A growing number of Americans on work disability chronically use powerful prescription painkillers, according to a new study.
Researchers found that between 2007 and 2011, about 44 percent of people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits were prescribed narcotic painkillers each year. And the percentage using the drugs long-term rose from 21 percent in 2007 to 23 percent in 2011. ...
The findings, reported in the September issue of the journal Medical Care, aren't surprising, [a researcher] noted. Nationwide, prescriptions for narcotic painkillers -- also known as opioids -- surged 300 percent after 1999, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ...
"In the short term, people get some relief," said Dr. Eric Collins, physician-in-chief at Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Conn., which specializes in psychiatric and addiction treatment.
"But there's no good evidence that long-term use is effective for non-cancer pain," Collins said. ...
The truth is, Meara said, treating chronic pain is difficult. Common problems such as low back pain have no one-size-fits-all therapy, but a number of non-drug options exist, such as exercise, over-the-counter pain medications, acupuncture and biofeedback.To be clear here, the dispute is over whether the expanded use of opioids that has been seen over the last 20 years or so is a problem or simply necessary treatment for chronic pain. No one is suggesting that those on Social Security disability benefits abuse opioids any more than any other group. A very significant percentage of those on Social Security disability benefits suffer from conditions which produce chronic, severe pain. It's a question of how you treat that pain.
I've long noted that anyone experiencing severe pain regards their pain as an emergency which requires urgent treatment. However, when it's someone else's pain, especially if that person is a stranger, people regard pain as merely "subjective" and possibly feigned. If you want additional restrictions on prescriptions of opioids, remember that someday, perhaps soon, you may be in severe pain and desperate for relief.
3 comments:
i've experienced severe pain and used opioid medications. They are addictive and should be prescribed in only small quantities. People who argue otherwise are simply being ignorant of the facts are uneducated.
yeah, long-term use of powerful, psychologically-dependent medications? sounds like a great idea!
Research shows that exercise, weight loss, and PT supplemented with NSAIDs is just as effective as spinal surgery and chronic opioid use. It's just that Americans want the easy fix--you actually expect people to work hard, through pain, for a lengthy period of time when they can just swallow a few oxys? Lol, you're dreaming. It's the same problem with obesity. Barring the few outliers (and I am aware of metabolic syndrome), treating sources are giving fine treatment recommendations to their patients for weight loss--better diet, increased exercise. But those things are hard, so for the vast majority of them, the only weight loss that happens comes after bariatric surgery or prescription of amphetamines or similar meds.
Research has shown that all back surgery is a failure over a 10 year period. Research has also shown that chiropractic care is effective in treating back and neck pain. Try getting that into the system and see where the pharm money is... Not even considered authorized medical sources and their office notes are far better than most medical notes..
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