Thread-There's probably more to unpack here than X or my current flare will allow me to elaborate on.
From deflection to gaslighting and than on to dismissal of anything we #chronicpatients or even professionals say.
#ChronicPain #PainCareCrisis @DEAHQ federalregister.gov/documents/2024…
2-Section 306 of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) (21 U.S.C. 826) requires the Attorney General to establish aggregate production quotas for each basic class of controlled substance in schedule I and II...
Maybe next letter writing campaign to the U.S. A.G?
#PainCareCrisis
3-DEA received 4,699 comments from people with chronic pain, patients (ADHD), pain advocacy associations, U.S. professional associations, U.S. nurses, and far more.
4-Comments included concerns about potential domestic opioid drug shortages due to further quota reductions; stimulant drug shortages in the U.S/Australia; concerns that medical professionals might be impeded from exercising their medical expertise regarding opioid prescriptions;
5-..."concerns that medical professionals might be impeded from exercising their medical expertise regarding opioid prescriptions; two requests for a public hearing; concerns with the implementation of quarterly quota allotments..."
But who are we to even speak it seems?
6-"Commenters said because of decreases in aggregate production quotas for specific opioids, they have had difficulty filling legitimate prescriptions. These issues have negatively impacted their quality of life, caused mental health-related issues, possibly leading to suicide."
7-Lack of pain care is leaving people in agony with no hope left for quality of life.
They gloss over it like our lived experience is nothing or we're 'mentally ill'.
Jessica opted out. She wasn't mentally ill. She was tortured & lost hope.
#ChronicPain
8-DEA claims benevolence, blaming other factors for people in pain being unable to get needed medicine "DEA sets the APQs for controlled substances based on the available data and information received at that specific point in time set by the regulations, however..."
#ChronicPain
9-"subsequent factors and manufacturers' business practices may arise afterwards and potentially contribute to a temporary lack of inventory of controlled substances at the point of dispensation."
Yeah? Like driving manufacturers bankrupt with fines Through opioid litigation?
10-"DEA, in coordination with Food and Drug Administration (FDA), can utilize tools under the CSA to prevent or alleviate drug shortages and ensure that patients are able to fill legitimate prescriptions for controlled substances without undue delay."
Ask us about your epic fail.
11-"Issue (Nationwide Shortages): Some commenters stated that there is a nationwide shortage of opioid medication because their local pharmacies were often out of stock..."
#PainCareCrisis #ChronicPain
12-DEA response: "...drug shortages may occur subsequently due to factors outside of DEA control such as manufacturing and quality problems, processing delays, supply chain disruptions, or discontinuations."
Silence on the CHILLING EFFECT DEA & litigation has had on production.🧐
13-Concerns were expressed about patients being driven to the streets, risking death due to unregulated drugs.
DEA basically says, how unfortunate.
Their response to this concern was: "DEA's quotas help prevent misuse and diversion of pharmaceutical controlled substances."
cont.
14-They go on to say #ChronicPain patients should work with providers to get alternatives for pain.
"Patients should work closely with their providers to utilize other FDA-approved medications for their conditions and fill their prescriptions only from DEA-registered pharmacies."
15-Anyway, the first post has a link-
You can read all about it yourself.
We don't matter to them, we never have.
We're acceptable collateral damage as they continue to ignore, dismiss, gaslight, abuse, and torture us with the blessings/intentions of the Executive Branch of GOV.
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1-The most idiotic & insulting things those with #ChronicPain face is the implication or direct accusation that we 'just want opiates'.
The truth is, we ARE 'seeking' the meds from MDs we require for pain relief but usually ONLY AFTER trying almost everything else already.
2-When one is ill or injured they usually try the old standby's first vs before going to a doctor.
Ice, heat, OTC meds like Ibuprophen or Tylenol-Even both. Some try herbal supplements, massage, gentle exercise, diet, even acupuncture before seeking help from an MD.
