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Posted 8/19/2012 10:52 AM (GMT 0)
My doctor told me about a petition sent to the FDA that would change the labels on narcotics limiting them to 3 months and to 100mg morphine. Although I don't take morphine it looks like the same amount in Opana would be less than half of what I am taking...and my doctor said he would have to stop prescribing these medicines if the FDA acts on this petition. He told me it was by powerful people and they have had influence with the FDA in the past. Anyone else heard about this stuff?
Posted 8/19/2012 4:34 PM (GMT 0)
no but we do not need the Fed. Gov. to be making our health care decisions and i am a little afraid of what thing future will bring myself.
Posted 8/19/2012 4:49 PM (GMT 0)
Here is the petition:

www.citizen.org/documents/2048.pdf

It certainly is a scary prospect, but I am doubtful that the FDA will act on it. I cannot speak to the credibility of the data they cite, but am dubious. I've read elsewhere that addiction and abuse rates among CP patients are very low.... though I don't know or recall the sources of the data for that claim.

I also have concerns with #6: "A large sample of medical and pharmacy claims records found that two-thirds of patients who took opioids on a daily basis for 90 days were still taking opioids five years later."

Well, opioids for chronic pain obviously aren't meant to cure the patient, but to treat an ongoing condition. So it would be expected that many who are taking opioids for 90 days will end up taking them for years.

I probably should read some of the data first, but I'm tempted to write a letter to the president of their organization. Among the points worthy of mention is that it is arbitrary of them to accept long-term opioid treatment only for cancer. There are other well established causes of ongoing pain that can be aided through opioid treatment.

I suppose another idea is to contact the American Academy of Pain Management and the American Pain Society to see if they would like to offer to the FDA or the media an official rebuttal to the petition.
Posted 8/19/2012 7:15 PM (GMT 0)
Painful life - thank you for passing that along here.

Cogito made many of the same points that I would make...

If anyone keeps an eye on this, keep us updated. I agree, too, that I'm doubtful the FDA will act on it.

Ugggh.

--Tina
Posted 8/19/2012 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
as chronic pain patients we really need to start stnding up for ourselves and our treatments. the doctors are running scared due to the dea's deciding that we're the low hanging fruit. my pain clinic is arbitrarily cutting everyone's meds back to 4 pills a day- no exceptions even for someone like me with crohns disease who does not absorb meds, vitamins etc the same as someone with a normal gi tract. it is so rediculous that the dea and the fda are dictating how DOCTORS treat their patients.
Posted 8/23/2012 5:42 AM (GMT 0)
Unbelievable. Then again, a lot of insane things are happening lately......
Posted 8/23/2012 9:09 AM (GMT 0)
This would never pass.....Most of these MD's have there own agenda for passing this law, I know of 2 board members of physicians for responsible opioid prescribing (PROP) who lost family members to oxycodone overdoses, Several doctors have big interests in drug companies and the new drugs being released for moderate to severe pain relief..Where ever there is money to be made there will be people like this coming out of the woodwork..
Posted 8/23/2012 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
I don''t doubt that there are stories like this floating about in the news, but take some comfort, the FDA would have to be ultimately behind any such drastic move, and historically, the FDA never does anything fast. There would be so many ramifications in such a move, that it could take years, not months, for anything remotely like this ever taking place, if at all.

The more I read about you folks here that have to go through this PM clinics, the more I don't like them. It seems from readings here, most are looked at as drug seekers, and if anything, are being discouraged or disallowed from the meds you really need.

There, I am fortunate. With a non-curable cancer, and being in the hands of a top-notch oncologist that happens to specialize in advanced prostate cancer, as well as being a certified Pain Manager himself, I see very little worry for myself. He is all about proper pain control, and I couldn't see some "agency" or "entity" telling him how he is going to treat his serious level patients like myself.

He has been the greatest advocate for me in my CP journey. He knows he can't stop or cure the cancer, but he's determined to help me maintain whatever level of QOL issues I have left, and keeps assuring me, that even as things progress downward in the future, that his is confident he can keep me as pain free as possible.

It is a crying shame to me, that between the "bad" doctors that run pill mills for profit, and the vast amount of "drug seekers" and recreational drug users of legitimate prescription pain meds, they are making it difficult for so many with long term and legitmate CP from acquiring the drugs that they really need to make it through to the next day. That part is totally unfair.

There has to be a better solution, then to punish the good patients in order to stop the bad patients. That seems counterproductive to my line of thinking. Why not really crack down on the bad doctors and the blatant abusers, not go after the legitimate patients?

While I personally am in a good position, med wise, it does scare me inside to think, what if my doctor retired, moved away, etc, and I was left at square one again fighting all this pain. I hope and pray I am not put into that position. But my heart goes out to all the many people that are having these problems right now, with no easy solutions in front of them.

I wish the best for each person here at HW CP, and hope you aren't in those negative situations being talked about. God, just let any of these "experts" live a single day in our pain-wracked bodies". You would see all this nonsense disapear over night.

David in SC
Posted 9/4/2012 5:53 PM (GMT 0)
David, believe me, I hear your cries. I am currently dealing with this situation in my home state of Charlotte, NC. It is as if these PM doctors are under some strict DEA rule that does not have no true concern regarding pain patients that such as myself are struggling with Chronic pain after 3 failed back surgeries and damage nerves in my legs and feet that can only be truly managed with narcotic pain meds. I hate that when i try to explain increasing or changing my pain meds when speaking to my doctor, they are so afraid of changing or increasing and I truly feel that they are lumping real pain patients into the same crab basket as those addicts or pill pushers. Laws from our Government need to change, as recent controversy between doctors, as literature explains, narcotics meds for Chronic pain patients does work, and person that suffers from long term Chronic pain will not get addicted to the pain meds because the meds actually does what it needs to due and block the pain, thus preventing us from even getting high from the meds. I am so tired of going through this and having to constantly change doctors with hoping that each new doctor and listen to the patient and show some type of care and real concern from the person that is crying in pain and looking for a doctor that again LISTEN to the patient and not try to protect their license. If that patient has a history of medical problems and pain, then whats the problem if the DEA needs to see the patients records.

Lynn

Lynn
3/2008, Failed back surgery Laminectomy fusion L4-L5
7/2008--Revision of hardware
11/2011, SCS implant
3/2012-Laminectomy Fusion with new hardware and cage
Permanent nerve damage in both legs
Failure of SCS implant

Currently on
150'mg Lyrica 4xdaily
10/325 Percocet
80mg Morphine
8mg Timazidine muscle relaxer
20 mg Lexapro
10 ng ambien
Vitamin D
Spinal Cord Stimulator
Posted 9/4/2012 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
Being that i was told 3 years ago this month that i would live in chronic pain for the rest of my life ME and the FDA are not friends. They keep making people like us who have real issues not able to have access to the medicines we need to function. I feel for you and i am sorry you are going through this. I hope that you can work with your doctor and get to an agreement.


Best Wishes.

Bunny
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