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Welcome

I've been looking for some other CP/IP (Chronic/Intractable Pain) patients who would like to contribute to this site, whether one time, sporadic, or regularly. If anyone is interested, please email me at IntractablePainKills@gmail.com

I'm also open to any suggestions about improving the blog.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT ON ANY POST, PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE TO LOAD THE INDIVIDUAL POST.


DUE TO A GLITCH IN BLOGGER, MY POSTS DO NOT ALWAYS POST IN ORDER BECAUSE THEY POST USING THE TIME THAT I STARTED THE INITIAL DRAFT. I DO MY BEST TO CORRECT THIS WHENEVER POSSIBLE, HOWEVER SOME SLIP BY, SO PLEASE REMEMBER TO READ THE TITLES OF MORE THAN JUST THE MOST RECENT POST IF YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS ANYTHING.

Monday, March 31, 2014

17,000 DEATHS - GOP's Obamacare spite means death toll for red states - Daily Kos

Daily Kos :: GOP's Obamacare spite means death toll for red states

http://bit.ly/1gUFjjJ

"Yet as damaging as that uncertainty and chaos has been, the Republican Party's scorched-earth opposition to Obamacare is producing something far worse: a body count. That's not hyperbole, but a grim reality. Due to what might be the greatest act of political spite in modern American history, Republicans will needlessly leave millions of people uninsured, many hospitals on the edge of financial ruin and thousands of Americans dead, mostly in the states the GOP itself controls."

17,000 deaths from rejected Medicaid expansion

Ask the Pharmacist: Why Am I Being Denied a Pain Medication? - National Pain Report

Ask the Pharmacist: Why Am I Being Denied a Pain Medication? - National Pain Report

http://bit.ly/1hVfr2n

I know what you're thinking, another link, really? Unfortunately, I haven't felt up to posting any personal posts. Fortunately, I've been running across quote a few great articles.

Steve

Sunday, March 30, 2014

My Story: Politicians Should Stop Opposing Medical Marijuana - National Pain Report

My Story: Politicians Should Stop Opposing Medical Marijuana - National Pain Report

http://bit.ly/1dGGRNH

Report Claims Drug Testing for Painkillers Motivated by Profit - National Pain Report

Report Claims Drug Testing for Painkillers Motivated by Profit - National Pain Report
http://bit.ly/1rUK2oW

"...between 2000 and 2009 the number of all Medicare laboratory services increased by about 48%, while the number of drug tests conducted in physicians’ offices increased over 3,000,000 percent ....

An estimated 116 million Americans suffer from acute and chronic pain. Many doctors who treat chronic pain patients require them to submit to random drug screens as a condition for receiving prescription pain medications. The stated rationale is to prevent misuse and possible addiction, but Collen claims there is little evidence to support the value of drug tests on people with chronic pain.

“It would be naive to say that money has not played a role in the dramatic increase in drug testing as noted in the paper,” Collen wrote in an email to American News Report. “I believe profits drove drug testing behavior and behavior drove acceptance of the procedure before there was sufficient evidence of efficacy. Now physicians may be drug testing patients because others are doing it.”

Until recently doctors could charge Medicare and private insurers up to $225 for a urine drug test that cost them a little over $20. Medicare changed its reimbursement rules after the government found evidence that some laboratories and doctors were using questionable billing practices.

Ameritox, a national laboratory that provides drug testing, agreed to pay $16.3 million in fines in 2010 to settle claims that it gave kickbacks to doctors for using its labs. A whistleblower lawsuit filed by an Ameritox sales representative alleged the company made cash payments to physicians for drug test referrals and also placed personnel in doctors’ offices to collect urine samples for drug tests that were then billed to Medicare. Ameritox says its business practices have changed since the settlement. Another testing company, Calloway Laboratories, was indicted by a Massachusetts grand jury for an “extensive” kickback scheme for doctors. Calloway has denied the charges.

Concern about a “lack of boundaries” in drug test billing led the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) to warn its members about increased government oversight. “The use of clinical drug tests in pain management has become an area ripe for the submission of fraudulent and abusive claims for reimbursement and rampant ‘overutilization’ of laboratory services,” warned Jennifer Bolden, a former federal prosecutor who is a special counsel to the AAPM."

My doctor stopped "random" drug testing on both my wife and myself, when they found out that it wasn't covered and, as Medicaid recipients, they couldn't bill either of us.

Steve M

American Pain Rights Act Petition

American Pain Rights Act Petition
http://bit.ly/1dGT7h6

My comment:
I'm a cancer patient with severe intractable pain. Because of the rampant Opiophobia caused by the epidemic of anti-opioid propaganda, I can no longer get adequate treatment. Pain patients aren't addicts and we aren't criminals, we didn't choose to live in pain 24/7. We are treated as guilty the moment we walk into the doctor's office, hospital, or pharmacy. Addiction among chronic pain patients is extremely rare (3-7 patients per thousand). Those of its who take our medications as prescribed should NEVER been punished because an minority of people abuse these essential medications.

