KosAbility meets on the last Sunday of every month at 4pm PST; all are welcome; open thread.
I had an overabundance of topics and info for this month’s post, and I failed the challenge to weave it into something coherent, due to a 2-week cold/flu and then this week following the impeachment trial every day. Sadly, I don’t have the ability to write while sick or while listening to legal arguments. I hope you’ll forgive me for presenting another hodgepodge of news and op-eds for you to discuss optionally.
A recent “argument” on Twitter helps me to formulate a question that persistently comes up: which is more important — “saving” someone from themselves by mandatory testing or other rules, or giving individuals the right to privacy and choice?
It’s not totally about opioid prescriptions, though that is a frequent focus. There’s been a lot of argument about drug testing in the workplace. (I recently challenged a pain doctor on Twitter about him and his colleagues being regularly tested for drug use given the safety issues of doctors using drugs — he said they threatened to walk out and the hospital caved in… very telling!) And there’s lots of discussion about how medical corporations use patient records — and who they share them with.
So that’s one discussion point: where to draw the line between individuals’ rights and the desire to push them toward a healthy/safe action?
I don’t know if this is verified, but it is interesting:
Jill Piggott
@JillPiggott
In 2014, fed govt spent more on #opioid urine tests than on 4 most recommended #cancer screenings combined. Urine screens are only medically necessary in patients w/ history of substance abuse. CDC 2016 says av 96.97% don't develop misuse, dependence, or addiction.
This article talks about a larger context for addiction — and raises the question for me: why are prescriptions being restricted but social issues not also being mandated?
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2020/1/18/the-real-reasons-people-become-addicted
The Real Reasons People Become Addicted
January 18, 2020
The Atlantic recently published an article, “The True Cause of the Opioid Epidemic,” that shares an underreported view of the complexities of the opioid crisis. The article acknowledges the epidemic is a multi-faceted drug problem that is largely driven by economic despair.
Yet most of the media remains focused on the large volume of opioids being prescribed, while ignoring the fact that opioids fill a demand created by deeply rooted, unaddressed societal problems.
As PNN reported, a recent study found that auto plant closures in the Midwest and Southeast created a depressed economic environment where drug abuse thrived. Poverty and hopelessness, more than overprescribing, were the seeds of the opioid crisis.
But those factors are only part of the issue. The prevalence of mental health disorders, the lack of immediate access to affordable treatment of addiction, and inadequately treated chronic pain — along with poverty and despair — have caused and sustained the continuing drug crisis.
This one is not related to pain meds, but looks at the larger issue of mandatory control of those with mental health issues — who, when, why… from the point of view of parents of a schizophrenic man:
www.washingtonpost.com/…
...Over the past 20 years, Aaron has spiraled from a high school star and an academic all-American on the Arizona State University football team to a ward of the state of Maryland. He has been captive not just to a schizophrenic brain but to a perfect storm of factors — underfunded treatment facilities, prisons and jails serving as de facto asylums, a lack of advancements in medication —that has made it generally harder for people with serious mental illnesses to get the help they need.
All the while, Anita has been at Aaron’s side, trying to care for her son while insulating her family — and the public — from his unpredictable behavior.As she puts it, “Protecting the mentally ill, you become mentally ill just trying to get it all together.”
…Anita didn’t believe him. How could this doctor, who’d met Aaron only once, know anything about her son? “I thought it was a hasty diagnosis. I thought, ‘Oh, I just got a bad doctor,’ ”she says. Aaron returned to school, and the Dumsches carried on with their lives, hoping their “good boy gone bad,” as Anita puts it, would soon find his way.
Nearly a year later, after Aaron had left ASU and moved home, Anita and Pat slowly began to realize the truth: That psychiatrist had been right — Aaron really was ill. They found themselves living at home with a son they hardly recognized….
The article recounts how Aaron had to get into the criminal system before he was given the resource of inpatient care when his behavior and mental state became severely unstable. It’s a poignant article, and as someone who was a therapist on a teen psych unit for a decade, I can tell you it’s accurate — families are devastated when they can’t get help, or when they are prevented from keeping an adult child from self harm or harming others… it’s complex and I don’t think there’s one simple answer.
THIS is Breaking News:
lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/…
The state of WA has introduced a bill to HELP chronic pain patients — worth reading the pdf.
The legislature finds that Washington8residents suffering from chronic pain are unable to obtain necessary prescription medications at effective doses to treat their pain because previous opioid-related laws and rules have created a chilling effect among health care practitioners. These health care practitioners are afraid of facing discipline, losing their license to practice, and of possible civil liability if they prescribe high doses of opioids to patients with chronic pain. Therefore, the legislature intends to end the chilling effect created by these laws to allow patients in Washington with chronic pain to receive prescription medications at levels that effectively treat their pain.
This one is a follow up on my last KosAbility diary:
Ozzy Osbourne breaks his silence on his battle with Parkinson's disease - GMA https://goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/ozzy-osbourne-opens-parkinsons-diagnosis-family-helped-back-68416861 #news #feedly
Finally, this is not totally relevant, but I was impressed by a chronic pain sufferer using her “down time” to create an amazing afghan and then offering it to help the Freedom from Pain project. I have no connection with this, but I will donate because this is the kind of positive action we can take even if our pain/energy limits us.
Adrianne Grand
@ravensspirit68
Dec 30, 2019
Doing another blanket giveaway, for this blanket. Donations to the Freedom From Pain Blanket Project are encouraged & appreciated-Not necessary to enter to win. To enter leave comment, like, share... Fundraiser page is linked here below on thread. Drawing to be held 3-21-2020.
Please donate if you can. More info on the link about the project. I'd like to be able to do biannual giveaways too if possible. donations help to cover costs of materials, shipping, & support the many days it takes to create these handmade blankets.
https://ie.gofundme.com/f/freedom-from-pain-blanket-project
This is a fundraiser to create the FREEDOM FROM PAIN blanket project. This is being done in order to be a tangible representation of the lives that have been touched by having needed medicines taken away. Included in this blanket will be squares for those who have tragically lost their lives due to this injustice will have special squares made.
If you or someone you love has been affected and would like a square to be made and included in the blanket project, please leave initials with year of birth for each square in the comment section. This is to preserve anonymity but will help me keep track and avoid duplicating squares that are made. I'm suggesting a $5 dollar donation per square but you are free to donate as you are able.