Chronic pain Support - Pain patch paranoia

Author

Pain patch paranoia

OldGoat

2006-06-15, 4:22 pm

Hey folks,

More tales of the horror of Fentanyl abuse. Don't chew your patches. This
foole probably died from the taste before the narcotic killed him. But once
again, it's a story full of hearsay, meant more to scare than inform.
Ambiguous numbers, skewed by NIDA and DEA. Disregard the hundreds of
thousands that the Fenanyl patch has saved from taking their own lives from
pain, only pay attention to the 8,000 people who were stupid enough to chew
one up. Pain patients be damned (again). When will they realize that anyone
stupid enough to crack open a patch is only getting exactly what they
deserve? Damn right it's harsh, but not as harsh as a life full of constant
pain.

Thanks for reading my editorial. You'll find the article below.--og
********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Painkiller patch abuse blamed for deaths
By JEFF DOUGLAS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 37 minutes ago

Justin Knox bit down on the bitter-tasting patch, instantly releasing three
days' worth of a drug more powerful than morphine. He was dead before he
even got to the hospital.

The 22-year-old construction worker and addict was another victim in an
apparent surge in U.S. overdoses blamed on abuse of the fentanyl patch, a
prescription-only product that is intended for cancer patients and others
with chronic pain and is designed to dispense the medicine slowly through
the skin.

"I cannot tell you the amount of people I've seen and the creative ways they
abuse this drug," said Dr. Scott Teitelbaum, director of the Florida
Recovery Center in Gainesville, Fla. "Fentanyl has been abused for years.
But recently there has been an increase. I've seen more chewing, squeezing
of the drug off the patch and shooting it up."

Fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic, was introduced in the 1960s, but it was not
until the early 1990s that it became available in patch form. Last year, the
first generic versions of the patch hit the market.

At least seven deaths in Indiana and four in South Carolina since 2005 have
been blamed on abuse of the fentanyl patch, along with more than 100 deaths
in Florida in 2004. About a week after Knox's death in Farmington, Mo., in
March, a second man in the same county was prescribed the patch legally and
died after injecting himself with the gel that he had scraped from it.

Emergency-room visits by people misusing fentanyl shot up nearly 14-fold to
8,000 nationwide between 2000 and 2004, according to the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services. The figures do not indicate how many of those ER
visits were because of the patch.

(In recent months, more than 100 deaths have been reported from Chicago and
Detroit to Philadelphia among drug addicts who overdosed on heroin mixed
with fentanyl. And federal drug agents believe fentanyl is being made in
clandestine labs in Mexico and elsewhere.)

The first fentanyl patch was Duragesic, made by Johnson & Johnson. Sales
more than tripled from 2000 to 2004, according to the Pacific Law Center in
La Jolla, Calif. Worldwide sales were more than $2 billion in 2004, and half
of that was in the U.S., according to the J&J's Web site.

More than 5.7 million prescriptions were written in 2003 for the Duragesic
patch, according to IMS Health.

Mark Wolfe, spokesman for PriCari, the J&J unit that oversees Duragesic,
said the product comes with strong "black box" warnings about the dangers of
abusing Duragesic.

One theory is that addicts are turning to the fentanyl patch because of a
government crackdown on abuse of another powerful prescription painkiller,
OxyContin, or oxycodone.

"The abuse of oxycodone and the fear of litigation is enough to scare
doctors from prescribing it. Duragesic is in vogue, as we've seen over the
last year and a half and two years," said Dr. John Brandt, a chronic-pain
specialist at the university of Florida.

In Missouri, the man accused of illegally selling the fentanyl patch to Knox
has been charged with murder.

"The awareness is just not out there. I had never heard of this patch," said
Knox's mother, Rose Marler. "There's a new generation of drugs and people
just need to be aware."

___

Legend

2006-06-15, 9:22 pm

This is totally ridiculous!

In the first place, the man is described as an "addict". That means
that either he was already abusing fentanyl, or that he probably had
other drugs in his system.

And the person who sold it to him being accused of murder-that's
ridiculous! but it could start a precedent. Just think...a doctor
refuses to give a legitimate chronic pain patient the medicine he
needs, even with documentation and/or knowledge of said patient's
history and condition. The patient commits suicide, no unprescribed
drugs are found in his system...and the doctor is responsible for
murder???

But the press just LOVES "addict" stories. Stories about legitimate
chronic pain are just boring, and those about suicide are just too
depressing(borrowing from another thread, I wish more people would read
THAT kind of "dark" writing.

Well, thanks for keeping us informed, OG-imagine, something that has to
do with the stated purpose of this group. Just wish you didn't havee
to.

