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.@RollingStone Your reporter EJ Dickson claims there's a "clear link" bwn opioid prescriptions & addiction. In fact, the #CDC has long held that 96.96% of patients prescribed #opioids do NOT develop misuse or addiction. thread
2 Further evidence against Dickson's claim of a "clear link" is the fact that opioid scripts are at an 18 year low & have dropped every year since 2011. But during that same time, ODs have skyrocketed. That's because addiction/ODs are driven by ILLICIT, not prescription drugs.
3 Getting this wrong has dire consequences. I'm the director of headsUPmigraine & learned yesterday of yet another young woman who's DEAD because she was forced off safe, effective medication, despite being 1 of the 96.96% who relied on opioids without addiction.
4 Today I met a woman newly widowed & disabled by extreme pain. Caring for herself is hard, but low-dose opioids give her some ability to manage her symptoms. Her dose hasn't changed in years, but she just got a letter from her doctor. She has 2 months to taper off her med.
5 Dr wrote: "I no longer want to assume the risk that treating pain causes me personally." She's terrified. She's lived alone since her husband died & won't be able to care for herself w/o medication. And like migraine, her disease progresses if it's not effectively treated.
6 I'm desperate to help people who've contacted me who've attempted suicide & are likely to reattempt if they can't find relief. I'm sickened by stories I've heard from people in pain who've UNNECESSARILY lost jobs, spouses, & even custody of their kids.
7 I quoted CDC's 3.03% misuse/addiction rate in my testimony to the Maine Legislature about opioid Rx limits in 2016. I cited opposition to CDC guidelines by every association of pain MDs in the US/Canada. We've known from the start that the evidence was against CDC's policy.
8 Because policymakers have wrongly focused on reducing scripts, pain patients AND addiction patients are suffering & dying. The press has a responsibility to get this right. Please correct the record.
Fact checking: CDC stats bit.ly/2G79TdA; dose reductions "lack any scientific evidence" bit.ly/2J3P58a; reduction in scripts hasn't reduced ODs bit.ly/2TqT1ER
"Despite ... substantial reductions in opioid prescriptions in the USA, deaths by opioid overdose continue to escalate at alarming rates." bit.ly/2Tpf66R 
.@threadreaderapp unroll
