NightSwimmer
Senator
Look, some folks have to live with serious, chronic pain. I'm proud that I'm not one of them. At least, not yet. So why should I care? Because who knows when I might join the ranks of those who suffer from intense pain on a daily basis? All it takes is one unfortunate accident.
Zohydro is a new oxycodone based pain medication. It is a potential replacement for drugs like Vicodin or Lortab. These drugs have, in the recent past (since the inception of the War on Drugs), always been sold only as "combination drugs". By combining the primary pain medication (opiates) with a large dose of acetaminophen, these drugs are rendered highly toxic in large doses. The idea is to prevent opiate abuse by lacing the opioids available to pain patients with a poisonous substance that will destroy their liver if they take too much of it. If the Tylenol added to these prescription medications were truly necessary to provide pain relief, then patients could simply take the OTC version as required in addition to their real pain medication.
This method of lacing prescription narcotics with poisonous substances strikes me as a morally reprehensible solution to the problem of opiate abuse. I suspect that it strikes many physicians and pharmaceutical manufacturers that way as well. That's why Zohydro contains no acetaminophen. It is a time-release medication that delivers a low dose of opiates over a long period of time.
Now, some politicians want to prohibit the dispensation of this improved chronic pain medication because they are afraid that someone will crush their pills and intentionally overdose. Hell, I could intentionally overdose on a box of ordinary table salt, if I was just hell-bent on doing myself in. I don't see potential toxicity as an excuse to prohibit the use of this drug by patients requiring serious pain medication.
I question the motives of these politicians. I believe that they are attempting to use this as an emotional wedge issue to garner public support. I think it's high time that Americans stop offering support to politicians for promoting these kinds of bullshit issues. What's your opinion? Should chronic pain sufferers have to also suffer toxic prescription medications, just to make life miserable for the few potential junkies that might be among us?
States rebel against powerful new painkiller
By BETH GARBITELLI
Associated Press
Zohydro is a new oxycodone based pain medication. It is a potential replacement for drugs like Vicodin or Lortab. These drugs have, in the recent past (since the inception of the War on Drugs), always been sold only as "combination drugs". By combining the primary pain medication (opiates) with a large dose of acetaminophen, these drugs are rendered highly toxic in large doses. The idea is to prevent opiate abuse by lacing the opioids available to pain patients with a poisonous substance that will destroy their liver if they take too much of it. If the Tylenol added to these prescription medications were truly necessary to provide pain relief, then patients could simply take the OTC version as required in addition to their real pain medication.
This method of lacing prescription narcotics with poisonous substances strikes me as a morally reprehensible solution to the problem of opiate abuse. I suspect that it strikes many physicians and pharmaceutical manufacturers that way as well. That's why Zohydro contains no acetaminophen. It is a time-release medication that delivers a low dose of opiates over a long period of time.
Now, some politicians want to prohibit the dispensation of this improved chronic pain medication because they are afraid that someone will crush their pills and intentionally overdose. Hell, I could intentionally overdose on a box of ordinary table salt, if I was just hell-bent on doing myself in. I don't see potential toxicity as an excuse to prohibit the use of this drug by patients requiring serious pain medication.
I question the motives of these politicians. I believe that they are attempting to use this as an emotional wedge issue to garner public support. I think it's high time that Americans stop offering support to politicians for promoting these kinds of bullshit issues. What's your opinion? Should chronic pain sufferers have to also suffer toxic prescription medications, just to make life miserable for the few potential junkies that might be among us?
States rebel against powerful new painkiller
By BETH GARBITELLI
Associated Press