-Legend

OldGoat wrote:
> Hey folks,
>
> More tales of the horror of Fentanyl abuse. Don't chew your patches. This
> foole probably died from the taste before the narcotic killed him. But once
> again, it's a story full of hearsay, meant more to scare than inform.
> Ambiguous numbers, skewed by NIDA and DEA. Disregard the hundreds of
> thousands that the Fenanyl patch has saved from taking their own lives from
> pain, only pay attention to the 8,000 people who were stupid enough to chew
> one up. Pain patients be damned (again). When will they realize that anyone
> stupid enough to crack open a patch is only getting exactly what they
> deserve? Damn right it's harsh, but not as harsh as a life full of constant
> pain.
>
> Thanks for reading my editorial. You'll find the article below.--og
> ********************************************************************************************************************************************************
>
> Painkiller patch abuse blamed for deaths
> By JEFF DOUGLAS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 37 minutes ago
>
> Justin Knox bit down on the bitter-tasting patch, instantly releasing three
> days' worth of a drug more powerful than morphine. He was dead before he
> even got to the hospital.
>
> The 22-year-old construction worker and addict was another victim in an
> apparent surge in U.S. overdoses blamed on abuse of the fentanyl patch, a
> prescription-only product that is intended for cancer patients and others
> with chronic pain and is designed to dispense the medicine slowly through
> the skin.
>
> "I cannot tell you the amount of people I've seen and the creative ways they
> abuse this drug," said Dr. Scott Teitelbaum, director of the Florida
> Recovery Center in Gainesville, Fla. "Fentanyl has been abused for years.
> But recently there has been an increase. I've seen more chewing, squeezing
> of the drug off the patch and shooting it up."
>
> Fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic, was introduced in the 1960s, but it was not
> until the early 1990s that it became available in patch form. Last year, the
> first generic versions of the patch hit the market.
>
> At least seven deaths in Indiana and four in South Carolina since 2005 have
> been blamed on abuse of the fentanyl patch, along with more than 100 deaths
> in Florida in 2004. About a week after Knox's death in Farmington, Mo., in
> March, a second man in the same county was prescribed the patch legally and
> died after injecting himself with the gel that he had scraped from it.
>
> Emergency-room visits by people misusing fentanyl shot up nearly 14-fold to
> 8,000 nationwide between 2000 and 2004, according to the U.S. Department of
> Health and Human Services. The figures do not indicate how many of those ER
> visits were because of the patch.
>
> (In recent months, more than 100 deaths have been reported from Chicago and
> Detroit to Philadelphia among drug addicts who overdosed on heroin mixed
> with fentanyl. And federal drug agents believe fentanyl is being made in
> clandestine labs in Mexico and elsewhere.)
>
> The first fentanyl patch was Duragesic, made by Johnson & Johnson. Sales
> more than tripled from 2000 to 2004, according to the Pacific Law Center in
> La Jolla, Calif. Worldwide sales were more than $2 billion in 2004, and half
> of that was in the U.S., according to the J&J's Web site.
>
> More than 5.7 million prescriptions were written in 2003 for the Duragesic
> patch, according to IMS Health.
>
> Mark Wolfe, spokesman for PriCari, the J&J unit that oversees Duragesic,
> said the product comes with strong "black box" warnings about the dangers of
> abusing Duragesic.
>
> One theory is that addicts are turning to the fentanyl patch because of a
> government crackdown on abuse of another powerful prescription painkiller,
> OxyContin, or oxycodone.
>
> "The abuse of oxycodone and the fear of litigation is enough to scare
> doctors from prescribing it. Duragesic is in vogue, as we've seen over the
> last year and a half and two years," said Dr. John Brandt, a chronic-pain
> specialist at the university of Florida.
>
> In Missouri, the man accused of illegally selling the fentanyl patch to Knox
> has been charged with murder.
>
> "The awareness is just not out there. I had never heard of this patch," said
> Knox's mother, Rose Marler. "There's a new generation of drugs and people
> just need to be aware."
>
> ___

NWBluePenguin

2006-06-15, 9:22 pm

I'm with you og. Anyone, or I should say any junkie stupid enough to
swallow, inject or whatever method they choose fentanyl deserves what they
get.

I have been on the patch for over 5 years and have had no adverse reaction
whatsoever. It saved my life. If my pain doctor had not been aggressive
enough to RX the Duragesic patches to me back then, I wouldn't be here.

It would sure be nice of the DEA would keep their noses out of the doctors
office and focus on the junkies and where THEY get the fentanyl, not where
we legitimate people get it.

