Full Version: War on Drugs' Unintended Victims
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Schedule II. -
(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
(B ) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions.
(C ) Abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. DEA
(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
(B ) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions.
(C ) Abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. DEA
Schedule II medications include Oxycodone, Percoset and Vicodin, all of which are prescribed to treat chronic and severe pain. Sadly, they are lumped together with drugs like cocaine, amphetamines, opium and methadone. Under the Controlled Substances Act, doctors are limited to prescribing 30 day’s worth of medication at a time, and the prescription is not refillable.
My own experience with this miserable restriction is this: Returning home after 30 days in the hospital and two back surgeries, I had to chase all over town to find a pharmacy that had Percoset in stock. And every 30 days after that, I schlep my broken body to the doctor’s office for another scrip. The second time I did this, my surgeon didn’t have the proper multiple-copy state prescription forms. When he finally got them in (after I ran out of pain meds), he forgot to write in the date, and the pharmacist refused to fill it. The third time, my surgeon was out of town, and my GP was filling in, but it would take a day or two to get it (meanwhile, I was once again completely out of pain medication). So I schlep to HIS office, pick up the scrip (after checking to see if it was complete – it wasn’t – he had forgotten the date, but luckily I noticed it and he wrote it in), go to the pharmacy and whaddya know, they didn’t have it in stock. So, I go home and call pharmacies all over town (I got lucky on the 4th one) to find one that had it. I gotta tell you, it would be easier to get it from the drug dealer on the corner or Rush Limbaugh’s maid, because I know for a FACT that next month will be a repeat of the same infuriating runaround. I consider myself a pretty tough cookie, having lived with chronic pain for 10+ years without strong pain medication, but this pain makes the past pain seem like a hangnail, and after not being able to get my prescription filled, I drive home in tears from the pain - and the frustration.
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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is finalizing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published on September 6, 2006 (71 FR 52724). In that document, DEA proposed to amend its regulations to allow practitioners to provide individual patients with multiple prescriptions, to be filled sequentially, for the same schedule II controlled substance, with such multiple prescriptions having the combined effect of allowing a patient to receive over time up to a 90- day supply of that controlled substance. This went in to effect December 19, 2007. Also, Schedule II drugs are subject to production quotas set by the DEA. Wikipedia
Obviously, the new DEA rule hasn’t trickled down to California.
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The physicians who refer to Jay aren't unusually timid. Across the country, many primary care physicians are fearful of prescribing narcotics to treat pain, preferring to "refer away" their cases to specialists.
The problem with this approach, say experts, is that there aren't enough pain specialists to go around, so patients often end up waiting a long time before they're treated. Things are worse in rural and other underserved areas, where treatment for pain is offered by primary care doctors or not at all, according to Michael O. Fleming, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Even when generalists do provide pain management to their patients, they often do so cautiously and, thus, ineffectively. "I've had patients walk in to see me three weeks before their scheduled appointment," says Jay, who's president-elect of the American Academy of Pain Management in Sonora, CA. "I ask them why, and they tell me, 'I'm really in pain, and my doctor only gave me a dozen Vicodin, and he refuses to give me any more.' " Narcotic Fear
The problem with this approach, say experts, is that there aren't enough pain specialists to go around, so patients often end up waiting a long time before they're treated. Things are worse in rural and other underserved areas, where treatment for pain is offered by primary care doctors or not at all, according to Michael O. Fleming, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Even when generalists do provide pain management to their patients, they often do so cautiously and, thus, ineffectively. "I've had patients walk in to see me three weeks before their scheduled appointment," says Jay, who's president-elect of the American Academy of Pain Management in Sonora, CA. "I ask them why, and they tell me, 'I'm really in pain, and my doctor only gave me a dozen Vicodin, and he refuses to give me any more.' " Narcotic Fear
People in pain should not have to go through all these gyrations to get relief. It is humiliating and dehumanizing. I am not a drug addict, nor should I be treated like one. And yet, that’s the way the system treats us. If the nerve damage in my leg turns out to be permanent, I will be in constant pain every day. I’m not looking forward to what measures I’ll have to go through in order to get a modicum of relief.
Are people with acute or chronic pain unfairly victimized by the “War on Drugs” by the draconian restrictions on prescription pain medication?
Are there alternatives to the DEA’s overzealous regulations to target true drug-seekers or addicts?
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