West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey Claims Victory in Fight Against Opioid Supply

Free Beacon ^ | March 4, 2018 | Brent Scher

[T Ruth]

A lawsuit filed last year by West Virginia's Republican attorney general Patrick Morrisey has resulted in a new Trump administration directive to evaluate the opioid production quota system, which Morrissey says is "responsible for many deaths across the country."

Morrisey, who has been attorney general since 2013 and is now running for U.S. Senate, has long viewed the Drug Enforcement Agency's quota system on controlled substances as broken, believing it was setting limits based on sales numbers instead of true medical needs of Americans. He told the Washington Free Beacon he has been digging for information on the system for years but was "stonewalled" by the Obama administration.

[TonyM]

Yeah, thats it. Make it hard for real pain sufferers like my wife with 7 failed spine surgeries and permanent nerve damage to get the medication she needs just to survive. Unfortunately, the same way gun control will only affect law abiding gun owners the only victims of the war on opioids will be those who have a real reason to have it.

[HiTech RedNeck]

So how shall an effectual voice be raised to the powers that be. Sarcasm in a corner never goes anywhere.

[HiTech RedNeck]

It would help to point out lives saved because of pain medicines as well. But who’s listening? Who’s carrying on the message?

[HiTech RedNeck]

The best thing to do with the quota system is abolish it. Then, look for people who are dealing and jump on those pipelines.

[eyeamok]

To our Fearless Leaders,

Opiods are so dangerous, the first thing we need to do is Protect our Fearless Leaders!

It shall be a Felony, punishable by 20 years Mandatory Prison sentence for Any person to use, possess, or consume any Opiod Product if that person has EVER held an Elective Office.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE, Show us peasants how it is done.

[familyop]

But the highly esteemed authorities who are dope fiends told us that legalizing a drug causes abuse to decline. Then after it’s legalized, it will be found to cure all medical problems.

Study: Over-the-Counter Meds More Effective For Chronic Back Pain Than Opioids
https://www.thestreet.com/story/14514053/1/jama-study-otc-meds-more-effective-than-opioids.html

NSAIDs are stronger pain medications than opioids
http://www.nsc.org/RxDrugOverdoseDocuments/evidence-summary-NSAIDs-are-stronger-pain-medications-than-opioids-with-IFP.pdf

NSAIDs Often Safer, More Effective Than Opioids for Treating Pain: Expert
https://drugfree.org/learn/drug-and-alcohol-news/nsaids-often-safer-effective-opioids-treating-pain-expert/

ER study: Opioids no more effective than over-the-counter painkiller combo
http://www.kcci.com/article/er-study-opioids-no-more-effective-than-over-the-counter-painkiller-combo/13444172

[Hardastarboard]

I hear ya. I have a friend who has cracked / crushed a vertebra, and another who has two collapsed discs in his lower back. Their lives are always kind of on a knife edge, because if their pain is excessive, and they take one more pill than they are allocated, they run out at the end of the month.

[rlmorel]

This study at the Cato institute, backed by facts, explains the situation perfectly: Politicians Cannot Stop Punishing Patients for the Unintended Consequences of Drug Prohibition

Whether one agrees with the CATO Institute opinion that drug prohibition is the cause is not the point of this post, because people disagree on that question. It is the dynamic of the "epidemic" that they describe accurately and back with facts.

"...All the evidence points to the overdose crisis being primarily the result of nonmedical users accessing drugs in the black market. The restrictive, supply-side approach of present-day opioid policy has driven these users to more dangerous, but cheaper and readily available, fentanyl and heroin. And the majority of opioid overdoses involve multiple drugs. New York City recently reported that 75% of the overdoses in 2016 were due to heroin and fentanyl, and 97% of overdoses involved multiple drugs—46% of the time it involved cocaine. This is not an opioid crisis—it’s a fentanyl and heroin crisis. And the deaths are due to drug prohibition: the result of nonmedical users accessing drugs in a black market..."

[HangnJudge]

[Undecided 2012]

The feds should have gone after those fake pain clinics that sprouted all across America, especially in small towns. Plus legitimate pharmacists should have seen signs of a new doctor in town writing thousands of prescriptions for opiates. Or the police who in New Orleans acted as outside off duty guards that the pain clinic they finally busted due to a private citizens son ODing from such clinical dealers.
Not counting the politicians with their hand out taking their money to turn a bling eye to what was happening to their constituents.