#ChronicPain
3-Those w/#chronicillness have usually done their research & avoid medical offices/ER like the plague if at all possible.
From cost to gaslighting, we'd rather deal with our issues at home. But facts are, we require MDs help as THEY are the only ones who can RX meds we need.
1-Objective: SAVE LIVES.
Recently I said a #SafeSupply is the pinnacle of saving lives but I realized it's not; it's the FOUNDATION, upon which we build policies to actually save lives.
I'm going to refer to this moving forward as the GOLD STANDARD in reducing #DeathsOfDespair.
2-Drugs would be legalized. A safe, known potency supply of substances created by existing drug manufacturers. It would include supply for RX'd medicines as well as for OTC public, adult, sales and consumption. Similar to how alcohol is sold & consumed now. #SafeSupply
3-The BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS being funneled into the #DrugWar and the 'opioid crisis' would be put into improving efficacy and access to AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE, including mental and dental health, while bridging gaps in regard to other #socialdeterminants of health.
1-#ChronicPain patients knew that the opioid 'guideline' re: prescribing practices was not law.
But as intended, PROP's 'guideline' shaped the Standard of Care re: #opioid prescribing practices so it might as well have been law.
Why?
Tort law.
Let's try and break it down.
2-Once PROP's ‘opioid guideline’ was published through CDC, prescribing practices started to formally change nationally and altered how doctors were to treat pain; altering the Standard of Care. This was crafted around an ‘opioids are dangerous drugs' narrative. #ChronicPain
3-The recommendations to instate a maximum morphine milligram equivalent altered things further in the practice of treating pain. It changed pain treatment recommendations for acute pain, post surgical pain control, and most of all, the way #ChronicPain was treated.
Let's break down #TheGreatOpioidLie.
1-"Over-prescribing was the cause of the opioid crisis."
First according to the Medical Board of CA, there is no legal definition of 'overprescribing'.
Second, it is a THEORY that the mandate to treat pain led to the overdose crisis
cont...
2-The Gov's own stats disprove the access theory. As access to RX meds declines we continued to see a steady increase in drug deaths.
Seems something else might have been a the heart of why we saw a rise in ODs and continue to see record numbers of PEOPLE dying. #ChornicPain
3-Could it have been the collective trauma we all experienced after 9/11, then we sent our loved ones off to war, and they were being sent home with broken bodies, then the financial collapse, outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, people losing homes, retirement, investment accts...
1-How is the #WarOnPainPatients being waged, let us count the ways...
You're probably seeing an MD because OTCs aren't working.
You're told ibuprophen works well for pain & offered an RX for ibuphropen.
You decline as you've been taking it OTC for months.
You just refused meds.
2-If you counter any aspects of #TheGreatOpioidLie, citing facts vs fiction...
It's can be charted that you're emotional-hostile-agitated.
'Drug seeking' behaviors.
*Women are often labeled hostile just for being in assertive when dealing with people in positions of power. 😔
3-If you have a #chronicillness that includes fatigue & pain syptoms and you taking an opioid...
It's the opioid making you somnolent, tired, depressed, not your illness or pain.
And this can be used as an excuse for an MD to taper or discontinue opioids or even benzos.
1-VERY early on we warned about 'pain contracts', the weaponized PDMP, & probable ramifications.
Some of us predicted that opioid policies would metastasize to other meds; suggested that a palliative care exemption for chronic pain patients and MDs who treated them was needed. 😔
2-We sounded the alarm about suicides in our community, real harms to people already sick and injured due to 'opioid policies'.
We were told that our accounts were anecdotes, that 'studies' would be needed for 'proof'.
We continue to suffer & watch friends/loved ones suffer/die.
3-We saw how 'DRUG' stigma was passed from one community to the sick & injured. How addiction tx options then somehow became the 'solution' for people with #chronicpain; patients already stable and functional on affordable, safe, and effective old school opioid medicines.