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from the Antidiarrheal-overdose?-Oh,-crap! dept.
NPR is reporting on the latest drug scare, involving an over-the-counter antidiarrheal drug that is being used for its opioid-like effects by addicts:
Some people addicted to oxycodone and other opioids are now turning to widely available diarrhea medications to manage their withdrawal symptoms or get high. The results can be dangerous to the heart — and sometimes fatal — warn toxicologists in a study [open, DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.03.047] recently published online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
The researchers describe two case studies where people who were addicted to opioids tried to ease their withdrawal symptoms by taking many times the recommended dose of loperamide, a drug commonly used treat diarrhea. Both patients died.
"Because of its low cost, ease of accessibility and legal status, it's a drug that is very, very ripe for abuse," says lead author William Eggleston, a doctor of pharmacy and fellow in clinical toxicology at the Upstate New York Poison Center, which is affiliated with SUNY Upstate Medical University.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by jdavidb on Wednesday May 04 2016, @05:54PM
YOU think something, therefore fuck everyone else.
That's true of the other side, too, though. "I think people can and should be saved by putting imodium behind the counter, so fuck everyone else."
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 04 2016, @06:16PM
While that is debatable, this isn't about imodium any more. runaway has expanded the question from the very narrow question of controlling access to imodium to providing aid to people with addictions in general as the world would be better off without them because 'resources.'
(Score: 4, Insightful) by jdavidb on Wednesday May 04 2016, @07:51PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @04:53AM
Your freedom has already been compromised, and its why addicts can't get help, even if they want it. Prohibition harms everyone.
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Wednesday May 04 2016, @06:29PM
"I think people can and should be saved by putting imodium behind the counter, so fuck everyone else."
I agree. In fact I'm highly suspect of this claim and I think it's no coincidence that the DEA has been "cracking down" on prescription medications in the past few years and are just creating jobs for themselves, working down the list of medications and classifying anything that could potentially cause a bit of dizzyness as having potential for "abuse". Hey they need to justify an ever expanding budget, right?
Funnily enough drug prohibition (including opioid prohibition) has never managed to curb the number of drug abusers, which always seems to be around 3% whether drugs are legal or not. But when you make it harder for people to obtain these products for legitimate use, you are punishing people who actually need the product while doing nothing to curb its illicit use.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 04 2016, @07:00PM
In fact I'm highly suspect of this claim and I think it's no coincidence that the DEA has been "cracking down" on prescription medications in the past few years and are just creating jobs for themselves
I think you're spot on. BTW, did you know that the DEA is the largest enforcement agency in the world with presence (and jurisdiction) in almost every country in the world.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday May 05 2016, @02:31AM
Especially since immodium doubtless halts far more suffering than it causes. Most of you probably don't remember when there was nothing that would reliably stop the screaming shits from intestinal flu -- and that can be critical in children and old people.
It's also commonly used to treat viral diarrhea in puppies, which in weanlings can be the difference between life and death.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.