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DEA tracked every opioid pill sold in the US. The data is out
Between 2006 and 2012, opioid drug makers and distributors flooded the country with 76 billion pills of oxycodone and hydrocodone—highly addictive opioid pain medications that sparked the epidemic of abuse and overdoses that killed nearly 100,000 people in that time period.
As the epidemic surged over the seven-year period, so did the supply. The companies increased distribution from 8.4 billion in 2006 to 12.6 billion in 2012, a jump of roughly 50%. In all, the deluge of pills was enough to supply every adult and child in the country with around 36 opioid pills per year. Just a 10-day supply can hook 1 in 5 people into being long-term users, researchers have determined.
The stunning supply figures were first reported by the Washington Post and come from part of a database compiled by the Drug Enforcement Administration that tracked the fate of every opioid pill sold in America, from manufacturers to individual pharmacies. A federal court in Ohio released the data this week as part of a massive consolidated court case against nearly two-dozen opioid makers and distributors, brought by nearly 2,000 cities, towns, and counties. The local governments allege that the opioid companies conspired to saturate the country with the potent painkillers to soak up billions in profits. The companies deny the allegations, arguing generally that they were serving the needs of patients.
According to an analysis of the data by the Post, just three companies made 88% of the opioid pills: SpecGx, Actavis Pharma, and Par Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals. Purdue Pharma ranked fourth, making 3% of the pills. Just six companies distributed 75% of the pills: McKesson Corp., Walgreens, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, CVS, and Walmart.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday July 18 2019, @02:29AM (4 children)
One university still has a monopoly [arstechnica.com] on expensive cannabis of dubious quality [pbs.org] sold for research purposes. And you have dumbasses like Chris Christie informing policy [cnn.com].
DEA can shove it. That 4-6 companies made or distributed opioids is hardly important. Heroin, etc. should be decriminalized, supervised injection sites should be supported, but more options should be available, cannabis in particular. Instead the policy is to make it hard for someone to get their prescribed oxycodone.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Fluffeh on Thursday July 18 2019, @02:53AM (3 children)
I find it amazing how certain countries are having an utter epidemic with opioids, while others aren't having the slightest problem with it. I agree that the policy shouldn't be to make getting a required prescription harder, but I also strongly think that the majority of prescriptions are being given without real need. I read an article on the NY Times a while back [nytimes.com] that was written by an Californian lady who had lived in Munich for a number of years. Great short read and gives good insight into the vastly different approaches to pain management that she saw during an operation she had to have.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:11AM (1 child)
Billionaire founder of opioid firm guilty of bribing doctors to prescribe drug [theguardian.com]
Going after pharma companies that bribed doctors to overprescribe opioids could help. Criminal charges and lawsuits.
Meanwhile, people should be able to get a reliable supply of fentanyl-free heroin if they want it, and we should have desktop chemputers for making a variety of drugs.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:28AM
As an aside:
https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/beacons/futurelife/digitisingchemistry/ [gla.ac.uk]
http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/ [gla.ac.uk] (not working for some reason)
https://twitter.com/thechemputer?lang=en [twitter.com]
A lot of great info on the Twitter account indicating serious progress. The chemputer can clean itself (takes 2 hours), they have a mini version, and it seems to be able to make a lot of stuff [twitter.com] (it would be nice to have a full list of confirmed synthesized chemicals though).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @05:27PM
The same could be said for alcohol, tobacco, obesity, anorexia, work-related suicide, financial irresponsibility, violent crime, terrorism (political, religious, or otherwise), overpopulation, underpopulation, or any number of problems. Different countries have different problems. Why would it be surprising that opioids are just like any number of other attributes of society?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @02:36AM (7 children)
From the ArsT article: "Early last year, the CDC released guidelines for prescribing opioids, recommending weak, short doses, ideally three days for acute pain. The agency urged doctors to refrain from prescribing opioids for chronic pain, except for cancer patients and end-of-life care."
This recommendation has led to doctors leaving chronic pain patients to, well, writhe in pain. Some are simply killing themselves. But old and disabled people killing themselves is good for Medicare and Social Security, right, so no problem there.
The article says 1 in 5 people become long term users after a 10 day supply of opioids. Is that because they turned into junkies in those 10 days, or could it be that the condition for which they take the opioids is still going on? Sure seems like the article (and the study?) want everyone to think it's the former, and not the latter.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday July 18 2019, @02:52AM (2 children)
That's called being human, mate. You know? A biological construct, with nerves and all the troubles this come along with.
Expecting to be repaired for anything broken and causing pain like a second hand car is simply an unreasonable expectation. Deal with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 5, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:33AM (1 child)
I had very serious surgery about 10 years ago, and was sent home with a handful of paracetamol after about 5 days (or so).
