Corporate Greed in all its Glory

[mmhmm]

The United States' opiate drug problem isn't limited to illegal narcotics. The sale of dangerously addictive painkillers prescribed by physicians has quadrupled in the past decade, and one company in particular is pushing pain to the legal edge of aggressive medical marketing.

According to criminal complaints, attorneys general reports and CNBC sources, specialty pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics — with the help of several physicians across the country now under investigation — is putting profits before patients as it makes millions off your pain.

Insys is subject to investigations regarding the sales and marketing practices of its main product — Subsys Fentanyl, a painkiller delivered as an oral spray — by both federal and state attorneys general offices in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois, according to its 10-Q filing.

Long article but well worth the time:  Insys and Sublingual Fentanyl

[djAdvocate]

push an illegal drug- regardless of it's harm = go to prison
push a legal, highly addictive, or killer drug = get rich

[chiver78]

ugh..... and you wonder why people hate the pharma industry. companies like this make the rest of us look bad.

[swamp]

Nov 10, 2015 11:48:14 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

The United States' opiate drug problem isn't limited to illegal narcotics. The sale of dangerously addictive painkillers prescribed by physicians has quadrupled in the past decade, and one company in particular is pushing pain to the legal edge of aggressive medical marketing.

According to criminal complaints, attorneys general reports and CNBC sources, specialty pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics — with the help of several physicians across the country now under investigation — is putting profits before patients as it makes millions off your pain.

Insys is subject to investigations regarding the sales and marketing practices of its main product — Subsys Fentanyl, a painkiller delivered as an oral spray — by both federal and state attorneys general offices in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois, according to its 10-Q filing.

Long article but well worth the time:  Insys and Sublingual Fentanyl

The over prescription of painkillers has led to the heroin epidemic. There are now governmental controls (ISTOP Program) to interfere with doctor/pharmacy shopping to curb overuse of narcotics. When that stream dried up, the addicts went to heroin, which is cheap, plentiful, and nobody tracks how often you buy it.

It's ugly.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Random fact of the day: heroin was created b/c society wanted a drug that was less addictive than morphine which was heavily abused at the time.

The law of unintended consequences in action.

[swamp]

Nov 10, 2015 12:05:00 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Random fact of the day: heroin was created b/c society wanted a drug that was less addictive than morphine which was heavily abused at the time.

The law of unintended consequences in action.

well that backfired............

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Nov 10, 2015 12:22:50 GMT -5 swamp said:

Nov 10, 2015 12:05:00 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Random fact of the day: heroin was created b/c society wanted a drug that was less addictive than morphine which was heavily abused at the time.

The law of unintended consequences in action.

well that backfired............

Yep.   So they made it illegal and we see how well that's worked out.

Cocaine used to be prescribed as an anti-depressant.

[mmhmm]

Nov 10, 2015 12:22:50 GMT -5 swamp said:

Nov 10, 2015 12:05:00 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Random fact of the day: heroin was created b/c society wanted a drug that was less addictive than morphine which was heavily abused at the time.

The law of unintended consequences in action.

well that backfired............

Sorta. All the addicts crawled out of the opium dens into the light of day. At least, you could see 'em!

[chiver78]

and now you have police officers carrying Narcan in their cruisers, to administer prior to calling for an ambulance, in overdose cases. it's crazy.

Narcan

this is an article from last winter, but the numbers haven't changed. it's pretty damn scary, actually.

Cape heroin overdoses

[swamp]

Nov 10, 2015 12:46:42 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

and now you have police officers carrying Narcan in their cruisers, to administer prior to calling for an ambulance, in overdose cases. it's crazy.

Narcan

this is an article from last winter, but the numbers haven't changed. it's pretty damn scary, actually.

Cape heroin overdoses

They're carrying Narcan here too.

I believe there are also needle exchanges. It's done quietly, but it happens.

[chiver78]

yup, needle exchanges here too.

[wvugurl26]

Fentanyl in theory should have a very limited market. The FDA approved it for break through cancer pain. It's potent stuff no doubt. I think it has a place and that's what it was approved for. Not in favor of off label uses for this one.

[swamp]

Nov 10, 2015 12:56:44 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Fentanyl in theory should have a very limited market. The FDA approved it for break through cancer pain. It's potent stuff no doubt. I think it has a place and that's what it was approved for. Not in favor of off label uses for this one.

You mean like brewing a fentanyl tea, or chewing the patch?

[wvugurl26]

Nov 10, 2015 13:00:10 GMT -5 swamp said:

Nov 10, 2015 12:56:44 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Fentanyl in theory should have a very limited market. The FDA approved it for break through cancer pain. It's potent stuff no doubt. I think it has a place and that's what it was approved for. Not in favor of off label uses for this one.

You mean like brewing a fentanyl tea, or chewing the patch?

I meant prescribing for other things than what it's approved for. Never heard of the tea. I've heard of snorting the gel in the Duragesic patches since it's a bubble of medicine above the patch.

I've seen a lot of heroin laced with fentanyl in my home state. It's driving me nuts trying to figure out where the fentanyl in pill form is coming from bc that is supposed to be very rarely prescribed for that very reason.

[mmhmm]

Nov 10, 2015 13:06:29 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Nov 10, 2015 13:00:10 GMT -5 swamp said:

You mean like brewing a fentanyl tea, or chewing the patch?

I meant prescribing for other things than what it's approved for. Never heard of the tea. I've heard of snorting the gel in the Duragesic patches since it's a bubble of medicine above the patch.

