Consumer Reports magazine tests, reviews and reports on everything from refrigerators to pickup trucks, offering the kind of insight that can be achieved by hiring knowledgeable testers and reviewers. In 2014, they published an article on the dangers of painkillers. As America found itself deep in a massive opiate addiction and overdose problem, Consumer Reports exploded three common misconceptions related to painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin, Lortab, Percocet and other opiate or opioid (synthetic opiates) drugs.
The first myth they exploded was that opioids work well for chronic pain. They note that 90% of people suffering from chronic pain are prescribed opioid painkillers. This is despite the addictiveness and many side effects that include nausea, constipation, insomnia, sluggishness and fuzzy thinking. As well, a person on these painkillers develops a tolerance, meaning that higher doses are quickly needed to deal with the existing pain.
Making matters even worse, some people who have been taking opioids for pain become more sensitive to pain instead of having the pain relieved. They could experience severe pain of the same type they were being treated for or the pain could come from an entirely different part of the body. A related article on their website notes that many people using them for pain do not even receive the benefit of being pain free.
To form these conclusions, Consumer Reports relies on the knowledge of their own in-house medical advisor, Dr. Marvin Lipman, as well as the advice of Gary Franklin, M.D., research professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and Richard Blondell, M.D., director of the National Center for Addiction Training. Consumer Reports notes that non-addictive pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen may work as well for some people and that exercise, massage, acupuncture and other drugless options can help reduce or relieve chronic pain.
Consumer Reports goes on to expose two other misconceptions about opioid painkillers – that they are not addictive when used to treat pain and that extended-release versions, like the original OxyContin, are safer forms of these drugs.
Why does Consumer Reports know these facts when some doctors don’t seem to?
The Influence of Pharmaceutical Companies on Doctors
In 2007, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, pleaded guilty to federal charges that they instructed their sales force to urge doctors to prescribe the drug for conditions not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. They also admitted that their sales force was told to assure doctors that the drug was not addictive and was not likely to be abused by patients. These assurances were completely false.
Doctors accepted these assurances from the Purdue sales force and began prescribing OxyContin for moderate pain problems like low back pain, instead of limiting its use to serious, intolerable situations of pain like cancer or end-of-life pain. Although no one went to jail for the false claims, Purdue and executives were fined $600 million.
And so doctors were not educated on how to prescribe opioids in medical school, but rather by pharmaceutical representatives. It took several more years, even after this case was settled for prescribing practices to begin to change. Now, doctors are somewhat more likely to prescribe fewer pills and are often more cautious about beginning to prescribe opioids at all but the situation created by Purdue reps still exists.
Personal Vigilance is Needed to Stay Safe
It is possible for a family to avoid this path to addiction. It requires constant vigilance on the part of the adults in a household. They must seek other alternatives for pain themselves, ensure that young people people in the home are thoroughly aware of the danger of even one misuse of these drugs and also, must be watchful of the drug use of seniors. Without realizing it, seniors may become dependent on drugs that were prescribed for them and not think about other alternatives they might have. Many people simply do what the doctor tells them and take what he prescribes, without asking questions or seeking alternatives.
It’s important that young people see their parents or caretakers as models of modest drug or alcohol consumption. If they see their parents using a variety of medications to cope with stresses or aches, then they are likely to pick up this same habit.
Prescription drugs have a valuable place in our lives but it is up to the consumer to ensure that they are always used properly and avoided when there is a drug-free choice.
http://mytopcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Lee.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/business/11drug-web.html?
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2014/09/the-dangers-of-painkillers/index.htm
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2014/01/5-surprising-things-you-need-to-know-about-prescription-painkillers/index.htm