[HangnJudge]

https://goo.gl/images/VLHZDM

I live in southern Appalachia and from my standpoint opiate prescribing is a monstterous epidemic

[Undecided 2012]

It’s all those fake pain clinics, BUT like Tony above and my SIL, if opiates give them relief than so be it. It should be available for them.
I’m sure my brother or Tony can walk into any pharmacist and prove with records of operations and complete histories to prove yes this person is eligible and in need and assign a person eligible to pick up such prescription.
Most back pain fakes can’t prove anything except a doctors note so they should be cutoff.

[GailA]

Nursing homes sedate residents with dementia misusing antipsychotic drugs
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/05/health/nursing-homes-dementia-antipsychotic-drugs/index.html

HOW THE VA FUELED THE NATIONAL OPIOID CRISIS AND IS KILLING THOUSANDS OF VETERANS
http://www.newsweek.com/2017/10/20/va-fueled-opioid-crisis-killing-veterans-681552.html

10 Myths of Opioid Crisis
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/12/24/10-myths-about-the-opioid-crisis

Opioid Addiction Is a Huge Problem, but Pain Prescriptions Are Not the Cause
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/opioid-addiction-is-a-huge-problem-but-pain-prescriptions-are-not-the-cause/

3 Reasons Opioid Crisis gets worse
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChronicPainPlayhouse/comments/7b8aer/3_reasons_the_opioid_crisis_is_getting_worse/

Chronic Pain Patients Did Not Cause Opioid Epidemic
https://healthylivings247.com/chronic-pain-patients-did-not-cause-opioid-epidemic/

The Magical Opioid Number
http://abusedeterrent.org/news/The-Magical-Opioid-Number.aspx#.WmdRBq6nGDI

Does Genetic Testing for Opioid Addiction Really Work?
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2018/1/26/does-genetic-testing-for-opioid-addiction-really-work#.Wmtqytr9sj4.facebook=

The Rest of the Opioid Story
https://edsinfo.wordpress.com/2017/05/19/%EF%BB%BFthe-rest-of-the-opioid-story/

Use of Opioids for Pain Management Increasingly Misrepresented
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/use-opioids-pain-management-increasingly-gerald-aronoff/?trackingId=bwdbsZtyn6HiuQPxZUNmKg%3D%3D

https://www.dailystrength.org/group/chronic-pain

Chasing the wrong Epidemic Pt 1
https://thecrimereport.org/2018/01/02/chasing-the-wrong-epidemic/

Part 2
“Criminalizing the Opioid Epidemic Is No Way to Help Chronic Pain Sufferers”.
https://thecrimereport.org/2018/01/09/criminalizing-the-opioid-epidemic-is-no-way-to-help-chronic-pain-sufferers/

Suicide Emerges In Understanding The Opioid Epidemic
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/01/09/suicide-opioid-use

Dear NY Times, Your Opioid Coverage Has Been Terrible. Here’s Why
https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/01/15/dear-ny-times-your-opioid-coverage-has-been-terrible-heres-why-12419

To fix the opioid crisis, doctors like me may have to let patients be in pain
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/fix-opioid-crisis-doctors-me-may-have-let-patients-be-ncna836141

Tennessee doctor feels shutdown of pain clinics fuels opioid crisis
http://wkrn.com/2018/01/09/tennessee-doctor-feels-shutdown-of-pain-clinics-fuels-opioid-crisis/

Suicide Emerges In Understanding The Opioid Epidemic
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/01/09/suicide-opioid-use

“People Are Dying Because of Ignorance, not Because of Opioids” by Dr Carl Hart, Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. November issue of Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-are-dying-because-of-ignorance-not-because-of-opioids/

Doctors are cutting opioids, even if it harms patients
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/02/doctors-curtail-opioids-but-many-see-harm-pain-patients/z4Ci68TePafcD9AcORs04J/story.html

Psychiatric Medications Kill More Americans than Heroin
http://www.rehabs.com/pro-talk-articles/psychiatric-medications-kill-more-americans-than-heroin/

The CDC’s Fictitious Opioid Epidemic, Part 1: http://ncnp.org/journal-of-medicine/1929-doctors-fleeing-pain-management-dumping-patients.html

The CDC’s Fictitious Opioid Epidemic, Part 2: http://ncnp.org/journal-of-medicine/1980-the-cdcs-fictitious-opioid-epidemic-part-2.html

Chronic Pain and the Risk of Suicide | Psychology Today
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/nation-in-pain/201511/chronic-pain-and-the-risk-suicide

Opioid crisis: Pain patients pushed to the brink
http://www.bendbulletin.com/topics/5342867-151/opioid-crisis-pain-patients-pushed-to-the-brink

Opiates Delivered By Mail From China, Killing Addicts In The U.S.
http://www.npr.org/2017/03/11/519649096/can-china-ban-on-deadly-opioid-save-lives-in-the-u-s

Why the DEA intentionally lets drugs into communities (links
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/11/the-dea-chief-will-have-to-check-whether-dea-lets-drugs-into-communities-on-purpose-they-do/

Medical Error Third Leading Cause of Death
http://blogs.harvard.edu/billofhealth/2016/10/14/medical-errors-the-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-us/

[GailA]

Vets Fight Back for 1 Robert Rose Jr on FB.

