Posted on 01/03/2012 4:14:26 PM PST by george76
To cut costs, Washington steers Medicaid patients to a narcotic painkiller that costs less than a dollar a dose. The state insists methadone is safe. But hundreds die each year — and more than anyone else, the poor pay the price.
...
Methadone belongs to a class of narcotic painkillers, called opioids, that includes OxyContin, fentanyl and morphine. Within that group, methadone accounts for less than 10 percent of the drugs prescribed — but more than half of the deaths...
Methadone works wonders for some patients, relieving chronic pain from throbbing backs to inflamed joints. But the drug's unique properties make it unforgiving and sometimes lethal.
Most painkillers, such as OxyContin, dissipate from the body within hours. Methadone can linger for days, pooling to a toxic reservoir that depresses the respiratory system. With little warning, patients fall asleep and don't wake up. Doctors call it the silent death.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Obamacare is designed to kill us off faster so this makes perfect sense as part of that program.
methadone accounts for less than 10 percent of the drugs prescribed — but more than half of the deaths...
Who didn’t see this coming ?
Murder by the state
Tom here: For two years I had an office directly across the street from a methadone clinic.
I saw some heartbreaking episodes with heroin addicts. Most of the addicts seemed to be young women.
One day I said to one of my friends, while I was looking out the window at the methadone clinic.. "What a shame that grandmother has to bring her grand daughter here for methadone, because the grand daughter is a heroin addict..That has to be heartbreaking for the grandmother."
My friend who lives in the area informs me the grandmother is a well known neighborhood heroin dealer and she got the granddaughter hooked.
That's how some people live. -Tom
Guess what happens when one mixes methadone and benzodiazepines...
It can be fatal, of course, under the incorrect use, as with either substance on its own. There are some very legitimate uses for benzos during MMT: Sleep, anxiety, ataxia, etc. Naturally, each person’s doctor would make the proper decision based on their circumstances. The clown heroin addicts on MMT who are just looking for a high will quite likely face the silent death of respiratory failure in their sleep.
The other thing the junkies like to toss in the blender is anti-histamine. Apparently this combinations mimics and even exceeds a heroin high. It also invites the grim reaper.
I don’t understand why people do this.
Negative. Death. I knew two unfortunate people who died this way.
“One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small... “
What a silly answer.
I guess I will have to go ask Alice. (When I’m ten feet tall)
I don’t understand why people do this.
They do it to potentiate the opiate and increase its effect at a lower dosage. They do it sometimes with dextromethorphan as well. Like you, I will never comprehend the practice.
As a pain management specialist, I haven’t used methadone on a patient since around 2000. Methadone has a lot of attractive properties such as its NMDA blocking ability which is unique among opioids. But it has serious drawbacks such as a long 72 hr half life and potential for heart rhythm ( long QT interval) disturbances especially in combination with cardiac, anti-neuropathic, anti-depressant drugs. Couple this with the fact that many opioid dependent patients with chronic pain do not disclose other sedatives and narcotics they receive from other sources (doctor shopping, ‘friends’) and you have a recipe for disaster. I know this because methadone and other drugs (which I do not prescribe) often show up in the urine screens. I warn patients about this all the time. But it gets even better. Medicare has drastically reduced payment for urine drug testing, so doctors will be less likely to do these tests in the office to see if their patients have any dangerous interactions( methadone with sedatives and opioids for example).
Methadone should be limited to controlled environments such as hospices and hospitals where clinicians can control for drug interactions.
Benzodiazepines like Xanax and Valium are commonly used by Methadone addicts to obtain off-the-walls highs. That said the combination of the two drugs is largely responsible for most of the overdose deaths in NYC and probably elsewhere.
Of course, that’s why 0bamao said to ‘just take a pain pill’ instead of having that operation. It is designed to kill us off so they make more money.
God help us. We really need it. The whole world needs it.
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