January 9, 2012

Another Young Man Died

Someone Kev knew from Jr. High through High School passed away on Christmas.  He was a very athletic kid, seriously into BMX.  Because of all the injuries acquired in this sport, he was prescribed pain killers.  He got addicted.  He overdosed on Opana.  He fell asleep and never woke up.  What a tragic death, and can you imagine - going to wake your son on Christmas morning and finding him dead?

When will doctors learn how dangerous it is to prescribe opiates of any kind?  When will pharmaceutical companies, who seem to have a pill for everything, come up with an alternative to these addictive killers?

Peace, Hope and Love, Barbara

7 comments:

Syd said...

I'm sorry. I think that there are those who can take painkillers and be reasonable in their usage. There are others who cannot take them. The same with drinking or other drugs. Getting rid of medications that are used legally will just drive more stuff underground. I don't think that one can blame the doctors for this. I have taken hydrocodone before but did not get addicted. I took it sparingly. Others will see it as a way to get high and will become addicted. It is a shame.

Dad and Mom said...

I'm with Syd on this one.

Bar L. said...

I know I want to place blame on someone so I choose Big Pharma cause they make me mad in so many ways. Okay, so its not their fault, but shouldn't doctors try to determine if their patient is likely to become addicted? People of all ages get addicted to it, so its hard to know, but with young people you'd think they would be extra careful. It just happens over and over and over. Many heroin addicts started out using pain meds.

I know there are no easy answers. I'm mostly just venting my frustration.

Bristolvol said...

I know for a fact that some drug manufacturers give incentives to docs who prescribe their pills (Hawaiian vacations, etc.) They track the prescriptions issued and dole out their incentives.

Anonymous said...

Its not the doctors fault. I have taken them for injuries and followed directions. The blame cannot always be put on others.

Rahime said...

I don't know. I completely agree that it's frustrating and heartbreaking to see stuff like this happen to kids and young people, but from what I've seen, drs. are EXTREMELY reluctant to prescribe pain meds.

I had to go to the ER once because I had severe nerve pain in my neck radiating down my arm (you know, the kind that has you screaming, frankly, anything that gets me to go to a dr. is pretty bad), and when I finally got to see a dr. he gave me a single percocet, and you know what he prescribed me? Two more. Two pills. I basically had to grin and bear it through the pain for the rest of the time (I don't even remember how long it lasted, it did go away, but it was well after the pain meds were gone). Later, when my sister had her c-section she was prescribed a whole bunch of strong painkillers to get her through the recovery from her surgery. She offered them to me because she didn't want to take any since she didn't want the baby to be exposed to meds through her milk. I have taken them on and off at times and have never become addicted.

The problem is, there's no real way to know who will become addicted and who won't--though you might find it interesting that one of my former clients was researching the underlying genes that are connected to addiction...basically trying to see if there is an "addiction gene". I hope she finds something.

On the other hand, even if a person has the potential for addiction, should a dr. not give them pain meds when they're in real pain (as I'm sure this kid was from his injuries)? After my neck incident, I tend to think that's cruel.

Hugs. I wish there were answers to these problems. :(

Bar L. said...

I just left a long comment here and blogger ate it :(

The gist of it was that all drs. are different. Some do take "bribes", some are conscientious and most are in the middle somewhere.

I was at the ER in '09 and given a shot and a month's RX for oxycodone. I filled it but only used them till I no longer needed them and tossed the rest.

Opiates are addictive and when given to a person pre-disposed to addiction, its dangerous. But...how do you know? How did my ER dr. know I wouldn't abuse them? He didn't. I don't know the answers.

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