Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush policy to target prescription drugs Trackingpatients'

[Guest guest]

I wonder if there is a petition starting out there that will reflect

people's thoughts on this - imagine what the chronic pain associations are

feeling right now, there must be something that can be done.

It's election time soon, maybe he's using this as position to look

favourable in the public eye in light of the things that have gone wrong

during his time in office I wonder?

Jill

[Guest guest]

Hi Barb,

I could not agree more with you... I think this is a very difficult

issue, because it must be very difficult to do something about the

real abuse problems and at the same time don't give more grief and

problems to people with chronic pain... I know myself that I get so

mad sometimes when I hear e.g. the " County Doctor " (a governmental

agency in every county which supervise and monitor doctors and

hospitals etc.) here in our county go out in local or national media

stating things about the use of pain relief, showing very strongly

that the boss there, the County Dr himself, does not have much

knowledge at all about modern pain relief and a total lack of

understanding for people who live with chronic pain. His prejudice

against users of pain medications have had huge impact on the lives

of chronic pain sufferers here, e.g. he has taken people's drivers

licenses away, even if they are much safer to drive with pain relief

than without... Luckily the " bad C. Dr " here recently got a new job,

and we got a new one who seems much more knowledgeable.

I must admit that I have felt positive about such a monitoring system

here in Norway. I do think there are some privacy problems related to

it which are very important, but sometimes we have to live with such

things in order to protect some people that need the protection such

a system could offer. It would prevent people from " shopping

around " . Because I know that it is a big problem with some people.

Most of these people are not chronic pain patients at all. A few are,

but most are not. We know that studies show that only about 0.1% of

chronic pain patients get problems with addiction and using too much

of prescription pain medications (causing them to get " high " ) and

developing an addiction problem).

I have a very dear friend who abuse prescription drugs. I have been

afraid more than one time that the person would accidently die from

an overdose. During travel, it is very easy to go to the ER and claim

that you have forgot your medication, and therefore get new

medication. And also just go to neighbor municipalities or another

county and do the same. Very frequently - " shopping around " ... And

do the same while travelling abroad. And when you do it that way, it

is easy to get away with using huge amounts of medications, with all

the risks that is associated with that, not only overdosing and

health problems arising because of that, but also other things as

e.g. accidents caused by being grossly drugged. One day it just may

go wrong, e.g. taking too much by accident when you already are quite

drugged, or mix the wrong drugs because you just don't have the

knowledge about what is dangerous and not... It is really scary... A

lot of lifes are lost this way... I really do hope that will never

happen to my friend, but I do believe it is a real risk...

And I guess that the system can't silently just accept that the

problems exists, and not try to do anything about it when such

problems do get more frequent. I am sure that people involved in

making such a system, would also go through and evaluate the problems

it may cause to people who have a legitimate use for medications.

Most of us who have chronic pain, don't go shopping around anyway. We

would not get in any kind of problems because of it. We go to the

same doctor for our prescriptions all the time and we may even use

the same pharmacy all the time... So then this can't cause any other

problems for us than the fact that we would be listed in a computer

system, which could be accessed by certain people who all can't tell

anybody else about it because of patient confidentiality. The only

people they could tell, was to report e.g. to a governmental agency

if they do observe signs of " shopping around " , that they go to a lot

of different doctors and get prescriptions for the same medications,

and that they at the same time get dosages which clearly exceed the

recommended ones. Unless they do act in an unprofessional way, and

abuse the system to check people out...

I would really not feel that worried if we get such a system here.

There has been quite a debate about it here too, some people have

suggested it. But it will take time, if they do it. For the exact

same reasons as has been mentioned here, privacy reasons. They really

have to have strong reasons to add people into such a register... And

they should have. The question is if protecting the people who have

problems, is a strong enough reason to add the risk of jeopardizing

other people's privacy, e.g. chronic pain sufferers. Or if protecting

chronic pain sufferers against possible abuse of their privacy, is

more important than protecting the lives of people who have become

addicts to pain medication and risk their lives because of it... The

exact same reasons have made it impossible to make some other

registers that would e.g. prevent fraud of governmental funds, e.g.

the welfare offices here can't access the IRS registers where they

easily could check if people have any income. Instead they must

contact the IRS in every case, and be prepared to show a written

authorization from the person who applies for welfare. For that

reason they can be sure that nobody can e.g. check people who they

have no professional reason to check. This is one of the reasons also

here, that there is a risk that some people who have access to the

register, can use it wrongly, to e.g. check if people they know do

use medication...

Not easy...

Aase Marit

>For those who feel strongly about this issue, I really recommend you spend

>the time to write to your politicians. Politicians need to hear from the

>people directly so that they can make informed decisions about the people

>they represent. If you don't support this policy, say something to the

>people who can make a difference. Give your input where it really counts.

>It's all well and good to debate this issue on the list and complain about

>it at home, but unless you make your voice heard by the politicians, it

>won't do one drop of good. We live in an age where we have direct access to

>our representatives. You can email them and give them your opinion as easy

>as you can email the CEDA list. I encourage everyone to get involved and

>contact your legislators about any issue you feel strongly about. The more

>people who make their voices heard, the more our government will represent

>the people. Then, if/when the politicians don't listen, vote them out. You

>have to tell them what you want, otherwise they rely on the information from

>their own experience. In case anyone missed it before, I am including

>contact information for the President, Vice President, Senate, and House of

>Representatives at the end of this email.

>

>Now, I do agree with most of you that the policy needs to take into account

>patients with Chronic Pain. I don't agree that it's a bad idea as a whole.

>There IS a problem with over-prescription of narcotics and pain relievers

>and doctors are not responsibly managing patients on these medications.

>This may not be the answer to solve the problem, but something should be

>done to help people with addictions from being abused by doctors and the

>drug companies.

>

>The drug companies don't want this legislation, they want people addicted to

>pain killers because that boosts their sales. Doctors in this country are

>all too happy to " throw pills " at patients because the drug companies tell

>them it makes the symptoms go away. Unfortunately, all these drugs do is

>mask the symptoms and do nothing to provide a solution to the underlying

>problem. People eventually need more and more of it to make their pain go

>away, or they become addicted to the drugs. That's what the drug companies

>want - everyone on something. In 1999, there were 9 million people over the

>age of 12 taking prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons! (Source:

>National Institute on Drug Abuse) That's a staggering figure and it

>represents a big problem.

>

>As I said before, I agree that patients with Chronic Pain need to be

>considered in the policy to prevent harm being done to those who have

>legitimate use for pain killers. Where I disagree is that the intent is to

>deliberately harm Chronic Pain patients. The intent is to get people off

>medications who shouldn't have been on them in the first place and to stop

>the profiteering of doctors and drug companies who are using addicted

>patients to line their pockets.

>

>Please, let your politicians now how this policy will affect you. Only when

>they hear from Chronic Pain patients will they truly understand the need for

>protecting people with Chronic Pain from being denied necessary pain

>management.

>

>Senate

>http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

>

>House of Representatives

>http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

>

>White House

>

>Mailing Address

>The White House

>1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

>Washington, DC 20500

>

>Phone Numbers

>Comments:

>Switchboard:

>FAX:

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>TTY/TDD

>Comments:

>Visitors Office:

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>E-Mail

>President W. Bush: president@...

>Vice President Cheney: vice.president@...

>

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>To learn more about EDS, visit our website: http://www.ceda.ca

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