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The heroin-ravaged city fighting back
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39343289
Sorry I can't put a proper link up, a question, what do they inject into the OD victim that makes him come around so fast?
Edit: oh it works.
The treatment for opioids overdose is naloxone.
Its an odd choice of who to blame/sue. They seem to suggest that most of their victims start off on pain medication and become addicted that way- this is a known issue. But why then is the problem in that locality so much worse than rest of USA or rest of world? That sounds like the doctors prescribing the medication might be part of the problem? I'm not saying pharma have no part to play but in a regulated industry with various professionals involved in the supply, I'd question whether they are the main protagonist.
I think in the US there is a much less regulated pain killer market and a more profit driven medical sector in general. It really is a failed system, it doesn't work for many.
American dr's have been dishing out oxycodin like Smarties since the seventies. They've finally worked out this isn't a good idea, and have finally started restricting it, but too little too late.
Have a look at some of the stats, oxys, aka hill billy heroin, are a massive problem in the states.
Yeah the heroin is just the tip of the iceberg.
I can't view that video now, but here's a similar case from earlier this year - with an explanation as to why the drug companies may be targeted...
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-oxycontin-lawsuit-20170118-story.html
Its an odd choice of who to blame/sue.
Why do you think this problem has been allowed to fester for so many years, when it could have been solved so easily?
Didn't the pharma companies sell it to the doctors saying patients wouldn't get addicted to Oxcycontin?
I used to make OxyContin. Was pushed *really* hard for all sorts of entirely inappropriate conditions in the US.
Rachel
I think that Oxcycontin was pushed really hard as being a non addictive opiate alternative when it first came out.
in a regulated industry with various professionals involved in the supply
Regulated by legislators who receive campaign contributions from pharma companies, prescribed by professionals who benefit financially from prescribing drugs.
There's a very good documentary on Netflix called '[i]Perscription Thugs'[/i] about overperscription of painkillers in the US.
Quite eye opening and there's a great twist in the second act!
Is Oxcycontin used/prescribed much in the UK?
Mmmmm Hillbilly heroin
Fentanyl is even worse 😯
I don't think it's such a big issue in the UK (over prescription).. But our health service is structured very differently, it's all private over there, so there is profit to be made all the way up the supply chain. So there is temptation to take kickbacks for pushing certain drugs.
The impression I have is it's entirely normal to have strong prescription drugs hanging out in your medicine cabinet along side the aspirin.
[url= http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2623607 ]When pharma sales reps can't visit doctors, prescriptions decrease.[/url]
[url= http://interactive.fusion.net/death-by-fentanyl/intro.html ]Fentanyl is the new drug of choice[/url] in the states
[url= https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/fentanyl-the-drug-deadlier-than-heroin-has-reached-the-uk ]A vice report on fentanyl in the uk[/url]
It's only very recently that they've taken steps in the US to join up prescription history. So if you're a "legal" abuser and you need more than your doctor will prescribe, you pop down the road to the next, and the next, and the next. Then you realise street heroin is way cheaper and less hassle to get, so you use that instead. If you're white working class with no job because the local factory closed, it's a way to comfortably while away the days and not care about how shit life is. Quality is variable though, and super strong stuff like fentanyl mixed in with the other stuff so people who were managing OK end up overdosing accidentally.
Far more care is taken in the UK to manage people on painkillers and avoid that spiral.
Their healthcare system too means if you're uninsured you can end up with a painful condition that will be managed with opioids rather than having surgery that might fix it. More of the pills around (and the prescription amounts can be hundreds of pills) mean kids can get hold of them to try from their parents/grandparents stash.
The pharma companies aren't entirely to blame but have been guilty of inaction (and lobbying against action) because they like making the drugs and making money from it. All very sad and lots of factors at play here.
It is quite incredible when you look at it, with not just painkillers but also processed sugar, how greed has been able to override the health and wellbeing of people.
The states are a real mess of lobbying and political finance, the EU has done a better job of protecting us from the very worst excesses of those two health problems, but we are not that far behind really.
John Oliver nails it as per usual.
And does a pretty good job on pharmaceutical sales tactics as well.