I was still in pain, but really it was a bad ache rather than excruciating pain, and with hindsight I am glad they didn't give me anything stronger.
I just lay in bed and complained, and Mrs. PartTimeZombie told me to get over it. Worked out fine in the end.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:43AM
Glad you dealded in the end.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by HiThere on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:26AM
Opiods are not a good treatment for long term pain. Various studies have shown that over the long term they aren't much better than aspirin, and for many patients are worse. OTOH, there have been studies that have shown that cannabis is better at long term care, and for terminal pain there was one study that showed that LSD was a better choice. It didn't actually kill the pain so much as make the patients willing to accept it. (IFAIK that study was only of a small group, and was never repeated. The "crusade" against "hippie drugs" started about that time. So you don't need to trust it, but it sure is interesting that the result was never followed up.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @11:16AM (1 child)
I have a friend in his late 60's. He's a very conservative church goer and can get a bit self righteous. Early last year he broke his ankle serious enough to require surgery (the pin was in place for about a month). He was prescribed Oxy.
I visited him a few days after he got home and he said he felt great. Not only was his ankle almost pain free, but he felt younger and had more energy. The way he felt he wasn't going to let his ankle keep him from his normal day to day activities, so he was zooming around on his crutches. So much so that his wife was worried he would re-injure his ankle.
I talked to hm about it, and he said the ankle surgery was a godsend because it seemed to have alleviated all the aches and pains he had on a daily basis. He felt like a new man. He was crushed when I explained that it was the Oxy and that this is how many people get addicted. Not because they get high, but because they feel so much better that they don't want to go back to they way they felt before.
He said it completely changed how he felt about "drug addicts" and that he felt guilty for being so judgmental towards them. His wife cut back his dosage and had him off the Oxy about two weeks after the pin in his ankle was removed. Every once in a while, when he's feeling his age, he says in passing (something to the effect of) "boy, I could sure use one of those pills today." I remind him "We all could."
(Score: 2, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:02PM
I think I am glad Oxy didn't have that effect on me when I had surgery. Instead it just made me pass out on the couch. Which is fine, I am not in pain when I am asleep.
But now that I have healed I don't need drugs to pass out on the couch. That comes naturally.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 4, Interesting) by stormreaver on Thursday July 18 2019, @01:24PM
I had to have minor surgery years ago, and was prescribed Hydrocodone for my post-op pain. The surgeon made a mistake while prepping me, which lead to a longer recovery time accompanied with the need for a longer prescription. The way the hospital treated me when I called in for the additional refills leaves me with no doubt that I was classified as a junkie. So take everything coming out of the DEA and CDC with a HUGE grain of skepticism.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ilPapa on Thursday July 18 2019, @02:37AM (2 children)
I'll bet you didn't know this:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2685627 [jamanetwork.com]
Hey, don't get mad at me, I'm just the messenger. This is a peer-reviewed study.
But if you think it over, it explains a lot.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @05:16AM (1 child)
the science is settled! maha: make america high again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @11:07PM
That is a medicare study. Well over 80% of the survey were over 65.
They managed to study old people who live in economically depressed areas who are angry the democrats have let the down again. They were promised obamacare would help them with change. They watched their kids get kicked in the balls with high insurance bills and even higher deductibles.
Or in other words they managed to measure something in a fancy way.
(Score: 2) by goodie on Thursday July 18 2019, @02:56AM (1 child)
The data has not been released publicly. What the heck are we supposed to just read ads on the WP to get the figures?
It's of public interest to release this data as part of open data initiatives. Let people see it, work with it and use it to devise targeted strategies and find clusters of doctors who are pill-happy prescribers!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ilPapa on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:06AM
The DEA doesn't want you to see the data because of what a demographic analysis will tell you about the supporters of a certain fat, degenerate politician who happens to be in the White House.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2685627 [jamanetwork.com]
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:11AM (4 children)
So, 10% of population is constantly under influence by opiates; that's including children and so on. This does not include illegal heroin, speed, grass, cocaine. Does not include uppers and downers for all king of disorders. Let's not forget drinking. Is anybody normal out there Friday night? At all?
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:28AM (1 child)
Well, I'm almost always under the influence of caffeine...so probably not.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:10AM
As a certified pilot I use "The I'M SAFE Checklist" https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-i-m-safe-checklist-282948 [thebalancecareers.com]
While caffeine may be your concern, is not a danger for general population.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:52AM
Yeah, ah see whatcha mean. A sick nation
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:04PM
Yes, although I do have a rather worrying caffeine habit. Completely straight-edge other than that though, and I tend not to take caffeine after 2 PM.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Barenflimski on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:41AM (8 children)
This looks like just another article that lays easy blame for a problem that most Americans can't and won't wrap their heads around.
