Do doctors over prescribe addictive drugs, ie. oxycontin, because of $$$ deals with Pharmaceutical compnies?

Question

Sure, it may sound ridiculous and I know a doctor isn't going to answer and admit to it, but thought I'd ask anyways. Maybe SOMEBODY who knows something will answer. I know many many people who are hopelessly addicted to pain killers after being prescribed them by their doctor. Sure, some of these people may have already been hooked before, but many of them, had never even DONE drugs before, on a regular basis I mean, obviously almost everyone has done drugs at least once in their lives. It just seems to me that the MEDICAL COMMUNITY as a whole, is greatly responsible for the nationwide epidemic of opiate addiction....which soon causes many many other strains on society, not to mention the starting of a cycle that may affect a family for generations to come. When you then consider the strict guidelines on the prescribing of Suboxone, which is a near miracle drug in getting people OFF opiates, really makes you wonder why the govt. seems intent on keeping people ON them....?????????

Answer 1

I do not agree. I'm sure there are doctors who may do this, but as a whole I do not think so. Doctors have special regulations in regards to prescribing opiates. It is hard for even a person who needs them to get them. Those medications are not even expensive if you were to purchase them without medical. For example, a prescription of 30 Vicodin/hydrocodone can be purchased for around 5-10 dollars.

There ones that doctors usually get some benefit from prescribing are the new medicines.

As for the doctors continuing to prescribe while someone is addicted (like the people that you know), that is a problem as they need to be referred to other places (pain management, psychiatry, etc.).

This ruins it for people who really do need pain medication.

Answer 2

According to a former drug rep there are still a lot of kick-backs.
But the main reason they are prescribed is a combination of not knowing what to do and the time it takes to get people to stop hurting.
The medical field has books at their disposal that a widely known piano tuner used to put together a book on how to get the pain from muscles to go away but oddly the Md's (maybe because it takes so much effort to reach the same conclusion) have for many years not bothered to take the leap to learn about pain and use meds more easily.

Much pain is from muscles below is an example of what may help (based on headaches).
Begin with a couple swigs of molasses or a couple of bananas (natural muscle relaxers) daily - magnesium (which regulates many things in the body) and potassium (a needed building block for muscles).
Drink at least 1/2 gallons of water per day. Running a body low on water is like running a car low on oil is the analogy the head of neurology at UCDavis told my husband about 10 years ago.

Now to the cause - muscles - your back, neck shoulders and head have tender spots. They are knots in the fibers of the muscles called trigger points. It makes the muscles tight which makes them press on nerves and other things causing the pain.

The cure - start with a professional massage, (if this does not do it you probably need a chiropractor as well) you will also want to go back over any place you can get to 6-12 times per session up to 6 times per day rubbing (or lightly scratching on your head) every where that is tender until the knots go away. The place where the skull connects to the spine press up under the edge of the skull (to get to those muscles).

For more information read The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Davies. It teaches what to do and where the pain comes from.

Answer 3

Medical schools are supported by drug companies, they get prizes, trips, solid gold golf clubs if they prescribe medications the thousands of medical salesmen and women hawk every day, yes, it is so disgusting how warped it is now. and many Drs will admit it. The Southeast was targeted hard with oxycontin as a test, they felt the blue collar workers had more back pain, and knee pain and once addicted, they have income for life, every month, Cha Ching, they know what they are doing, beleive me, most seniors are taking over thirty different medications, some are dangerous and interact with others, it is insanity how they push it on TV, in Mags and make it seem if you just have a bad day at work you need to be on anti depressants, we just all need to deal with life. Viagra, and all of the new garbage they pump out as fast as they can are making them billions. What incentive do they have for us to be healthy? Think about it, ten years ago a dr woudnt even discuss alternative meds now they are all jumping on the band wagon trying to get that money because people are wising up and can take natural products that are not addicting and pay 1/100th the price. Homeopathic medicine, eastern practices work, and today it is either a RX or surgery, that is where the money is, now they are preying on our egos, we must look young and beautiful, as if that is all there is to us, HA! They are just greedy monsters, ignore them, stay healthy, exercise, eat organic food (notice how the big corporations are jumping on that band wagon?) I hate the greed, just hate it!!!!

Answer 4

The problem is that doctors are not educated on health, just how to diagnose and to prescribe medication the drug companies supply them information on.