Drug abusers will get opioids no matter what. These opiophobic policies harm pain patients, but have no effect on addicts other than to raise street prices on pharmaceutical opioids and force them to switch to heroin (diacetylmorphine/diamorphine), which is much more dangerous because they cannot accurately determine dose. There are even a subset of extremely desperate pain patients (mostly in Florida) who have resorted to heroin for pain relief. No one should have to turn to the streets for medical care.

For intractable pain patients, like myself, there is no alternative to opioids. Before doctors prescribe opioids, they make us try dozens of other treatments (with serious side effects).

Opioids aren't nearly as dangerous as NSAIDs or acetaminophen, each of which kill more people each year than all opioids combined.

Overcoming Opiophobia
http://bit.ly/Opiophobia

The Intractable Pain Patients' Handbook for Survival
http://bit.ly/PainGuidePDF

8 Ways to Annoy a Friend With a Chronic Illness

8 Ways to Annoy a Friend With a Chronic Illness

http://bit.ly/1prSz0n

Friday, March 28, 2014

The 6 Worst Words in Evidence-Based Medicine

Pain-Topics News/Research UPDATES: The 6 Worst Words in Evidence-Based Medicine
http://bit.ly/1i2DkpZ

"There is no evidence to suggest that jumping from an airplane in flight without a parachute as compared with using a parachute is fatal."

Purdue Developing Hydrocodone Drug to Rival Zohydro - National Pain Report

Purdue Developing Hydrocodone Drug to Rival Zohydro - National Pain Report

http://bit.ly/P2XNTo

This new formulation (HydroContin?) is an improvement because it is once daily, but it will be abuse deterrent, likely the same abuse deterrent as the new OxyContin, which many pain patients cannot absorb.

Be sure to read:
Drug Maker Blames ‘Misinformation’ for Zohydro Controversy
http://bit.ly/P30Dri

Drug Maker Blames ‘Misinformation’ for Zohydro Controversy - National Pain Report

Drug Maker Blames ‘Misinformation’ for Zohydro Controversy - National Pain Report

http://bit.ly/1peed85

Excerpt:
...“Without justification, inaccurate allegations have been made that Zogenix paid a university to arrange meetings with the FDA to secure approval of Zohydro ER,” wrote Hawley.

“The university in question has declared for the record that, in the meetings it arranged with FDA officials, no representation from Zogenix was present, nor was the company or its products ever discussed. In fact, Zogenix did not even exist as a company at the time of these meetings.”

Some pain patients who want access to Zohydro have told National Pain Report that it is Sen. Manchin who has a conflict of interest.

The senator’s daughter, Heather Bresch, is the CEO of Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ:MYL) a Pittsburgh-based pharmaceutical company that is one of the largest generic drug manufacturers in the world. One of Mylan’s top-selling drugs is a hydrocodone product containing acetaminophen.

Campaign records show that political action committees or individuals associated with Mylan have donated $127,000 to Manchin in the last five years — making Mylan the senator’s second largest corporate contributor...

Massachusetts Declares Health Emergency, Bans Zohydro - National Pain Report

Massachusetts Declares Health Emergency, Bans Zohydro - National Pain Report
http://bit.ly/1h4v1rg

This is totally unacceptable, and bit entirely legal. This will not have any effect on drug abuse (except, maybe, killing more via heroin overdose), but it will hurt pain patients.

We need to stop allowing these anti-opioid propagandists control the agenda.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

OT - Why Is a Florida Man Facing Life in Prison For Lending a Friend His Car and Going to Sleep? | The Nation

Why Is a Florida Man Facing Life in Prison For Lending a Friend His Car and Going to Sleep? | The Nation
http://bit.ly/O1RZbz

Totally off-topic, but injustice is injustice, whether felony murder rule or going after physicians who treat pain.

ACLU Sues over Mandatory Drug Tests - National Pain Report

ACLU Sues over Mandatory Drug Tests - National Pain Report

http://bit.ly/1eWLOjN

FDA Approves First Device to Prevent Migraines - National Pain Report

FDA Approves First Device to Prevent Migraines - National Pain Report
http://bit.ly/1eWKqO2

Feds Investigate Walgreens Over Privacy Concerns - National Pain Report

Feds Investigate Walgreens Over Privacy Concerns - National Pain Report
http://bit.ly/1pefSuh

Anything to different from the discrimination of CP/IP patients.