The "opiate crisis" was not born overnight. The "opiate crisis" was not born out of doctors prescribing too many pills. If its all about access to opiates, how is it that Afghanistan and Mexico don't have these exact same problems, but in higher numbers? The United States doesn't have a pill problem, it has a whole bunch of other problems that pills help people with. Why come we can't focus on those issues?
Wouldn't it stoke the economy if we were able to help people in the U.S. from being so sad and depressed? It seems to me that its a whole lot more likely that people that were prescribed these pills that got "hooked" had many types of pain fixed by this. Maybe their leg is all better, but since the only help they ever received for their mental anguish was given to them by these pills, what else do they know? Are we going to fire up the mental health system to help people who's only found peace is now being removed by the government? This is a complete and utter failure of society to not meet these needs, which expresses itself as a 'drug issue.'
These types of issues go so much deeper. The broken criminal justice system says all of the time, they are not equipped to help people in trouble. The health care system drops people that don't have jobs, so if you get into trouble, you're into one of America's systematic black holes. Even good health insurance doesn't pay for mental health. Apparently the brain doesn't count?
A huge problem we need to deal with before we even move onto the deeper issues is being able to talk about this stuff without immediately resorting to punishment and shaming. How on earth can someone that is in serious mental anguish want to get "help" if that help is only in the form of "oh, you shouldn't be on these meds. Thanks for letting us know."
It would be refreshing to see people wanting to dig deeper into these societal issues, but the resulting headlines don't sell ads like "McKesson tried to hook every human including infants on pills!!"
Until the entire conversation is changed, we are only harming more people.
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:55AM (4 children)
Why, you ask? I don't know, man, and I don't care. See? I just took that pill...
(large grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:15AM
Ah. If NHS just handed out happy pills like those, Britain wouldn't have any problems. What a country! ;)
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:30AM (2 children)
... the blue one.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:37AM
Naaah, not only that one... (Eww [xkcd.com]).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday July 19 2019, @01:18AM
So, now he's happy, is his girlfiend happy as well? Or is his girlfriend now depressed?
Further study is required.
Don't forget to take a before and after quiz. [psychcentral.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Informative) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:51PM
Or at least do some reading. [nih.gov] And then read some more... [nih.gov]
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 18 2019, @06:11PM
Because that would be socialism, apparently, and all socialism is bad even the good parts.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 19 2019, @01:00AM
People have their family income stagnant since 80s (I am not talking about certain isolated islands where the whole country wants to move to). Meantime wives are made to work so real per person or per hour income almost halved for most. Since 2008 it has been an outright depression (again, excluding certain island). What do we expect? Considering, folks are actually holding well. Domestic terrorism cases are rare and amateurish at best. I mean, no officers, being former middle class, tried to nuke the island yet, which should not be that difficult to accomplish.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:49AM
In this age of climate change only the abnormal can grow up regular.
(Score: 4, Funny) by istartedi on Thursday July 18 2019, @05:35AM (3 children)
Turns out religion isn't the opiate of the masses. Opiates are.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday July 18 2019, @05:40AM
Thanks to DEA, we can now hope the American justice will be make him right again! (large grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @05:42AM (1 child)
You haven't considered the drug interaction between opiates and religion.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday July 18 2019, @05:57AM
Thanks God he didn't! (grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:34PM (2 children)
"In a presentation at the Harvard Faculty Club in 1996, Pickard proposed that fentanyl and carfentanyl use would become epidemic, and suggested specific policies for preventing widespread abuse. Pickard's prediction was 22 years in advance of the 2018 opioid crisis."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard#Fentanyl_and_carfentanyl_epidemic_prediction [wikipedia.org]
It's time we stopped arresting and imprisoning our best and brightest, and recognize that we are being led by cretins, and worse.
http://www.freeleonardpickard.org/ [freeleonardpickard.org]
https://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/pickard_leonard/pickard_leonard.shtml [erowid.org]
We don't need any more politicians or perception managers.
But we do need brilliance ... genius ... integrity ... and people with moral compasses, that work.
Make it so!
~childo
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:49PM
So you're saying we need drug dealers to lead us. Brilliant!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 19 2019, @05:34PM
It's the failed War On Drugs that's largely to blame for the current "Opioid Crisis", and by that I mean the many people overdosing on fentanyl.
In fact, if not for the WOD we could probably cut law enforcement staff by at least 50%. We would need fewer prisons and government agencies. We could use some of the funds that we currently spend on the WOD to do meaningful research on addiction prevention. Violent crime would take a nose dive.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:53PM
The TV show House first airs in 2004. 2 years later the epidemic on opiods begins. Coincidence???