quote:
Originally posted by shawnsmith
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/4/drugging_americas_veterans_painkiller_abuse_spreads
Unfortunately, what articles like this will do is activate the government's one size fits all decree, and those who need pain killers, military and civilian, may one day find their access curtailed.
Is there abuse? Yes. There is probably abuse because it is easier to give a pill to a person and wish them well. Until it becomes the "wrong" thing to do by government edict. Instead of psychological counseling for these vets (and civilians in chronic pain), plus what ever medication they need to regain a measure of ordinary life, the big foot will come down and leave people who can benefit from judicial use of medications with no help.
There are anti-med people of many different stripes (not saying you are one Shawnsmith), based on paranoia about drug companies to a basic philosophy about what to put into a human body; but when the pain has been chronic for so long as to change the plasticity of the brain and sensitize the central nervous system, it is a cruel thing to say to a person "tough". Just because a person can draw a conclusion that the pain is somatic, does not mean it can be wished away, if it has been with a person a long time. There is nothing wrong with multiple modalities to conquer long-term chronic pain.
As more and more of the medical system becomes politicized, the more the decisions will be based on abstract statistics and less on what a person's doctor may think. The hard fought progress in recognizing psychological causes to medical problems will take a blow. People who need medication will be in CBT sans needed medication and not able to "unlearn" or "think different" about pain, because the pain will overwhelm the best efforts, due to an out of control nervous system.
Fear is a great motivator, and if your brain is anticipating great discomfort, your physical reaction will be that great pain.
Some do not need mediation to help, but many do, and as long as they understand pain, they need not be made to feel weak or made to feel criminal in taking it.
Do doctors over prescribe? Yes, some do. Let's hope that the heavy boot of statute law does not cause more and more doctors to underprescribe.
"Bridges Freeze Before Roads" |
Painkiller Abuse Spreads Among Vets
Posted - 04/04/2014 : 12:52:10