Thanks for the article

"OldGoat" <oldgoatmail@ERdocsuckyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:n_ikg.45429$%m5.39280@trnddc04...
>
> Hey folks,
>
> More tales of the horror of Fentanyl abuse. Don't chew your patches. This
> foole probably died from the taste before the narcotic killed him. But
> once again, it's a story full of hearsay, meant more to scare than inform.
> Ambiguous numbers, skewed by NIDA and DEA. Disregard the hundreds of
> thousands that the Fenanyl patch has saved from taking their own lives
> from pain, only pay attention to the 8,000 people who were stupid enough
> to chew one up. Pain patients be damned (again). When will they realize
> that anyone stupid enough to crack open a patch is only getting exactly
> what they deserve? Damn right it's harsh, but not as harsh as a life full
> of constant pain.
>
> Thanks for reading my editorial. You'll find the article below.--og
> ********************************************************************************************************************************************************
>
> Painkiller patch abuse blamed for deaths
> By JEFF DOUGLAS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 37 minutes ago
>
> Justin Knox bit down on the bitter-tasting patch, instantly releasing
> three days' worth of a drug more powerful than morphine. He was dead
> before he even got to the hospital.
>
> The 22-year-old construction worker and addict was another victim in an
> apparent surge in U.S. overdoses blamed on abuse of the fentanyl patch, a
> prescription-only product that is intended for cancer patients and others
> with chronic pain and is designed to dispense the medicine slowly through
> the skin.
>
> "I cannot tell you the amount of people I've seen and the creative ways
> they abuse this drug," said Dr. Scott Teitelbaum, director of the Florida
> Recovery Center in Gainesville, Fla. "Fentanyl has been abused for years.
> But recently there has been an increase. I've seen more chewing, squeezing
> of the drug off the patch and shooting it up."
>
> Fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic, was introduced in the 1960s, but it was
> not until the early 1990s that it became available in patch form. Last
> year, the first generic versions of the patch hit the market.
>
> At least seven deaths in Indiana and four in South Carolina since 2005
> have been blamed on abuse of the fentanyl patch, along with more than 100
> deaths in Florida in 2004. About a week after Knox's death in Farmington,
> Mo., in March, a second man in the same county was prescribed the patch
> legally and died after injecting himself with the gel that he had scraped
> from it.
>
> Emergency-room visits by people misusing fentanyl shot up nearly 14-fold
> to 8,000 nationwide between 2000 and 2004, according to the U.S.
> Department of Health and Human Services. The figures do not indicate how
> many of those ER visits were because of the patch.
>
> (In recent months, more than 100 deaths have been reported from Chicago
> and Detroit to Philadelphia among drug addicts who overdosed on heroin
> mixed with fentanyl. And federal drug agents believe fentanyl is being
> made in clandestine labs in Mexico and elsewhere.)
>
> The first fentanyl patch was Duragesic, made by Johnson & Johnson. Sales
> more than tripled from 2000 to 2004, according to the Pacific Law Center
> in La Jolla, Calif. Worldwide sales were more than $2 billion in 2004, and
> half of that was in the U.S., according to the J&J's Web site.
>
> More than 5.7 million prescriptions were written in 2003 for the Duragesic
> patch, according to IMS Health.
>
> Mark Wolfe, spokesman for PriCari, the J&J unit that oversees Duragesic,
> said the product comes with strong "black box" warnings about the dangers
> of abusing Duragesic.
>
> One theory is that addicts are turning to the fentanyl patch because of a
> government crackdown on abuse of another powerful prescription painkiller,
> OxyContin, or oxycodone.
>
> "The abuse of oxycodone and the fear of litigation is enough to scare
> doctors from prescribing it. Duragesic is in vogue, as we've seen over the
> last year and a half and two years," said Dr. John Brandt, a chronic-pain
> specialist at the university of Florida.
>
> In Missouri, the man accused of illegally selling the fentanyl patch to
> Knox has been charged with murder.
>
> "The awareness is just not out there. I had never heard of this patch,"
> said Knox's mother, Rose Marler. "There's a new generation of drugs and
> people just need to be aware."
>
> ___
>
>

mr.cin

2006-07-29, 4:23 pm

it's pretty clear where he got it from was not a legal source. Sounds like
the paranoia is in this thread, not at the DEA. In other words, they ARE
focusing on the junkie and where he got it from. They charged the guy with
murder. There is no mention of any doctor or pharmacist being charged with
anything. And YES, I am using the 75 mcg patch. If I sold it someone that
would and should be a serious crime.

"NWBluePenguin" <NWBluePenguin@NWBluePenguin Inc.> wrote in message
news:98qdnWeGApe3iQ_ZnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@comcast.com...
> I'm with you og. Anyone, or I should say any junkie stupid enough to
> swallow, inject or whatever method they choose fentanyl deserves what they
> get.
>
> I have been on the patch for over 5 years and have had no adverse reaction
> whatsoever. It saved my life. If my pain doctor had not been aggressive
> enough to RX the Duragesic patches to me back then, I wouldn't be here.
>
> It would sure be nice of the DEA would keep their noses out of the doctors
> office and focus on the junkies and where THEY get the fentanyl, not where
> we legitimate people get it.
>
> Thanks for the article
>
>
> "OldGoat" <oldgoatmail@ERdocsuckyahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:n_ikg.45429$%m5.39280@trnddc04...
>
>