It's really all they know how to do. Just ask one how to solve acid indigestion. They will not solve the problem, just prescribe a purple pill. lol. Pain pills are easy for them. As long as they are FDA approved and accepted as standard medical practice, they are legal to do so. I know people that are dying because of all the pain pills prescribed. Look at the famous people that died because of some doctor giving them this garbage. Rather than spend the time and effort to figure out what is causing the pain, it's so much easier to give them "the pill."

Answer 5

These so-called dangerous drugs have saved my life. The papaver sominiferum poppy was used by ancient peoples for pain relief and sleep long before there ever were drug companies. Before you judge how "bad" these drugs are, consider the thousands of people like me who would not be able to lead normal lives or hold down jobs if not for these medications. People who get addicted are taking the drug in higher doses than prescribed and not following their doctors orders exactly. DEPENDANCE on an opiate is VERY different from addiction and happens because the body becomes used to the drug and it changes the body chemistry. Addiction is a behavior pattern characterized by craving and obsessively pursuing the drug, even when doing so causes negative consequences to one's self, family, and life. Opiates are the oldest and safest form of pain medication out there, but opiophobics like to villify doctors who precribe these mediactions and patients who have to take them as horrible people just because of the actions of bad apples who choose to use the medications to get high and have fun. I get no euphoria, high, or even drowsiness from my meds, they just make me, me. Those of us who are in pain management have to jump through sky-high hoops just to get the relief we need... we have to sign contracts that say we will only use one pharmacy and provide the phone number to the doctor, bring our pill bottles and come into the doctors office any time they call us to have our pills randomly counted to make sure we aren't taking larger than prescribed doses, take random drug tests to make sure we aren't using any other drugs that the pain doc didn't prescribe or that are illegal, and not see ANY other docs except our primary care doc, whose name we have to give to our pain doc. If we fail to do any of these things, we're kicked out of the pain management practice. Not to mention that the doc can be in contact with our insurance company and get print outs of every prescription we fill with the presrcibing doc's name, the pharmacy name where we filled it and the phone number. The government watches pain docs EXTREMELY closely. Before you judge these medications as bad, I wish you had to live one day in my body during the 5 years I couldn't get any doc to prescribe me the medications that have given me my life back. If you NEED the medication, and take the meds correctly, as prescribed, and do all the things your doctor says, you don't become an addict. Don't villify the doctors or the drugs. They have opened up a whole new life for people in REAL pain.

Answer 6

NSAID's SIDE EFFECTS:

In the middle of the 20th centuary, pharmaceutical companies began screening compounds for their ability to control inflammation. These efforts resulted in the creation of NSAIDs. Unfortunately, these drugs produced dangerous stomach irritation in many patients - especially the elderly, patients with a proir history of peptic ulcer, and patients who were taking corticosteroids. Additionally, there were other serious effects when the drugs interfered with blood clotting and kidney function.

However, the pharmaceutical industry continued to conduct research and eventually, multiple NSAIDs were marketed. Still, all had serious side effects.

The most common complication of NSAID administration is damage to the gastrointestinal tract. Up to 20% of people who use them suffer from dyspepsia, although this estimate has, at times, been as high as 50%.

Gastrointestinal complications are serious and can be life threatning. Bleeding, ulceration, or stomach and intestinal perforations, are recognised seroius adverse effects.

Since most NSAIDs are available over-the-counter and are routinely taken by millions, these percentages translate into large numbers of both mild and serious complications each year. As a result of this obvious danger, alternatives to standard NSAIDs have been sought for many years.

In the year 2000, the side effects of anti-inflammatories ( NSAIDs) killed more people in the U.S. than AIDS.

Mangosteen has anti-inflammatory effects, anti-oxident effects, acid-lowering effects and, NO major side effects.

A daily regimen of Mangosteen, with it's anti-biotic properties, is a good investment.

Why would you ever use a drug when a food could do the same thing?
Drugs are dangerous and foods, as supplements, are not.


http://www.goxanthones.com

Answer 7

its possible but its also sometimes the case that people beg and scream for those drugs. its not the government at all, its drug companies and doctors responding to their patients. I have a horrible knee and i get tylenol with codene, and i was going to stop taking it, but it constipates me, and since two of my diabetes meds make me have a very unpredictable and loose bowel, i take the codene more to stop that problem as it really does little for my knee pain. i cant take most other pain meds because it really almost killed me by making my kidneys stop working. old age isnt any fun.

Answer 8

Im not sure they over perscribe,but im possitive that pharmisutical companies like to have doctors push the new drugs on to there patience.

Answer 9

no.