for these and a dizzying array of medicines. But these are not, to the best of my knowledge, being sold over the counter. If anything, the real problem (from what little I've read) is that docs over prescribe, or write prescriptions for too many pills...but is that the drug companies fault, from a legal perspective?
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You agree that this crisis is real and tragic. Shouldn't we try to fix it any way we can. The courts will decide whether the drug companies can be held legally liable. I think the moral liability is pretty clear. If you are a sales executive and some local distributor is suddenly ordering 100,000 units of Oxy when they never ordered more than 500 units before. Maybe you should see if there is any "good" explanation for the sudden increase... If not, maybe you should give the DEA a call. Of course, you will get a vastly bigger bonus if you don't "drop a dime." But then how many lives will be ruined while you profit?
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"Critics say the litigation is a sideshow in the opioid debate — a chance for lawyers to make money and politicians to make headlines." It's not a sideshow when it is the only action being taken by any government (state or federal) to protect local communities. Unfortunately, the lights are dark on the main stage, and no actors have shown up. Trump declared opioids a "public health crisis" instead of a "national emergency," which means very little federal resources, if any, are being directed towards solving the problem. The main stage is just a sign that says "just say no."
The word has gotten out to most doctors to be cautious about prescribing opioids. The problem we see in local news is about opioid overdoses from street drugs. Going after the drug companies and doctors makes these legitimate sources less available to those who have genuine need for pain relief. Street drugs are cheaper, and because of their unpredictable composition, more likely to cause death from overdose among drug abusers.
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I've buried 2 acquaintances so far due to heroin. In both cases, their "gateway drug" was legally prescribed opioids to deal with legitimate medical problems. This in't just a nasty expense, it's killing young people who got addicted following their doctors' advice. And why? Because the manufacturers of opioid painkillers want to push more product.
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It's not credible, quite frankly, that you could blame drug companies or Rx distributors for those 2 acquaintances being prescribed a drug that only doctors are licensed to prescribe. Are you claiming the medical doctors were somehow unaware of the addictive nature of opioids that anyone who hasn't been in a coma for the last decade already knows?
These lawsuits against drug companies for selling what is a perfectly legal product that the FDA approved is a deflection by the State Attorneys General to cover-up their own culpability for failing to discipline state-licensed doctors who are regulated by state medical boards that these very same AG's represent in all disciplinary matters.
Blaming drug manufacturers/distributors for opioid deaths is the product liability equivalent of blaming Ford, Honda, or Budweiser for DUI deaths.... or blaming Glock or Smith & Wesson for gun homicides.
Just completely embarrassing acts of displaced anger that should be dismissed in a summary judgement by the court.
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One idea: Restrict access to prescription drugs. However, blunt restriction of prescription drugs will actually increase deaths, just as the war on illegal drugs has done. People will get their drugs - probably more dangerous ones - on the black market. Bad idea.
If, however, you act on a second story, you come to a different solution — one that has been tried with remarkable success.
In the 1980s and ‘90s, the Swiss had a serious opiate epidemic. They tried harsh crackdowns on sellers, and the problem got worse. They tried herding addicted people into a park and letting them use street drugs there, which produced scenes of chaos.
Then, starting in the early 2000s, Switzerland assigned addicted people to clinics where they were given opiates under supervision by a nurse. Crucially, they were also given extensive social support to turn their lives around, including therapy and help finding a job or housing. They gave you the drug, and at the same time, they dealt with the underlying pain that made you feel you needed the drug in the first place.
Patients can stay on that program for as long as they like, there’s no pressure to cut back, but almost everyone chooses to stop after a few years. One of the psychiatrists in the clinic said it’s because their lives get better, so they are in less psychological distress. Since the program began, there have been zero overdose deaths on legal opiates in Switzerland. None. That’s why 70 % of Swiss people voted to keep this approach.
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Hard to believe "zero" but it sounds like a successful program. It would never work here because the government would not be willing to pay for it. When there is no money for CHIP support there will never be the funds for addiction.
America cares for the wealthy and if you don't have a ton of money you can just get in line.
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Prescription drugs are, by definition, restricted access. That is the whole point of having to see a physician to obtain a prescription. Irresponsible script writing is a huge part of this problem. Minor pain, including pain associated with a great many surgeries, can be effectively treated with a combination of over-the-counter pain medications in somewhat larger dosages. There is just no reason to automatically prescribe an opioid for nearly every kind of procedure.
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It would also remove the incentive for McKesson, the HMOs, and Tom Marino to make money from their opioid attack on America.
That is why they'll fight to the death—namely, of us—to protect us from such a sane program.
1
And where is our beloved Czar, Tom Marino (R) PA. He has not been seen in our district for lo these many months. Has he been abducted by Cossacks? Whisked off to the Fortress of Sts Peter and Paul. Perhaps whacked by the Bolsheviks? Let us know if you get news of him.
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We had to sue the tobacco companies, we had to sue the automobile companies and now we have to sue big pharma to make their products safe.
Corporations are charged by their owners with putting profits ahead of product safety. Only GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS can prevent corporations from harming their customers, employees and our environment.
