• SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today
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    4 months ago

    This absolutely.

    One often forgotten victim of the war on opioids is the handful of patients who actually NEED them.

    I know such a person. A car accident left them with life long constant pain. They have screws and cadaver bone in their body and the surgery got them back movement and life, but couldn’t fix the constant debilitating pain. Going on oxycontin and similar medications changed their life. Suddenly with two pills a day they can LIVE- go to the gym and work out and enjoy it, get through a night of sleep without ice packs and heat packs and still waking up in the morning feeling like a 90yo person. They have a dedicated pain management doctor, a legit dude they were referred to by the surgeon who knew the pain was a likely outcome. But now with the war on opioids it’s a constant struggle. The pain doctor gets constant push back from insurance and the FDA even though my friend is on what every paper and study says is a medically appropriate dose. And half the pharmacists act like you’re picking up a prescription for heroin.

    Yes a lot of people were prescribed opioids inappropriately and had problems. Yes Perdue Pharma are assholes. But not every patient is a drug seeking addict. For those who NEED it, opioids can be a miracle drug that is the difference between enjoying life and constant debilitating pain. And those patients like my friend got lost in the war on opioids.