Politico: The Myth of What's Driving the Opioid Crisis

[drusso]

Is Dr. Sally Satel justified believing this? Or, is she spreading fake news?

The Myth of What’s Driving the Opioid Crisis


"I have also watched a false narrative about this crisis blossom into conventional wisdom: The myth that the epidemic is driven by patients becoming addicted to doctor-prescribed opioids, or painkillers like hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin) and oxycodone (e.g., Percocet). One oft-quoted physician refers to opioid medication as “heroin pills.” This myth is now a media staple and a plank in nationwide litigation against drugmakers."

Sally Satel - Wikipedia

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[emd123]

Is Dr. Sally Satel justified believing this? Or, is she spreading fake news?

The Myth of What’s Driving the Opioid Crisis


"I have also watched a false narrative about this crisis blossom into conventional wisdom: The myth that the epidemic is driven by patients becoming addicted to doctor-prescribed opioids, or painkillers like hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin) and oxycodone (e.g., Percocet). One oft-quoted physician refers to opioid medication as “heroin pills.” This myth is now a media staple and a plank in nationwide litigation against drugmakers."

Sally Satel - Wikipedia

She makes some very good points. Some people will never get addicted no matter what you prescribe them. Other people will be addicts no matter what you refuse to prescribe them and will chew through a brick wall to get drugs with which to kill themselves. But doctors make a convenient scapegoat. We are mostly defenseless, rule-followers, powerless to stand up to those we're 100% dependent on for our livelihoods, that is, the Federal government.

 

[lobelsteve]

'Hundreds of thousands of pills.' Opioid prescriptions send Granite Bay cardiologist to prison

This guy.

Cardiologist going to jail

94 norco. Per day for 1 patient.

 

[Ducttape]

If you read the entire artivle she does make points, but unfortunately she misconstrues her points to justify her incorrect conclusions.

Some of her data is also of the meta-analysis (ie espousing Cochrane database for example). She ignores the volume effect(ie 2% of 87 million prescription patients becoming addicted is still 4 times more than the number of heroin addicts in the US - and 3/4 of these heroin addicts started apparently with prescription drugs). She uses time frames that are incorrect, when comparing present day with the early 2000s, after high dose prescribing began... multiple other errors.

I think she even tries to confabulation about her statement about prescription pills being called heroin pills. Diacetyl morphine is not that different from morphine alone chemically...

 

[emd123]

'Hundreds of thousands of pills.' Opioid prescriptions send Granite Bay cardiologist to prison

This guy.

Cardiologist going to jail

94 norco. Per day for 1 patient.

That's just stupid. Only slightly more stupid than a face tat that says, "Arrest me now. Please."

 

[PainDrain]

While some of her points are valid, I have spoken to several heroin addicts and the overwhelming majority said their addiction started with abuse of pills . Now the pills these people abused were often not prescribed for them and were obtained illegally but this doesn’t change the fact that the availability of prescription medication has definitely led to an increased risk of addiction in the general population. I am sure there are very few heroin addicts who started out saying they want to jab a needle in their arm.

 

[SeniorWrangler]

A lot of her arguments are identical to those used by Pharma in defending their role in the situation.