Posted on 02/21/2015 6:27:24 AM PST by pabianice
Craig Schroeder was injured in 2006 while serving with the Marines in Iraq and suffers from traumatic brain injury and pain, for which he has been on a steady regimen of opioids.
WASHINGTON — New federal rules that make it harder to get narcotic painkillers are taking an unexpected toll on thousands of veterans who depend on these prescription drugs to treat everything from missing limbs to post-traumatic stress.
The restrictions, adopted last summer by the Drug Enforcement Administration to curb a national epidemic of opioid abuse, are for the first time, in effect, forcing veterans to return to the doctor every month to renew their medication, although many were already struggling to get appointments at overburdened VA health facilities. And even if patients can get appointments, the new rules pose an additional hardship for many who live a good distance from the health centers.
While the tighter regulation applies to everyone on opioid painkillers, it's hitting veterans especially hard because so many are being treated for horrific injuries sustained during the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and have become dependent on the VA's beleaguered health-care system for medical care.
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/new-rules-on-narcotic-painkillers-cause-grief-for-veterans-and-the-va-1.330338
this
I say put the entire congress and white hut inhabitants under the same medical rules as the VA
That's one thing about 'free' healthcare. The system is overloaded, and it's not going to get better anytime soon.
Free market is the way to go.
/johnny
Government causes the pain AND refuses to offer any assistance in alleviating the pain they caused. Full circle socialism.
"The restrictions, adopted last summer by the Drug Enforcement Administration..."
Being retired Air Force, I have no issues with placing blame on the VA if it's warranted, but in this case, it's not the fault of the VA.
the war on drugs once again....
This is true not just for vets. Almost all of my “controlled” prescriptions are only allowed to be filled in thirty days.
It’s a pain in the ass.
That’s not the VA’s fault, it’s the WOD. They found out some people want these drugs for fun, now everybody has to have their access restricted.
Better that 10 innocent people should suffer needless pain than one person get high on prescription meds. That seems to be the philosophy behind the war on drugs.
Vouchers for veteran’s.
This monstrosity of pre-øbola care needs be closed.
Worse of course is that we went and mass prescribed these highly addictive painkillers for any pain at all and created a generation of junkies. Actually I shouldn’t say that in the past tense, we’re still doing it, I had oral surgery last week and they gave me a scrip for vicodin, I didn’t fill it, I controlled the pain with advil, 6 maybe 7 total advil over the course of the days after, but I could have had 2 dozen vics. I threw out the scrip. So we give out these drugs willy-nilly, until you have chronic pain when we make it hard to get, then we wonder why heroin use is going through the roof. Classic example of why if “more government” is the answer it must have been a stupid question.
I guess they need to cut somewhere to pay for Moochell’s weight loss of 40 pounds with liposuction.
The only changes for us are that we now have to sign for them, and the doctor can no longer prescribe six months in advance. She used to prescribe six months at a time, and the pharmacy would dispense three months at time, and honor one refill. He still sees the doctor every six months, and when we pick up prescriptions halfway between visits, the doctor enters a prescription for a three month supply of Tramadol. We just have to ask the pharmacy to remind the doctor.
According to this article, the VA could dispense opioids three months at a time, but they choose not to.
DEA officials offer some flexibility, allowing doctors to write prescriptions for up to 90 days by post-dating them. But many VA doctors will not do that because of concerns over fraud or fatal overdoses and are telling patients they need to come back every month, medical staff say.
The opioid called heroin. Human beings will always build a better mousetrap. I don't mean heroin is good by any means, but people adapt.
No matter how hard the feds try to control people, they will always find a work around. I once read a story of a guy battling cancer had a difficult time getting his pain meds....busted on the street purchasing smack.
My son needs back surgery but is having to save for it. He said that his GP can no longer prescribe his pain meds, that he has to pay to go to a pain clinic to get them and it’s too expensive.
I’m a veteran but this affects everybody. I have to call my doc. every month to have him write a new prescription, then drive to his office and pick up the written pperscription, he doesn’t charge for this............yet. It’s a royal pain in the a$$, all more nannystateism brought to us by the democrats.
“Unexpectedly” my rear.
I should have read your reply first, I said pretty much the same thing in number 17.
This won’t be a popular comment but this move by the VA/DEA has been needed for a long time. The VA has been spitting out drug addicted veterans since the 60’s, I was damn near one of them and my oldest daughter was one. Mine started with morphine after I was wounded in 71, switched to pills until I was able to get off of them in 73. My daughters started in 96 when she was injured in a training accident in Okinawa with the Navy. She and her husband divorced in 2012 and I suggested she move back in with me for a while.
The first thing she did was head to the VA then went to the local hospital, it didn’t take long for me to figure out what was going on. 90 day supply from the VA, 90 day supply from the hospital and 1 month from another hospital over in Midland. Long story short the VA did nothing when I confronted them but at least the doctors did. I spent over 60 thousand dollars putting her through a recovery center to cure her of her addiction. In talking to those at the recovery center I was told that most of their patients are veterans who came about their addictions the same way.
I absolutely want those veterans that need it to have it but this waterfall of addicted veterans they keep spitting out has got to stop some how. Is this the best way I don’t know but it’s a start that can be worked with or changed to solve the problem. I have numerous problems with the workings of the VA and this is just one, their alcoholic treatments are another, those two alone count for a large amount of Veteran being treated by the VA. The addiction train has got to be stopped!
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