Posted: 27 Sep 2009 12:35 Last Edited By: pakratmak
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Quote: The steady stream of celebrity stories about prescription drug abuse makes Americans keenly aware of the dangers of overdosing on medications like OxyContin and Vicodin. And from President Obama's Drug Czar to California Attorney General Jerry Brown, politicians are calling for greater power to monitor doctor-patient relationships in order to fight the "epidemic" of prescription drug overdosing.
But maybe the real epidemic is underdosing. Countless Americans suffer with severe chronic pain because doctors are afraid to treat them properly.
Michael Jackson's death unleashed a flurry of media stories about all aspects of the pop star's life, including his alleged prescription drug abuse. On the same day countless millions watched Jackson's star-studded memorial service, reason.tv interviewed another musician.
Seán Clarke-Redmond, a man who enjoyed an active live before the neurodegenerative disease ALS, often referred to as Lou Gerig's disease, rendered him nearly immobile—he can no longer even play the piano.
The disease also left him in almost constant pain. Redmond is prescribed some medication, but not nearly enough to keep his pain under control. Dr. Frank Fisher says Redmond's case is an appallingly common one.
"Chronic pain in America is an enormously under treated disease," says Fisher, a Harvard-trained physician. "It's a public health disaster."
Pain specialists like Fisher and patients' groups like the Pain Relief Network battle law enforcement officials who are forever on the lookout for "pill mills" and patients who misuse pain medicine. Fisher notes that the same medications so often associated with celebrity addiction are the same medications that combat pain most effectively.
Fisher has treated his patients with high doses of opioids-that is, until a swat team raided his clinic and threw him behind bars.
"They were trying to give me 256 years to life," says Fisher who argues that fear of prosecution often prevents doctors from treating chronic pain patients effectively.
What allows doctors' medical decisions to be overruled by police?
"What we're dealing with is a mass insanity," says Fisher. "We call it the war on drugs."
"When Cops Play Doctor" is written and produced by Ted Balaker and hosted by Nick Gillespie. Director of Photography is Alex Manning, Associate Producers are Hawk Jensen and Paul Detrick.
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But the backdrops peel and the sets give way and the cast get eaten by the play, there's a murderer at the matinee, there are dead men in the aisles
And the patrons and the actors too are uncertain if the show is through and with sidelong looks await their cue, but the frozen mask just smiles
Posted: 30 Sep 2009 22:35
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I know this isn't the point you are making, but I wonder if a lot of pain doesn't come from too much sugar in people's diets. Sugar causes not only high blood pressure but also inflamation. Americans are getting way too much sugar. __________________
Lucas McCain the Rifleman: A man doesn't run from a fight, Mark...but that doesn't mean you should go running *to* one, either.
Posted: 30 Sep 2009 23:23
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I wasn't making a point, to be honest. Just posted something I thought was interesting. I do agree with us getting too much sugar, but I think it's more than just this. We probably consume way too much salt as well. Add in all the chemicals and preservatives in our processed foods, or all the treatments and chemicals and pesticides that affect our fruits and vegetables. It might be our increasingly sedentary lifestyle and the fact that we tend toward staying out of the sun more and more. Throw in the people who drink(to excesses) and smoke and abuse themselves with various drugs and one might assume we were actually trying to destroy ourselves. __________________
But the backdrops peel and the sets give way and the cast get eaten by the play, there's a murderer at the matinee, there are dead men in the aisles
And the patrons and the actors too are uncertain if the show is through and with sidelong looks await their cue, but the frozen mask just smiles
Posted: 01 Oct 2009 15:25
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Posts: 4786
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Not me, to quote Jimmy Stewart on It's a wonderful life. I want live!
I have this feeling that a lot of people think it's impossible to eat right so they don't even try. I used to think that. I thought eating green stuff would make me puke, but thank God I have a good wife who helped me get a taste for green stuff. __________________
Lucas McCain the Rifleman: A man doesn't run from a fight, Mark...but that doesn't mean you should go running *to* one, either.
