When Lawmakers Make Stupid Decisions that Cause Millions to Suffer
You may think this post will be about Trumpcare or one of the other asinine laws going through Congress right now. It's not. This is about the federal and state governments' ridiculous laws to help "curb" the opioid addition issues in this country.
As you know, I have such severe osteoarthritis in my right hip that I am now bone-on-bone. However, due to my weight, I cannot have the surgery any time soon. This means I am going through extreme amounts of pain. For example, this morning I went downstairs to make some breakfast for myself. By the time I managed to get back upstairs I was in so much pain that I was crying. I do NOT cry from pain, which says something. It wasn't the level 10 pass-out from shock pain but it was a good constant 9.5 pain that would not go away. As I have mentioned many times before, my years playing hockey "toughened" me up so I ignore most pain. So, if I am crying from the pain that says a lot.
I have mentioned this increasingly worsening pain to my doctors and they tell me "take anti-inflammatories." I cannot do that as I am on blood thinners. As I was so desperate for relief, I did call my hematologist. He told me I should take no more than 400mg a day at most and only when I truly need it, which has been practically every day. When I tell the other docs this, they then suggest icing it. *sigh* Don't you think I've tried that already? Then, with extreme trepidation, they might mention Tramadol in passing but saying they do not like to prescribe that as it technically is a narcotic. Been there, done that, does not help.
However, when I ask for something stronger, they all refuse. Why?
In 2016, the CDC issued new guidelines for doctors for prescribing opioid pain medications, making it extremely difficult for those with chronic pain to get effective pain medications.
I get where the CDC is coming from as painkillers are a new source of OD deaths and work as a gateway to other drugs like heroin. However, in reading the report and its justification, it stated that 33,000 died in 2015 from opioids, but heroin was included in that statistic. It does say that "nearly half" died from an OD of a prescription opioid. So that means around 15,000 people, right?
So, me the researcher decided to look at the CDC data—I'm in too much pain to do anything else—as they do publish it online. The data is tricky to work with but I found that of the 33,091 opioid-related deaths, 19,884 were from "illicit opioids," which works out to 60% of opioid-related deaths. So most of the drug-induced deaths were from those gained illegally, including heroin.
Here's the thing: this law is dealing with a small percentage of deaths in the U.S. According to the CDC, over 2.7 million people died in the U.S. in 2015. As the official cause of death publication for 2015 has not been released yet, I will use the 2014 one. Drug overdose, whether intentional or accidental, does not even make the top 10 of causes of death. Things like heart disease, cancer, and even suicide were. So we are enacting laws to stop 1% of deaths from occurring.
Now, I get that we want to save lives but there are over 100 million people in the U.S. that suffer from chronic pain every freaking day. You are telling me that those people, including myself, will now be forced to suffer because of less than 20,000 idiots? Where is the justice in this? These people are now disabled and unable to work because of the extreme pain levels. There is a great article here that shows how this is affecting that group.
What are we supposed to do? These guidelines and even stricter state laws—good job Fat Bastard—are going to millions to suffer.
If anything, this will cause the same type of issues that Harrison Act of 1914, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, and Prohibition had: people will turn to the black market. While I am not that that point yet, I can see those with chronic pain doing this to get their painkillers because when you are in this much pain, you are desperate for relief.
As you know, I have such severe osteoarthritis in my right hip that I am now bone-on-bone. However, due to my weight, I cannot have the surgery any time soon. This means I am going through extreme amounts of pain. For example, this morning I went downstairs to make some breakfast for myself. By the time I managed to get back upstairs I was in so much pain that I was crying. I do NOT cry from pain, which says something. It wasn't the level 10 pass-out from shock pain but it was a good constant 9.5 pain that would not go away. As I have mentioned many times before, my years playing hockey "toughened" me up so I ignore most pain. So, if I am crying from the pain that says a lot.
I have mentioned this increasingly worsening pain to my doctors and they tell me "take anti-inflammatories." I cannot do that as I am on blood thinners. As I was so desperate for relief, I did call my hematologist. He told me I should take no more than 400mg a day at most and only when I truly need it, which has been practically every day. When I tell the other docs this, they then suggest icing it. *sigh* Don't you think I've tried that already? Then, with extreme trepidation, they might mention Tramadol in passing but saying they do not like to prescribe that as it technically is a narcotic. Been there, done that, does not help.
However, when I ask for something stronger, they all refuse. Why?
In 2016, the CDC issued new guidelines for doctors for prescribing opioid pain medications, making it extremely difficult for those with chronic pain to get effective pain medications.
I get where the CDC is coming from as painkillers are a new source of OD deaths and work as a gateway to other drugs like heroin. However, in reading the report and its justification, it stated that 33,000 died in 2015 from opioids, but heroin was included in that statistic. It does say that "nearly half" died from an OD of a prescription opioid. So that means around 15,000 people, right?
So, me the researcher decided to look at the CDC data—I'm in too much pain to do anything else—as they do publish it online. The data is tricky to work with but I found that of the 33,091 opioid-related deaths, 19,884 were from "illicit opioids," which works out to 60% of opioid-related deaths. So most of the drug-induced deaths were from those gained illegally, including heroin.
Here's the thing: this law is dealing with a small percentage of deaths in the U.S. According to the CDC, over 2.7 million people died in the U.S. in 2015. As the official cause of death publication for 2015 has not been released yet, I will use the 2014 one. Drug overdose, whether intentional or accidental, does not even make the top 10 of causes of death. Things like heart disease, cancer, and even suicide were. So we are enacting laws to stop 1% of deaths from occurring.
Now, I get that we want to save lives but there are over 100 million people in the U.S. that suffer from chronic pain every freaking day. You are telling me that those people, including myself, will now be forced to suffer because of less than 20,000 idiots? Where is the justice in this? These people are now disabled and unable to work because of the extreme pain levels. There is a great article here that shows how this is affecting that group.
What are we supposed to do? These guidelines and even stricter state laws—good job Fat Bastard—are going to millions to suffer.
If anything, this will cause the same type of issues that Harrison Act of 1914, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, and Prohibition had: people will turn to the black market. While I am not that that point yet, I can see those with chronic pain doing this to get their painkillers because when you are in this much pain, you are desperate for relief.
I have heard of this issue before, and it is mind numbing looking at it from the outside - which I am sure most of the people who made the laws are.
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