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I don't understand. Opioids have valid medical uses. What they should be doing is punishing doctors who push them, and banning any advertising of prescription drugs (something they should do anyway).
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Opioids and other controlled substances cannot be advertised on radio or TV. For years no prescription medications could be advertised on them but this promoted the false belief that medications that were available without a prescription were completely safe.
With regard to banning advertising in print media, you run into a serious First Amendment issue.
Legalizing ads for prescription drugs (and also doctors & lawyers!) was one of THE worst "de-regulations" of the 1980s. It's time to admit it is a total failure and has lead to overmedicalization (as well as bogus lawsuits).
Only one other nation in the world (New Zealand, of all places) permits the advertising of prescription drugs to the public. This is a disgrace.
1
The excuses offered by the pharmaceutical companies and distributors about how their opioid products have F.D.A. approval and perform a public service start to wear thin. These lawsuits must move forward to stem this unnecessary epidemic, but the problem may not be stopped until the courts start imposing criminal penalties on the corporate opioid pushers.
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Sounds like you are saying that Obama appointed either corrupt or incompetent individuals to the FDA and DEA during his 8 years in office.
Yet somehow you don't actually seem to want to come out and say that. I wonder why. LOL.
1
I was prescribed oxycodone after spinal surgery. Thankfully my wife stepped in before I fell down the rabbit hole. What I found was that while I was trying to follow the dosing schedule the effect of the drug makes you forget when you took it. Pretty easy to take way too many even if you are making the effort to use it responsibly.
It was fantastic for keeping the serious pain suppressed so the medical use is great, but it is easy to take too many, and I can certainly understand why people might be tempted to continue, or how it could easily lead to addiction.
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I think that's a pretty person reaction; despite the "epidemic", most people use opioids safely and properly following surgery OR in cases of intractable pain.
If they are groggy....they are likely taking too much and should be cut down. There are many safe ways of taking your drugs on schedule, including timers -- those plastic "packs" that have your daily pills inside according the day of the week -- written notes or schedules -- OR as in your case, a family member who monitors the drug use.
There is a clear, necessary medical use for opioids, but not at the levels we see today. It is simply impossible that THIS many people need a constant supply of drugs this powerful! Something in the system has gone very wrong.
So, government creates a vast legal problem by creating and sustaining a blackmarket that compounds the usually manageable medical problem that opioids sometimes cause addiction. It would be easy to laugh at this paradox if it wasn't so deadly and mostly driven by the self-serving machinations of the same politicians that feed it.
And no reporter seems to even bother mentioning the vast difficulties using law enforcement to address medical issues causes for those of us who need pain relief. Remember that? Briefly, a few years ago medicine realized that lots of pain was going untreated. And where is that concern now? Thrown out in the haste and clumsiness of opioid hysteria.
Instead of just repeating the ineffective mantras that dope kills, it would be better to teach how to survive being an addict. Because government helping dope to kill by means of dumb public policy, driving ill-advised behavior underground, only makes the problem worse. How about supervised use centers, which have been shown to work, but which aren't the sort of things that atavistic politicians like to beat the drums over? There are lots of options in dealing with this, so the singular focus on legal sanctions, first against abusers and now against these companies shows why those in this system who profit from it only seek solutions shown to have failed. They're addicted to a steady supply of addicts to feed their intakes to treatment, the courts, and prison. No wonder they choose what doesn't solve it.
10
It's a complex problem. There is awful opioid abuse, but you have to distinguish the concerns about overuse by doctors or patients with chronic pain -- OR too many opioids being handed out, without sufficient monitoring -- and the kind of abuse seen in people who never had pain, but stole the drugs (or bought them illegally) to get high.
My own nephew died earlier this year from a heroin overdose. He got on heroin when his access to Oxycontin was cut off -- which happened when he was caught (redhanded) SELLING his Oxycontins on the street. Why did he sell them? They are worth a lot of money. But he got the drug in the first place, by claiming "excruciating pain". If you really had excruciating pain, you'd NEVER EVER sell your pain meds....so it was obvious he was lying or exaggerating. Nephew had a lifelong problem with drugs since his childhood, when his mom put him on Ritalin to "make him behave and get good grades". He sold his Ritalin in high school to get money for his preferred drug then -- pot. He swiftly moved from pot to harder to drugs. It was easy for him to lie to doctors to get medications.
As a result of the arrest, he went to jail for a year and then another year at home with an ankle monitor. At the time of his death, he was in a halfway house for drug offenders....doing drugs. In the Halfway House! they didn't find his body for FIVE days...in Februrary. With the heat on. Think about that.
No program would have helped Nephew; he just liked to get high.
How about doctors just saying NO to prescribing them in the first place. The medical community is the first line of defense.
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I can't imagine recovering from a major surgery without them.
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Very good point and most physicians do not prescribe as I can attest to first hand. However the way that our medical system operates with drug seeking patients bouncing from one ER to another, soaking up resources, never paying for the treatment we have to provide by law, they eventually will find someone to prescribe some form of an opiate.