Roger Chriss Phd, EDS
Richard ‘Red’ Lawhern he is on FB.
Painnewsnetwork https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/

And Me.

Nursing homes sedate residents with dementia misusing antipsychotic drugs
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/05/health/nursing-homes-dementia-antipsychotic-drugs/index.html

HOW THE VA FUELED THE NATIONAL OPIOID CRISIS AND IS KILLING THOUSANDS OF VETERANS
http://www.newsweek.com/2017/10/20/va-fueled-opioid-crisis-killing-veterans-681552.html

10 Myths of Opioid Crisis
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/12/24/10-myths-about-the-opioid-crisis

Opioid Addiction Is a Huge Problem, but Pain Prescriptions Are Not the Cause
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/opioid-addiction-is-a-huge-problem-but-pain-prescriptions-are-not-the-cause/

3 Reasons Opioid Crisis gets worse
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChronicPainPlayhouse/comments/7b8aer/3_reasons_the_opioid_crisis_is_getting_worse/

Chronic Pain Patients Did Not Cause Opioid Epidemic
https://healthylivings247.com/chronic-pain-patients-did-not-cause-opioid-epidemic/

The Magical Opioid Number
http://abusedeterrent.org/news/The-Magical-Opioid-Number.aspx#.WmdRBq6nGDI

Does Genetic Testing for Opioid Addiction Really Work?
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2018/1/26/does-genetic-testing-for-opioid-addiction-really-work#.Wmtqytr9sj4.facebook=

The Rest of the Opioid Story
https://edsinfo.wordpress.com/2017/05/19/%EF%BB%BFthe-rest-of-the-opioid-story/

Use of Opioids for Pain Management Increasingly Misrepresented
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/use-opioids-pain-management-increasingly-gerald-aronoff/?trackingId=bwdbsZtyn6HiuQPxZUNmKg%3D%3D

https://www.dailystrength.org/group/chronic-pain

Chasing the wrong Epidemic Pt 1
https://thecrimereport.org/2018/01/02/chasing-the-wrong-epidemic/

Part 2
“Criminalizing the Opioid Epidemic Is No Way to Help Chronic Pain Sufferers”.
https://thecrimereport.org/2018/01/09/criminalizing-the-opioid-epidemic-is-no-way-to-help-chronic-pain-sufferers/

Suicide Emerges In Understanding The Opioid Epidemic
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/01/09/suicide-opioid-use

Dear NY Times, Your Opioid Coverage Has Been Terrible. Here’s Why
https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/01/15/dear-ny-times-your-opioid-coverage-has-been-terrible-heres-why-12419

To fix the opioid crisis, doctors like me may have to let patients be in pain
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/fix-opioid-crisis-doctors-me-may-have-let-patients-be-ncna836141

Tennessee doctor feels shutdown of pain clinics fuels opioid crisis
http://wkrn.com/2018/01/09/tennessee-doctor-feels-shutdown-of-pain-clinics-fuels-opioid-crisis/

Suicide Emerges In Understanding The Opioid Epidemic
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/01/09/suicide-opioid-use

“People Are Dying Because of Ignorance, not Because of Opioids” by Dr Carl Hart, Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. November issue of Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-are-dying-because-of-ignorance-not-because-of-opioids/

Doctors are cutting opioids, even if it harms patients
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/02/doctors-curtail-opioids-but-many-see-harm-pain-patients/z4Ci68TePafcD9AcORs04J/story.html

Psychiatric Medications Kill More Americans than Heroin
http://www.rehabs.com/pro-talk-articles/psychiatric-medications-kill-more-americans-than-heroin/

The CDC’s Fictitious Opioid Epidemic, Part 1: http://ncnp.org/journal-of-medicine/1929-doctors-fleeing-pain-management-dumping-patients.html

The CDC’s Fictitious Opioid Epidemic, Part 2: http://ncnp.org/journal-of-medicine/1980-the-cdcs-fictitious-opioid-epidemic-part-2.html

Chronic Pain and the Risk of Suicide | Psychology Today
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/nation-in-pain/201511/chronic-pain-and-the-risk-suicide

Opioid crisis: Pain patients pushed to the brink
http://www.bendbulletin.com/topics/5342867-151/opioid-crisis-pain-patients-pushed-to-the-brink

