Opioid Crisis in OK; Who’s to Blame?

[druryj]

I want to throw this out for consideration too: This $572 million judgment, if upheld, is supposed to go to treatment and prevention programs. Now, if that happens; that is a good thing in itself. But will it? Or will it somehow not all be spent as it is said it will be? Remember all the things that were going to bail out the sorry state of affairs in education? This money, if it ever really comes, is going to go to the State. I hope we see it put to proper use.

Call me one with little faith.

 

[druryj]

...Sorry I'm very sensitive about this subject.
Burying relatives will make you too...

Yes, and thank you for manning up and saying that. It's hard to put ourselves in another's position.

 

[Hangfire]

I somewhat liken addiction or abuse of drugs, legal and otherwise to alcoholism and abuse. Yet no one is suing the liquor stores or the companies that make legal alcoholic beverages for the many accidents and deaths caused by drunk drivers. Why not?

We rail against the idea of suing firearms manufacturers for the fact that their legal products are used in crimes and mass shootings. Oh no; can’t touch that! No way is it their fault! It’s the person who pulled the trigger! How can you blame Glock and Ruger and S&W? How dare you blame those many companies who make the most popular rifle in the USA, the legal AR-15? Clearly, it’s not their fault that somebody started shooting up a crowd of people or a school full of kids. It is the bad guys fault. He’s the problem.

But sue the drug companies for making a legal product that can also ruin lives and cause death? Oh yeah. Let’s go after them! We can get big bucks from this one! I say it was a calculated gamble, fueled in part by the media who has promoted and proclaimed an “opioid crisis” and stoked the fires of the issue. Oh yeah, let’s sue the people who make these legal drugs, and maybe blame the doctors for legally prescribing them too. That way, at least partially, the many people who are in dire straits because of legal opioids can be labeled as “victims” of big pharmaceutical companies; companies who like Jim Beam and Budweiser and Glock make legal products that can be and are dangerous if abused or misused.


And it’s the drug companies fault? I just don’t get it.

Also my thoughts on the subject.

 

[tRidiot]

I want to throw this out for consideration too: This $572 million judgment, if upheld, is supposed to go to treatment and prevention programs. Now, if that happens; that is a good thing in itself. But will it? Or will it somehow not all be spent as it is said it will be? Remember all the things that were going to bail out the sorry state of affairs in education? This money, if it ever really comes, is going to go to the State. I hope we see it put to proper use.

Call me one with little faith.

I think this is the saddest part of the whole thing. This money is going to go down the ever-expanding wormhole that is the .gov budget, and from what I heard a couple hundred million is supposed to go to OSU to fund some kind of addiction research institute or something. Secondary education is a whole other wormhole to gobble up billions.

We'll form a whole shiteload of committees out of all this, you just wait and see!

 

[druryj]

But...but...we need to fund long-term studies on how dangerous and addictive these drugs are. We need to funnel money to the smart people, after all, they know how to use it best. They will look out for the best interests of the rest of us lesser folk.

Hey! I know! When I was the VP at a small college, before I retired, I used to form committees to look at different things. I gots experience in that! I still know some heavies up in the Capitol; wonder if they would pay me big bucks for my vast committee-forming expertise? Yeah, I'd come out of retirement as a consultant for a couple million...maybe I should check into this, I'm at least as qualified as anyone.

 

[tRidiot]

Hey! I know! When I was the VP at a small college, before I retired, I used to form committees to look at different things. I gots experience in that! I still know some heavies up in the Capitol; wonder if they would pay me big bucks for my vast committee-forming expertise? Yeah, I'd come out of retirement as a consultant for a couple million...maybe I should check into this, I'm at least as qualified as anyone.

I get a commission, right?

 

[druryj]

I get a commission, right?

Of course. Medical Consultant. Big bucks for you too bro, big bucks!

 

[donner]

You know, there’s obviously two sides to this issue and it seems the two aren’t going to meet on common ground. Can we just agree to disagree on this and stop flinging poo?

I somewhat liken addiction or abuse of drugs, legal and otherwise to alcoholism and abuse. Yet no one is suing the liquor stores or the companies that make legal alcoholic beverages for the many accidents and deaths caused by drunk drivers. Why not?

We rail against the idea of suing firearms manufacturers for the fact that their legal products are used in crimes and mass shootings. Oh no; can’t touch that! No way is it their fault! It’s the person who pulled the trigger! How can you blame Glock and Ruger and S&W? How dare you blame those many companies who make the most popular rifle in the USA, the legal AR-15? Clearly, it’s not their fault that somebody started shooting up a crowd of people or a school full of kids. It is the bad guys fault. He’s the problem.