Drug Maker Blames ‘Misinformation’ for Zohydro Controversy - National Pain Report

Drug Maker Blames ‘Misinformation’ for Zohydro Controversy - National Pain Report
http://bit.ly/1peed85

FDA Hears From Fibromyalgia Patients - National Pain Report

FDA Hears From Fibromyalgia Patients - National Pain Report

http://bit.ly/1pec1gP

Don't forget to read the comments.

A Pained Life: Pain Contracts - National Pain Report

A Pained Life: Pain Contracts - National Pain Report

http://bit.ly/1gsP5s5

Thursday, March 13, 2014

FDA approved Fibromyalgia drugs cause side effects more often than relief

Drugs for Fibromyalgia: How Good Are They?- National Pain Report
http://bit.ly/O4OAth

Lyrica provides relief for 10% of patients, Cymbalta 6%, and Savella 8-10%.

Technically, 1 in 10 patients reporting significant relief from Lyrica/pregabalin is better than placebo, which is all that the FDA requires for approval (the major flaw in the FDA approval process).

"In the case of Lyrica, randomized controlled trials have shown that doses of 600 mg daily produce drowsiness in 15-20% and dizziness in 27% to 46%.

Other side effects include dry mouth, weight gain, peripheral oedema (swelling). In another important review, it was found that treatment was discontinued due to adverse events in one out of 4 patients."

Fibromyalgia patients deserve pain medication, not placebos that cause massive weight gain and fatigue.

For those that get relief from them, opioids (as well as Xyrem/sodium oxybate) should be made available to them. Enough of these useless antidepressants. Enough of making Fibromyalgia patients feel bad because they don't respond to these useless drugs. Enough of shaming Fibromyalgia victims for requiring opioids.

Chronic & Intractable pain victims are not addicts and we are not criminals. We shouldn't be treated any different from a diabetic refilling his insulin, metformin, Actos, or Byetta.

It's bad enough that opioids are withheld from most chronic pain patients, especially Fibromyalgia patients, but to give them drugs that are useless for their pain condition (they might help for depression), all while telling them that the drugs are specifically approved for their condition, is inhumane and cruel.

-Steve

"In summary, a minority of patients will report substantial benefit with Lyrica, and more will have moderate . Many will have no or trivial benefit, or will discontinue the drug because of adverse events."

“Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing.”

"Those who have been awarded a diagnosis of fibromyalgia find themselves in a “double bind.”

On the one hand, the very diagnosis can arouse disbelief at all levels of society and, on the other hand, the available drugs afford most of them little, if any, relief of pain."

Thursday, March 6, 2014

BALANCED Opioid Article

It's unprecedented, but the media has finally realized that the patients' perspective in the debate over prescription opioids belongs in the article, not the comments section.

I urge you to read and pass along this well written, well thought out article...

Why are patients shut out of the debate over prescription pain medicine? - The Washington Post

http://wapo.st/P6xOuA

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Article: Fibromyalgia Mystery Finally Solved! Researchers Find Main Source of Pain in Blood Vessels

Fibromyalgia Mystery Finally Solved!
Researchers Find Main Source of Pain in Blood Vessels

http://bit.ly/1c4Q0yu

This is a more laymen-friendly version of an article from several months ago that explains that Fibromyalgia isn't Psychiatric, but neuropathic. The pain is the result of abnormal nerve fibers, which improperly manage the blood vessels. This article focuses on the fact that Fibromyalgia is not Psychiatric, but I'll repost the more in depth article later.

The worst part is that, thanks to the War on Drugs, War on Doctors, and the newest war, the War on Patients, Fibromyalgia patients will still be given useless SSRIs (Prozac/fluoxetine, Paxil/paroxetine, Zoloft/sertraline, etcetera), SSNRIs (Cymbalta/duloxetine, Effexor/venlafaxine, Pristiq/desvenlafaxine,  tramadol/Ultram/Ryzolt, Nucynta/tapentadol, Savella/milnacipran, etcetera), and mood stabilizers (antipsychotics & anti-epileptics; gabapentin/Neurontin/Gralise, Lyrica/pregabalin, Lamictal, Abilify/aripiprazole, Seroquel, etcetera). Unfortunately, antiopioid propaganda and the DEA are preventing most physicians from prescribing pain medications for pain. Opioids are the safest (especially in the longterm), most efficacious (with adequate dosing) solution for any chronic pain condition.

Remember, acetaminophen/paracetamol/Tylenol alone kills more people than all opioids combined. NSAIDs aren't as deadly as acetaminophen/paracetamol, but they're still more deadly than opioids. Actually, even diacetylmorphine/diamorphine/Heroin rarely kills on its own, drug abusers die from mixed drug toxicity (combining alcohol and/or sedatives with opioids). Of course, opioid related deaths are almost all drug abusers. The statistics are never deaths caused by opioids, they're "opioid related deaths" or "drug related deaths", meaning any death that occurs with a drug peripherally involved, even if it is completely unrelated to the actual cause of death.

Steve