Opiates Delivered By Mail From China, Killing Addicts In The U.S.
http://www.npr.org/2017/03/11/519649096/can-china-ban-on-deadly-opioid-save-lives-in-the-u-s

Why the DEA intentionally lets drugs into communities (links
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/11/the-dea-chief-will-have-to-check-whether-dea-lets-drugs-into-communities-on-purpose-they-do/

Medical Error Third Leading Cause of Death
http://blogs.harvard.edu/billofhealth/2016/10/14/medical-errors-the-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-us/

[GailA]

BS. I’ve had 2 ER trips for Feburary Gastropresis..VERY SLOW DIGESTION Flares, this is a UNCURABLE GI issue, not treatable with Opioids, Labor like Pain spasms on top of constant pain, BP Headaches, Neuropathy pain. Guess what doesn’t work on any of it, OPIOIDS, especially the LOWER doses they now use. I am NOT a candidate for Aspirin, or Ibuprophen due to GASTRO issues. The Opioid Dilauded I did received was NOT even enough to lower Osteoarthritis pain. Never asked where the Pain was coming from. So NO anti-spasms meds. I’ve just started eating this past Friday, my diet has been liquids, lost 8 lbs. Barium Xray, on top of 2 CT’s with dye, which were wrong diagnosis, small bowel swollen Not Diverticulitis. ALL BECAUSE THE UNDER EDUCATED APN REFUSED TO RENEW MY NEUROPATHY MEDICATION. It’s TO ADDICTIVE. GOT NEWS FOR HER THEY ALL ARE! 13 Drug reactions, 14th worked and the IDIOT stops it Cold Turkey.

Are these the same experts that are now saying the Fake OPIOID Crisis originated in the rural areas? When we all know they started in the Urban JUNGLES of San Fran, Chicago etc? Meth might be the drug of choice in rural areas ingredients are easy to come by and cook up.

[GailA]

Pain Clinics are noting but Scams PILL MILLS. Run by APN/PA’s under a GP or Internist license who know ZIP about Intractable or Chronic Pain. And there is a difference in the 2. Intractable has no known cure, where as Chronic has some form of treatment. Accute is short term like Labor Pain and resovles it’s self with the delivery of a baby. Pain Clinics can charge up to $2000 for a simple P test. 1 charged over $20,000 as the post surgery patient took 5 days of low dose NORCO 7.5 mg that won’t even touch but minor post surgery pain. Sure won’t Major Post Surgery. My GASTRO says he’s limited to 5 days at 7.5 mgs for Major Gastro surgery he’ mad as a wet hornet, as it is NOT suffiecent in dosage for the pain. NORCO use to be Loretabs until the FDA made them Lower the Tylenol. Just add 500 mg Tylenol and you have Loretabs again which will work.

There were no data bases that inter link then nor are there now. Same goes for hospitals. Methodist doesn’t link with Baptist or the Catholic hospitals.

[GailA]

Then you have me with multiple MRI’s, Xrays, trips through Physiso that popped more disc. Just had Cervical/Lumbar MRI’s done, both were worse than the last ones 5 yrs ago totaly Spine degeneration, bulges, herniations, bone spurs, protursions, collapsed disc, now we can add in Calcification of the Lumbar. NOT Operable, your spine will crumble and you will be in a wheelchair, faster than if we do noting..treatment VALIUM for the Neuropathy. Having Fibromyalgia to, I don’t rehab well as the muscles deterate over time and are always painful.

Maybe we need a thread for Intractable Pain Patient Stories. And the horrors of being taken off Pain meds that at least allow us some functionablity. 22 Veterans a day are now committing Suicide because the VA took their Pain meds away or reduced them so low they are no longer functional but now in wheelchairs or bedridden.

I’m tired of the Boiling’s sob stories, sorry your kid was a Street Junkie and OD’d. But it was NOT LEGAL opioid’s that killed him, it was ILLEGAL ones, Cocaine, MMJ, 2 forms of Illegal FEN and Heroin.

[GailA]

My cousin has had 3 failed back surgeries each one has left her in worse condition than not having them. So she has a very thick medical folder.

[HiTech RedNeck]

To let the problem come to its own equilibrium, and then approach greater America with the Christian ideas that are known in rehab circles, may be the best thing in theory. We’ve forgotten purposed suffering (as opposed to senseless suffering). Help people see the point in pushing the edge of the envelope by personal choice at advantageous times. This is a spiritual issue and always must needs be. People used to limit their indulgence in drastic pain killers till the bitter end. But in a society with fewer deep friendships and family love, people are more tempted to fade away early into an anodyne nothingness.

We don’t have a medicine crisis nearly as much as a lack-of-God crisis.