Fear of Pain

The Washington Examiner gets hip to the conflict between drug control and pain control.

[Thanks to Siobhan Reynolds for the link.]

Comments

[Larry A]

I'm not sure the DEA understands the magnitude of the problem that faces patients who can't find a doctor to treat them," Dr. Campbell noted.

Of course they understand. Google the government concept "Acceptable losses."

[Luke Thomas]

Now all the D.C. Examiner needs to do is "get hip" to journalism and I'll start reading it.

[joe]

Yow! Zing!

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Do either of you have anything important to say about the actual topic, or are you just happy being trolls?

[Luke Thomas]

Dude - Don't ruin the fun.

[SP]

1. What the hell IS "The Examiner," anyway? Is it like one of those cheapo community papers or something?

2. Who cares if opioids are addictive? That doesn't mean it's the federal government's job to do anything about it.

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

"Its sad when drug dealers have more compassion for the [ill] than the government does"
-- Latest issue of LPNews quote from a husband who buys illegal drugs off the street because he cannot get the meds for his wife, from a doctor.

[Phil]

1. What the hell IS "The Examiner," anyway? Is it like one of those cheapo community papers or something?

No, it's a tabloid-format (in terms of paper size/layout, not content) daily, launched a few months ago to compete w/the Post's daily commuter-targeted pub Express as well as the Post itself. I met the managing editor, Nick Horrock, at an event we sponsored at work. Nice guy, about 30 years experience in the news business.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

I often crack useless and corny jokes.. but man, this topic is so fucked up. Rapists and murderers are set loose after serving a handful of years, and this pain doctor gets 25?! This is totally unacceptable.

It's like that case over in Indonesia, where they're considering giving the fucking DEATH PENALTY to an Australian women found with a large supply of pot. Haven't heard anything recently on that story.

There are too many people fucked in the head, and unfortunatley a lot of them are in power.

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

Mr. Nice Guy can't appreciate Mr. Thomas's joke about the semi-collegiate-quality reporting by the Examiner, and thus, is left to respond with a semi-middle-school-quality flame-baiting on an otherwise dignified comment board.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Here's the link to the fucked-up story I mentioned above. She's pretty damned hot, too.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43959

[Ruthless]

from the Examiner:
"The system is indeed broken when the federal government is more concerned about the welfare of drug addicts than the 25 million Americans identified in a 2002 National Institutes of Health study who live with unrelenting pain"

Huh??

[SP]

"There are too many people fucked in the head, and unfortunatley a lot of them are in power."

They could probably use a daily supply of Vicodin, then. It does much to clear the head and ease stress.

It's too bad God or nature or whatever didn't design us with internal opiate production systems better than the ones we're stuck with. We'd all be a lot happier.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Mr. Fancy Pants = joe

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

Mr. Fancy Pants = Edward Price
[ Registered Libertarian / Brooklyn NY ]

[dhex]

"They could probably use a daily supply of Vicodin, then. It does much to clear the head and ease stress."

oh, i'm going to go out on a limb and assume that they have no problem gettings scripts for whatever they need. kennedy and his vitamin shots, etc.

nice to know there's one or two other libertoids in brooklyn.

[Lowdog]

Wow, that story about that poor Australian girl is messed up. I bet she got set-up, because I know some who's had something similar happen to them. Of course, the authorities were all too ready to throw the book at my friend, too.

I used to know a guy that would go down to Mexico to bust folks outta jail that got put there by corrupt Mexican officials...I wonder if he would try something like that in Bali?

As to the pain doctor business, I'm sure everyone can figure out where I stand on that particular issue. If not, just find some of my comments on it when the story initially came out. Or any other on drugs, for that matter - including steroids...

[Luke Thomas]

Mr. Fancy Pants is sising it up, as they say in my neighborhood.

my neighborhood = Oxon Hill, MD (the most ghetto fucking crime-ridden neighborhood on this planet)

[Larry A]

From Mr. Nice Guy's story: Lubis said there was "strong evidence" to back Corby's claim that she was the innocent stooge of a drug gang operating at Australian airports.

The defense claims that marijuana found in Corby's luggage at Denpasar airport was put there after she had boarded a flight to Bali.

Think about that next time you leave your check-in suitcase unlocked for Homeland Security.

[jbk]

Suzie,

I believe this is what's referred to as "preaching to the choir".

[s.a.m.]

SH

My mom and her deteriating back are in the same position. She can't even come close to getting the painkiller supply she truly needs. The pain doctor who is treating her is handling it akin to a TSA agent diligently searching an 80 year old nun heading to the Vatican as if she is Osama herself!

[Harry Rose MD]

The idea that this poor doc may have to spend the rest of his life in prison because of the illegal activities of a few of his patients is beyond belief.

Where the hell is "organized medicine" on this? Their silence is both deafening AND absolutely inexcusable.

If you'd like to show your support for Dr. Hurwitz, please go to http://www.paaaps.com/mambo451/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=227
and sign on to our latest statement.

[Larry A]

Suzie, yeah. I have a cousin in the same boat, and it is enormously frustrating to watch her. Sometimes I almost wish I had some black contacts.

And all of us who are today healthy, are but one accident away from your and her positions.

[Tom]

This hysteria about opiate prescriptions has another, often overlooked downside: If our culture is this conflicted about serving up the stuff for people in genuine physical pain, then surely we're light years away from embracing its use for psychic pain.

There's ample evidence -- from both official research and ancecdotal reports -- that opiates are something of a miracle cure for psychological issues ranging from depression to OCD. (Hit Google if you're interested.) But the odds of our FDA overlords giving even a polite nod toward this truism are pretty much nil. Better to let people suffer their entire lives than to let them enjoy relief with "dependency" as a side effect.

That's too bad, because as those with brain pain can tell you, hardcore bouts of depression, OCD, et al., can be far more debilitating than any aching back.

The whole thing sucks all the way around: pain itself, the medical bureaucracy, the knee-jerk government restrictions. All of it. Hence, as has been said before in language perhaps more eloquent: Fuck the FDA. And fuck the society that empowers it via democracy.

[The Real Bill]

Since most people vote Rep or Dem and almost all Reps and Dems support the drug war with their votes, most Americans are evil oppressors. I rarely miss a chance to rub this into the faces of so-called "freedom-loving" Americans. What I find most amazing these days is how little they defend themselves from my accusations. They act as if they have no power to change their vote. What a bunch of fucking dumb-asses! I really fucking hate people sometimes.

Stop voting for Reps and Dems, you fucking assholes! You know who you are!

[Ruthless]

"the federal government is more concerned about the welfare of drug addicts than the 25 million Americans identified in a 2002 National Institutes of Health study who live with unrelenting pain"

Repeating what I posted above--for the reading-challenged:

the federal government is concerned about the welfare of drug addicts?

Me thinks not.
Or me think snot.
One or more of the above.