Big Pharma's Lockdown On Legitimate Chronic Pain Patients
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Is narcotic pain medicine becoming a thing of the past?

Why are doctors across America phasing out the practice of prescribing effective pain medication?

Will big pharmaceutical companies ever truly understand what it's like to face the other side of the coin?

Lately there's been a musty scent in the air surrounding the use of prescribed narcotic pain medication. Many doctors appear to be running scared as the DEA scours through fields of medical records, inspecting prescribing pads like a mouse scavenges for food in a dimly lit cellar.

Should the day come when doctors recommend Ibuprofen to a feeble man who's been involved in a terrible car accident (breaking several bones / requiring extensive surgery), is this doctor at risk of malpractice when there are more effective options available that they choose not to pick, out of fear? Fear of what? Doing the right thing? No, I don't think this is the reason... Somewhere along the line, in the not too distant past, doctors were loosely prescribing narcotic pain medication as if it would never go out of style. Nowadays, the harsh penalty of potentially losing their license for writing any unknown number of opiate prescriptions over so many calendar days or some other form of strict criteria, has been enough to prevent many physicians from taking even subtle "risks" with patients who are expressing obvious signs of pain and discomfort.

The unfortunately unique problem with pain is that it's not a physical object and in order for others to detect it, they'd have to rely solely on the backbone of our body language using their intuition - something that's gone missing in western practice. If more doctors took the time and really got to know their patients front to back, then they will be their own best judge of deciding what the right thing to do is, regardless of what the DEA thinks about their decision or what their drug representative wants out of the deal. Sadly, until patients are put before profits, the foundation of America's healthcare system remains in jeopardy like an iceberg affected by global warming.

While I believe that the vast majority of human beings in their right mind would choose to do the right thing, we must all work together to become the change we wish to see within every aspect of our lives; and knowing that by doing so, it will shine light on those crossing our path that need it most.

In the meantime, some patients may have to find another way to manage their pain without putting their life or health at risk. Others are turning to natural alternatives such as kratom, cannabis, turmeric and/or implementing various lifestyle changes into their daily regime... But the key is to never give up hope.

What will you do?

Warm regards to all who face life's challenges head on.

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The old formula of Norco from 8 years ago was semi-synthetic. There was a small amount of natural opium in them and they worked much better for us chronic pain patients. Pharma co's are using a very cheap all-synthetic mix now. Until that old formula comes back, most likely for a higher cost, we will not be living a full life. Chronic pain brings on other problems if not controlled. If pain is controlled like it was 8 yrs ago, we would participate in the economy more often too.

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My advice to seniors with proven legitimate chronic pain is to stop paying Part D premiums and when the insurance company asks why, tell them your medication does not work anymore and the CDC, FDA, pharmacies could not care any less. Those big insurance companies, if the stock prices fall far enough, will start the ball rolling to get this issue fixed, fast.

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Re: Jason (# 10)

I was told by the pharmacy that the generics could have up to 20% less of the active ingredient in my pain pills. They used to give yellow hydrocodone pills which actually worked. Then they switched to white ones that don’t work as well.

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Re: MeJane (# 1543)

My daughter is a PA. When she was in school a pharmacy student told her generics are allowed to contain only 89% of the active ingredient. That was long ago. I think it was lowered to 70%. A report came out saying all these generics were testing at 50%. Largely from India. Most pharmacies use the cheapest version of generic so I bet it’s 50. %. Fillers are different and may effect results also! It’s absolutely BS! Dependency is not addiction! If it’s what you need to lead a normal functioning life! No more than insulin! They are greatly responsible for the increase in suicides even from just mixing other things to try to get relief! Kratom can be a help but you must get educated as it has a real learning curve!

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Re: KyDollarsign (# 1540)

Thankyou so much for sharing this with us! I knew something was terribly wrong w/these generics. Quite frankly, I’d thought I was losing my mind, but now realizing I’m not the only one needlessly victimized & suffering. AMEN to this factual AWARENESS finally being brought to light!

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Re: KyDollarsign (# 1541)

THANK YOU! You hit the nail on the head for sure! For 2 yrs or so I’ve been struggling as well with generic brands that are totally ineffective, dealing with pharmacy’s constant change switching from generic to generic brands, never knowing what I’ll end up with, which bottomline is all about the cheapest$ brand avail at the time with the only common denominator is NONE OF THEM ARE EFFECTIVE!
And your right; we’re damned if we do or damned if we don’t complain!
Your smart approach to communicate our complaint’s is so appreciated & I will indeed go about it your way!
GODSPEED to us all LEGITIMETE CHRONIC PAIN, et al patients needlessly victimized & left suffering “out in the cold!”