I have continually witnessed repeated attempts by the same patients within one day. They make a scene, cussing and screaming because we offered ibuprofen for their "pain" instead of an opiate. A few days later I received a notice from the hospital that I had been rated poorly in a survey that matched the profile and timeline from the pain medication seeker.
Until we have a collaboration of FDA and law enforcement from the top down and able to turn a repeat pain medication seeks away without worry of some frivolous lawsuit the cycle will continue.
The real winners during this ongoing crisis as usual are the attorneys. They have incentives on all sides. Representing the companies whom propose the addictive medications, the addicts whom are arrested, and physicians from medical malpractice litigation.
Except for the pain abatement that they provide for serious pain such as with post -surgery pain is second to none. I’m not crazy about being prescribed aspirin after a surgical procedure.
2
An idea. All the ER, ambulance service and doctor bills should be sent to McKesson. The money should come from the executives paychecks. Then they
[execs] should go to jail and do some time with murderers , rapists and all the other bad guys.
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Sorry, but you seem to have left out doctors in your little righteous witch hunt even though they are the only ones who are legally authorized to prescribe and sell drugs in the country, not to mention claim special expertise in being given this monopoly power.
That's like leaving the trigger man and the mastermind out of the indictment in a murder-for-hire case and instead suing the gun and bullet manufacturer.
1
There are several factors that contribute to this complicated issue, including the actions of the pharmaceutical industry. To better understand the history of it, I highly recommend the award-winning book "Dreamland" by Sam Quinones. It's fascinating and informative.
6
Remind me, inside the Met, the Egyptian temple was funded by the owners of a company who sells opioid main killers, no ?
11
Sackler Family. Worth THIRTEEN BILLION primarily from selling Oxycontin.
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Watch for Republicans in Congress to jump into action. . .and to grant legal immunity to pharmaceutical companies. The same kind of immunity they gave gun manufacturers.
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As if that immunity was unwarranted.
I can't help notice you also left out the "immunity" that Congress granted automobile manufacturers and alcohol companies from DUI deaths. Oh wait, nobody sues Honda or Ford or Budweiser when somebody is killed in a DUI fatality. Gee, I wonder why.
See what I'm getting at?
And when police shoot a civilian under reckless circumstances — which is literally every day in this country — do you also not realize that gun manufacturers would also be sued then too, right?
1
Watch what bill Senator Joe Manchin writes to protect Big Pharma since his daughter is CEO of Mylan, the company that has been robbing taxpayers with the extreme price for EpiPens and other drugs.
For a great in-depth piece on the Sackler family - founders of Purdue Pharma - developers and major marketing "geniuses" of OxyContin, read the New Yorker's October 30, 2017 piece "The Family That Built An Empire of Pain" by Patrick Radden Keefe. The Sacklers, who want to be known as great philanthropists, should be held accountable for so many of these deaths, especially for how they pushed this drug to those too weak to resist the addiction.
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So I guess you think NO ONE is entitled to pain killers.
1
The book, Dreamland, is another eye opener written in a way that encompasses the whole social and economic context in which the approach employed by the Sackler family flourished.
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That article turned my stomach; the company both creative the highly addictive drug and marketed it so well it also created a generation of addicts.
1
As 60 Minutes exposed last Sunday, McKesson is responsible for negligence in this opioid crisis. The DOJ and DEA caved in to the reality that as a 200 billion dollar a year pharmaceutical manufacturer, they wield power beyond measure and have lawyers lined up to attack anyone who attempts to sue them.
In America, it appears that no matter what awful things you do, if you have massive wealth, you can probably get away with murder.
We must hold McKesson accountable, or we turn a blind eye to corruption on an industrial scale and the lives lost in this opioid crisis will, indeed, be wasted.
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Mckesson is not a manufacturer - they are distributors. They buy from manufacturers according to the orders that their own customers (pharmacies and hospitals) place with them. The question was whether they should be forced to provide order information to the DEA when they see "significant changes" in order patterns - this was never defined well, but potentially could have been if Congress cared enough. Congress wouldn't fund the DEA to fight the real issues. The bigger issue of diversion which can happen at the next stage of distribution was never defined. I recall at one point hearing from a friend who was in the business that there were pharmacies who would get "conveniently" robbed the day after the narcotic shipment arrived. The distributor would happily refill the order - where is the tracking system in that case? And the enforcement capability?
2
Yes, you most definitely can get away with murder when you are wealthy.
How many multi-millionaires are in prisons? For anything that they've done wrong.
1
Heartbreaking to see poor addicts shuffling along in shackles and orange jumpsuits while the makers of the opioids that addicted them walk free, indeed boast of providing legitimate treatment.
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But in fairness...opioids ARE a legitimate treatment for post surgical pain, or intractable pain from cancer or other terminal diseases.
It is grossly unfair to suggest otherwise.
The problem comes when it is handed out like candy to anyone who says they have a sore back or stiff neck....and those prescriptions in high quantities -- and RENEWED over and over again for years.
Sounds like you are calling Barack Obama's appointments to the FDA and DEA during his 8 years in office corrupt, but without actually coming out and saying that (for reasons that I think we all know are obvious).
1