How to download and use the DEA pain pills database • Hacker News Board

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#31

Post by cookiecaper » Sat, Jul 20, 2019, 6:35 AM UTC

hello_tyler wrote: post #24

More people forced into the black market, good job guys. I feel bad for people who get addicted but also feel personal responsibility and choice should be paramount. You should be able to decide for yourself.

IMO they're working to construct a grey market here. As far as I can tell, the "opiate crisis" has become a thing because vested interests wanted to build out a lucrative specialization in "pain management". Florida enacted a law last year severely restricting the ability of ordinary doctors to prescribe opiate medications, legally requiring anyone who needs more than a 72 hour supply to seek it from a separate specialized pain management clinic.

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#32

Post by ikeyany » Sat, Jul 20, 2019, 7:18 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #8

rubyn00bie wrote: post #3

Woah... just woah, so am I mathing this wrong, or from 2006-2012 there were ~250 pain pills per person (man, woman, child) sold in America? Because if so, I don't know how on earth any executive couldn't be fucking liable for knowing the vast majority being manufactured and sold were being used illicitly.

I was reading another discussion among physicians about this and the number isn't that excessive. 50M Americans have chronic pain, assume 10M (20%) are on opioids. 76B pills over 10 years is 7.6B per year, so 760 pills per [chronic pain + opioid] person per year. Take 4 pills per day or 120 per month or 1440 per year. So basically 6 months of therapy for every chronic pain patient in the US.

1 in 6 Americans are in chronic pain?

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#33

Post by tomohawk » Sat, Jul 20, 2019, 10:51 AM UTC

whiskers1960 wrote: post #19

As a chronic pain sufferer, opiates are a lifeline. Problem has been indescriminate use pushed by docs before they became fully aware of the risks. Now I jump through hoops to get a fairly low dose of hydrocodone 7.5. I have both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and a host of other diagnosis. Without effective pain management, life isnt worth living. I'm only 58!

Sad to say, many doctors in our area have stopped prescribing and shunt patients over to pain specialists because they do not want to lose their license.

The number of pain specialists seems to be dwindling due to DEA harassment/regulation.

In the denser urban areas, it is almost impossible to get opioids due to heightened DEA scrutiny. You have to travel outside of those areas. A friend got a surgery downtown and was only able to get a token dose at the hospital pharmacy. She was told she could likely only get the script filled where she lived (an hour outside of town).

This is what happens when a law enforcement agency is put in charge of who gets what medicine.

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#34

Post by shigawire » Sat, Jul 20, 2019, 2:25 PM UTC

mruts wrote: post #10

rubyn00bie wrote: post #3

Woah... just woah, so am I mathing this wrong, or from 2006-2012 there were ~250 pain pills per person (man, woman, child) sold in America? Because if so, I don't know how on earth any executive couldn't be fucking liable for knowing the vast majority being manufactured and sold were being used illicitly.

Doctors prescribed them, so who cares? I personally think we should just be able to buy any drug we want at a convenience store, but what do I know?

I hope you're joking. You need to go to school many years to understand drug interactions.

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#35

Post by woah » Sat, Jul 20, 2019, 5:44 PM UTC

waltwalther wrote: post #25

etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sort of hoops do you have to jump through?

I cant speak for Whiskers, but my father, who is almost seventy and takes a similar dose of the same medication, is routinely forced to jump through an unreasonable amount of hoops just to get a recently-lowered prescription that barely lasts throughout the month. I say "barely lasts" because his new prescription always seems to arrive a few days late. And the doctors could care less. Not only that, but if he complai…

Does being an upstanding, church-going citizen prevent becoming addicted to the most addictive drug known?

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#36

Post by waltwalther » Sat, Jul 20, 2019, 9:10 PM UTC

woah wrote: post #35

waltwalther wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cant speak for Whiskers, but my father, who is almost seventy and takes a similar dose of the same medication, is routinely forced to jump through an unreasonable amount of hoops just to get a recently-lowered prescription that barely lasts throughout the month. I say "barely lasts" because his new prescription always seems to arrive a few days late. And the doctors could care less. Not only that, but if he complai…

Does being an upstanding, church-going citizen prevent becoming addicted to the most addictive drug known?

Good point, and not at all. This is a charged subject and I guess I was throwing in some facts to support my statement that he isn't a drug seeker. My point is that he doesnt deserve to be humiliated every month just to live a somewhat pain-free life. Something I feel very strongly about, but you are totally right.

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#37

Post by mruts » Sat, Jul 20, 2019, 11:51 PM UTC

JaimeThompson wrote: post #13

mruts wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doctors prescribed them, so who cares? I personally think we should just be able to buy any drug we want at a convenience store, but what do I know?

That would have a negative effect on how useful our modern antibiotics are.

You know, that's one of the few valid points against the legalization of all drugs. I don't care how many die or overdose or whatever (it's a moral issue of owning one's own body, much like abortion) but antibiotics seem to throw a wrench into the whole thing. By misusing antibiotics, you are not just affecting your body, but everyone else's on earth as well.

An interesting problem that I still haven't resolved.

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#38

Post by beauzero » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 5:08 AM UTC

woah wrote: post #35

waltwalther wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cant speak for Whiskers, but my father, who is almost seventy and takes a similar dose of the same medication, is routinely forced to jump through an unreasonable amount of hoops just to get a recently-lowered prescription that barely lasts throughout the month. I say "barely lasts" because his new prescription always seems to arrive a few days late. And the doctors could care less. Not only that, but if he complai…

Does being an upstanding, church-going citizen prevent becoming addicted to the most addictive drug known?

No. The whole paragraph shows what most people would deem a life of sacrifice, good decision making, and positive societal influence which juxtaposed against the treatment and risk of pain is a strong example of a system that is broken.

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#39

Post by bgbjfcvnkytgd » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 8:10 AM UTC

whiskers1960 wrote: post #19

As a chronic pain sufferer, opiates are a lifeline. Problem has been indescriminate use pushed by docs before they became fully aware of the risks. Now I jump through hoops to get a fairly low dose of hydrocodone 7.5. I have both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and a host of other diagnosis. Without effective pain management, life isnt worth living. I'm only 58!

Duh, they want you to buy teh fentanyl.

Re: How to download and use the DEA pain pills database

#40

Post by karing » Mon, Jul 22, 2019, 3:32 PM UTC

For 10 years I had Hydrocodone as a treatment for pain. Truth be told it also helped with my energy levels. I was functioning well. At 60 diagnosed with RA and a number of other immune disorders. That was at the time of Feds starting to crack down. I could probably find doctors to prescribe the pills , but after a pain chest & back sent me to ER , a GI scope showed changes to the ducts that run to the pancreas. The Anesthetist said pain pills do that ( said with no judgement & said if you need them then take them ) . But I thought , i’d try to get off them. My doctor weaned me down. But my quality day to day is gone. No energy , pain without relief . Illinois medical cannabis is not my answer , been trying. Some strains actually increase body awareness therefore increasing pain. So I’ll probably have to change doctors if mine won’t put me back on them.