But sue the drug companies for making a legal product that can also ruin lives and cause death? Oh yeah. Let’s go after them! We can get big bucks from this one! I say it was a calculated gamble, fueled in part by the media who has promoted and proclaimed an “opioid crisis” and stoked the fires of the issue. Oh yeah, let’s sue the people who make these legal drugs, and maybe blame the doctors for legally prescribing them too. That way, at least partially, the many people who are in dire straits because of legal opioids can be labeled as “victims” of big pharmaceutical companies; companies who like Jim Beam and Budweiser and Glock make legal products that can be and are dangerous if abused or misused.

Now, I don’t know anyone, any adult, whose life has not been negatively affected by alcohol abuse or alcoholism. Not one single adult. Either they are one, they have a loved one who is, they have suffered loss from it, or live behind a closed door with it. In some fashion, abuse of alcohol is rampant. Yet, drinking is both legal and socially acceptable. We always put the blame on a tragedy on the person who tipped the bottle, who chose to drive drunk...but if a kid gets high on pills he stole, sometimes from his own parents, a woman OD’s on prescription drugs, etc and people blame the pharmaceutical companies, it seems to be alright to some. Yeah, we got somebody to blame for this besides our own selves.

I don’t get it. My own adult daughter has stolen our prescription meds, she stole them from us, from her own grandpa, right after he had open heart surgery, and from her best friend, right after she was hurt badly in a car accident, caused by a drunk driver. Yet somehow, this victory over Johnson & Johnson proclaims them at least partially at fault? She never had a legitimate legal prescription herself, she just wanted to get high and to hell with the needs of anyone else, even her so called loved ones. So she stole our pain meds, knowing we wouldn’t be able to replace them, knowing I’d have to watch her mother go through withdrawals until her next appointment with the pain doctor. And it’s the drug companies fault? I just don’t get it.

But I respect the right to disagree, and I shall endeavor to fling no poo on those whose opinion differs. I also get it that the various circumstances related to legal drugs are different than legal alcohol and legal guns, but you get my point, however poorly phrased.

Please, let’s discuss it, but let's attack the topic and not each other.

Not to disagree entirely, but i believe there are instances where drug companies pushed incentives for doctors to prescribe these drugs for ailments that the drug wasn't approved for. And wasn't there a company that shipped something like ~21 million pain pills to a town of 3,000 people or some such? While perhaps not illegal, certainly should have raised some concern. Heck, a friend's parents own a soap company and get calls from the ATF for ordering large quantities of fragrances...

We want to hold the users accountable, which i do agree with, yet why are we willing to give a pass to the people who knowingly engaged in false marketing, kickback programs for outside uses meant to boost sales or for willful ignorance to potential problems?

 

[tRidiot]

Not to disagree entirely, but i believe there are instances where drug companies pushed incentives for doctors to prescribe these drugs for ailments that the drug wasn't approved for. And wasn't there a company that shipped something like ~21 million pain pills to a town of 3,000 people or some such? While perhaps not illegal, certainly should have raised some concern. Heck, a friend's parents own a soap company and get calls from the ATF for ordering large quantities of fragrances...

We want to hold the users accountable, which i do agree with, yet why are we willing to give a pass to the people who knowingly engaged in false marketing, kickback programs for outside uses meant to boost sales or for willful ignorance to potential problems?

I agree, I am NOT for giving a pass for people knowingly engaging in injurious behavior, whether that is hiding potential side effects or addiction problems, or physicians who knowingly engaged in selling scripts or intentionally overprescribing just for financial gain or perks or kickbacks. Absolutely.

I can tell you, though, for the entirety of my career, there has been ZERO incentive for physicians of which I am aware, to prescribe any of these meds. Ok, with the possible exception that some of these "specially chosen and qualified" pharmaceutical reps might come by the office and visit more frequently.

 

[druryj]

Not to disagree entirely, but i believe there are instances where drug companies pushed incentives for doctors to prescribe these drugs for ailments that the drug wasn't approved for. And wasn't there a company that shipped something like ~21 million pain pills to a town of 3,000 people or some such? While perhaps not illegal, certainly should have raised some concern. Heck, a friend's parents own a soap company and get calls from the ATF for ordering large quantities of fragrances...

We want to hold the users accountable, which i do agree with, yet why are we willing to give a pass to the people who knowingly engaged in false marketing, kickback programs for outside uses meant to boost sales or for willful ignorance to potential problems?

Point taken.


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