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Re: Tommy (# 5)

You're absolutely correct! Also, it was ppl in drug forums openly talking about 'percs' and xannies, etc. ' I mean how freaking moronic can you be? Even on YouTube comments I see dumbasses mentioning 'percs!' Same with rap music, they rap about taking pills & crap. I just keep wondering where the heck they get their pills at because we all know how difficult it is to even get an rx after a serious surgery! See this is why I think the corrupt pharmaceutical manufacturers in India & China are cranking out the junk generics, which only contain a trace amt of the active ingredient, to distribute to pharmacies across America & put the active ingredients in the pills going out the back door for street sales. The street price would be enormous compared to legit sales for distribution to pharmacies. Ask anyone who has a rx for generic hydrocodone how that med is working on their pain, I guarantee you they will tell you its NOT working AT ALL.

I keep praying this all gets exposed one way or another, soon. They think they'll nvr get caught because they're aware how bad a pain patient is treated and think that if we complain we'll only be seen as drug seekers trying to get more pills or stronger pills and no one will believe us when we say "This medicine does not work at all!." Go to YouTube and search 'Ted Talk Generic opiates' This woman will speak on the generic junk medication coming frim India & China. Also, how our FDA operates in such an incredibly idiotic manner when it comes to pharmaceutical plant inspections overseas. Please complain to the FDA & the pharmaceutical companies directly & keep copies of all your emails & other documentation. Also start a log and record the lot numbers of each RX you get and the mfr/brand name. This is only pertaining to generic hydrocodone that doesn't work and seems to be a blank placebo/fake. Enough of this crap, they will eventually be exposed and brought to justice! The TRUTH will prevail over corruption and greed.

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Re: Goat c (# 3)

I know this thread is 5 years old but I just wanted to share my experience. I am 60 yrs old & worked all my life, from office Mgr to co-owing a mfg. Co. with my husband. I worked directly on the floor operating computerized milling machines, producing thousands of metal products for the aerospace industry. I now suffer from Spondololthesis, spinal stenosis, arthritis, a fractured vertebrae, and scoliosis in which I was diagnosed at a young age. So, really did work as long as I could with my back problems. Some days my back would totally lock up and I'd scream in pain with any little movement. I only took NSAIDS, I was never prescribed anything stronger when I was younger.

These meds, and there were many different kinds rx'd to me, totally destroyed my ears! I have 70% hearing loss in one ear & 40% in the other. I have non-stop loud ringing & screeching in my ears. Ok, on with it! Sorry. I couldn't take the pain any longer & went to pain mgmt. at the urging of a friend. I was rx'd 30 mg oxycodone. They really gave me a new life! I was finally free of the awful pain I had endured for sooo long! Well after a year and a half back in 2014 my dr informed me he was no longer taking Medicare! I am, of course, disabled at this point. He pretty much gave me 1 more months of meds & after that I was in withdraw, the worst feelings ever! I had NO clue this would happen, not to this degree. It took me literally 6 months to find another Dr because in 2016 they were all running scared of the DEA! Also, most drs would tell me that they could not rx me the same med I was on, they were scared to death to rx anything stronger than 10 mg Norco!

So I have been on this med since 2016. Worked ok for a abt 3 yrs. ALL the pharmacies were carrying nothing but that gawd awful worthless Mallinckrodt brand! It did NOTHING for my pain, it either knocked me out or made me feel sick. I discovered that I was not alone in getting NO pain relief with that worthless generic Mallinckrodt brand! I complained to the FDA & the co. itself so many times I can't count, and I read on the review site that many others were complaining too! I also found out there are several other generic brands made overseas that these ppl said it was just as WORTHLESS!!

There's Teva, Sun, Amneal, Aurobindo & of course Mallinckrodt. How on God's green earth can ALL these generic brands be SO bad? Our FDA has done NOTHING about it either. Out of the past 2.5 years I've probably only gotten 2 legit rx's that worked. Every month I'd pray that I'd get a good rx. I'd take one, after an hour - nothing, still in pain. Take another, nothing, take a 3rd and I'm still in pain, crying in despair & knowing there's NOTHING I can do to get relief. I swear to God, they are not putting any of the key ingredient in these meds. I believe they are mfg blanks, with just the fillers in place of the legit ones that are being sold on the blk market. They prob make the blanks to be sold to pharmacies & NO one, certainly not our FDA is inspecting and analyzing these pills. Also, there are plenty of blk market pharmaceutical wholesalers online that appear very legit and a pharmacist could very easily order from them not knowing that the cheap generics from overseas contain NO key ingredients!