I've seen a lot of heroin laced with fentanyl in my home state. It's driving me nuts trying to figure out where the fentanyl in pill form is coming from bc that is supposed to be very rarely prescribed for that very reason.

The fentanyl tablets are meant to be dissolved under the tongue. They are, indeed, not often prescribed and are very highly controlled (supposedly). No clue where they're getting them but, as this article shows us, there are crooks all over the place willing to do anything for the buck.

[swamp]

Nov 10, 2015 13:17:51 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

Nov 10, 2015 13:06:29 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I meant prescribing for other things than what it's approved for. Never heard of the tea. I've heard of snorting the gel in the Duragesic patches since it's a bubble of medicine above the patch.

I've seen a lot of heroin laced with fentanyl in my home state. It's driving me nuts trying to figure out where the fentanyl in pill form is coming from bc that is supposed to be very rarely prescribed for that very reason.

The fentanyl tablets are meant to be dissolved under the tongue. They are, indeed, not often prescribed and are very highly controlled (supposedly). No clue where they're getting them but, as this article shows us, there are crooks all over the place willing to do anything for the buck.

Gramma is home on hospice. Junior the junkie steals grammas meds.

[mmhmm]

Nov 10, 2015 13:26:25 GMT -5 swamp said:

Nov 10, 2015 13:17:51 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

The fentanyl tablets are meant to be dissolved under the tongue. They are, indeed, not often prescribed and are very highly controlled (supposedly). No clue where they're getting them but, as this article shows us, there are crooks all over the place willing to do anything for the buck.

Gramma is home on hospice. Junior the junkie steals grammas meds.

Sadly, I'd not be surprised. However, I think a lot of this comes from the very pharmaceutical companies that market these drugs.

[swamp]

Nov 10, 2015 13:28:15 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

Nov 10, 2015 13:26:25 GMT -5 swamp said:

Gramma is home on hospice. Junior the junkie steals grammas meds.

Sadly, I'd not be surprised. However, I think a lot of this comes from the very pharmaceutical companies that market these drugs.

Oh, I'm not doubting there is over prescription.    But don't discount the contribution of dysfunctional families and theft of the painkillers.

[wvugurl26]

Nov 10, 2015 13:26:25 GMT -5 swamp said:

Nov 10, 2015 13:17:51 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

The fentanyl tablets are meant to be dissolved under the tongue. They are, indeed, not often prescribed and are very highly controlled (supposedly). No clue where they're getting them but, as this article shows us, there are crooks all over the place willing to do anything for the buck.

Gramma is home on hospice. Junior the junkie steals grammas meds.

That's a very likely source and one that wouldn't show up in my data mining. Hospice payment is intended to cover those drugs so there shouldn't be a separate part d payment for them.

I just wonder if the tabs are as tightly controlled as they should be.

[swamp]

Nov 10, 2015 14:29:20 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

Yeah, heroin addiction is huge now, for the above reasons. The police here carry narcan as well, and there was an effort to make it available to families of junkies too, but it failed.

Along with drug addiction there is a big uptick in home burglaries, armed robberies (especially pharmacies) and prostitution.  It is brutal.

I'll read the article later when I have time.  Not that I need something else to get ticked off about.....

It all goes together in one big ugly ball of dysfunction.

Our Child protective caseworkers, foster care, and the family court are strained to the limits because of the heroin addicts.

[Deleted]

Nov 10, 2015 14:36:11 GMT -5 swamp said:

Nov 10, 2015 14:29:20 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

Yeah, heroin addiction is huge now, for the above reasons. The police here carry narcan as well, and there was an effort to make it available to families of junkies too, but it failed.

Along with drug addiction there is a big uptick in home burglaries, armed robberies (especially pharmacies) and prostitution.  It is brutal.

I'll read the article later when I have time.  Not that I need something else to get ticked off about.....

It all goes together in one big ugly ball of dysfunction.

Our Child protective caseworkers, foster care, and the family court are strained to the limits because of the heroin addicts.

Bella Bond. Around here, that's all you need to say to get some people worked up about junkies, her worthless POS mother and freak boyfriend who killed her and threw her in a trash bag, and DCF, CPS or DYS or whatever the hell initials the agency goes by now.

Me, I'm tired of hearing about Gloucester carrying Narcan and putting people in some special route to rehab. I won't go on my tangent but it aggravates the crap out of me. If they wanted to OD, let them OD. It's called natural selection!!!!

[mmhmm]

Nov 10, 2015 14:29:20 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

Yeah, heroin addiction is huge now, for the above reasons. The police here carry narcan as well, and there was an effort to make it available to families of junkies too, but it failed.

Along with drug addiction there is a big uptick in home burglaries, armed robberies (especially pharmacies) and prostitution.  It is brutal.

I'll read the article later when I have time.  Not that I need something else to get ticked off about.....

Be prepared. It's a doozy.

[wvugurl26]

I think it was Washington Post that had an article about the baby who began life addicted to heroin. I know it happens but that story ripped my heart out. The hospital has a special unit designed to wean babies off heroin and methadone. And in the summer when they ran the story they'd treated 97 babies this year. The nurses in that unit must be angels, I couldn't do it.

I was blissfully unaware of such things until I started my current job. Now I have a whole file on it.

[mmhmm]

Nov 10, 2015 15:07:14 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I think it was Washington Post that had an article about the baby who began life addicted to heroin. I know it happens but that story ripped my heart out. The hospital has a special unit designed to wean babies off heroin and methadone. And in the summer when they ran the story they'd treated 97 babies this year. The nurses in that unit must be angels, I couldn't do it.

Believe me, it's one of the most difficult things to bear I saw in all my years. It really does break your heart.