My pharmacist told me he was very aware of the junk Mallinckrodt & he only indexed the Qualitest ones, which were yellow like the legit Watson used to be. Well....Low and behold, after getting these for a year, they are NO longer making them!! And by the way, they were pretty darn weak and worthless too. So now I've been getting Amneal brand. Absolutely as worthless as Mallinckrodt. So after 2 rx's of this brand I has a biochemist reverse engineer a small lot. Guess what? He said they barely contained a trace of codeine!!! I immediately contacted Amneal and expressed to them how disgusted I was with their worthless blank pills and told them about the analysis. Well this got their attention, and I truly believe they were unaware. A lot of these companies sub out the mfg of hydrocodone to India or China! They were very concerned as they should be and this should be truly exposed in some major newspaper or news show because this could bankrupt ALL of these pharmaceutical companies distributing pure fake junk! It's the mfr's in India & China.

Our FDA inspects their plants like once a yr or so AND they give them plenty of notice as to when they're coming! WHO is that stupid? You're going to inspect them and you're giving them the day & time?? Like, it's a 3 or 4 week advance notice, plenty of time to set it up to make themselves look good. There is a woman on YouTube, a video of her giving a Ted Talk on generic opiate meds from India & how awful they are. There was even a whistleblower who informed her of how they FAKED the analysis tests! How they made the very newly printed analysis paperwork look aged! Yes, our highly overpaid FDA workers do NOT do their damn jobs & are lazy, don't give AF losers.

So whoever in India or China that was manufacturing Amneal's blank placebo type junk pills must've gotten caught after I wrote to them because for the 1st time in 5 or so years I rec'd a LEGIT RX!!! I swear to God, one pill and my pain was pretty much almost gone and I didn't feel tired or sick! I just pray it wasn't a one off & the crooks didn't accidently put the legit meds in shipment vs their blk market blank junk they supply the pharmacies with. They probably thought they'd get away with it forever because they're obviously well aware of how incredibly incompetent our FDA is in the U.S. Watch the YouTube video of the lady doing the Ted Talk on generic overseas meds. Please, if you're still getting the blank junk, complain to the pharmacy, the maker, and the FDA! This problem is now widely known but they're pretty much still getting away with it, let's not let them! Keep complaining! They ALL need to be sued & questioned in front of congress & prosecuted!

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Re: Goat c (# 3)

You are right, Government has taken control of pain meds. They have set the limit at 120 mg of morphine or equivalent. I used to take 30 mg of oxycodone 7 times a day, now I can only take 4 39 mg a day. I an back in bad pain.

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Re: Shari S (# 1529)

Each State Medicaid program has their own rules governing prescribing opiates for chronic pain. Usually these rules can be found on the state Medicaid website or in online Medicaid manuals. Look for information for Medicaid Providers or Prescribers and Pharmacists

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Re: Vintageladyhd (# 1535)

Does your state Medicaid program cover pain management doctors ? Some state Medicaid programs do not cover them

It seems like it would be worth a trip to a city that had a pain management doctor. It is common for patients in rural areas to have to travel to see specialists

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Re: Moe (# 1533)

Sometimes a patient has to try several pain management doctors before they find one that is the right fit. Most pain management doctors start new patients out on the mildest and lowest dose of pain medication and work their way up A new pain management doctor needs a copy of medical records from the last doctor that treated a patient for pain. If it has been several years since the last MRI. A new pain management doctor might require a updated one. A pain management doctor may or may not tell a new patient what he or she may or may not prescribe. The only way to know for sure what a pain management doctor will prescribe a particular patient after a few months is to see them regularly and follow their rules for a few months.

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I don't know! I have been in constant pain, not to mention being yanked straight off the Lorcet and Soma after nearly 2 decades of using the medications. Total involuntary withdrawal... horrible!
Then against my better judgement, let a doctor prescribed Gabapentin, which I had horrific side effects from almost the 3rd day of taking. Kept on for a month, but did not do anything but make me miserable! Now 10 years later, my beautiful long hair is breaking off and falling out... I cannot get rid of this pain with Acetaminophen with Codeine... and I can't get to Pain Management, because we live in a very rural area and all pain clinics are too far or don't take Medicaid. Nor do I want to go to strangers who have no idea about your health... that's my doctor of over 20 years is for! Why should I have to pay double? I take care of my elderly mother, but can barely do anything anymore. If I was disabled enough for disability, not supposed to be in pain from my disabilities? SS Disability is not easy to get, you have to submit Doctor records... so why isn't 5hst good enough for pharmacists? And yes I blame the pharmacists as they were the catalyst of losing my meds by refusing to fill, because they have no idea of what or why I have pain to warrant it. Throwing their weight around in a field where they are trained to fill prescriptions our Doctors give us, only to watch for medications that will give see kind of adverse reactions if taken together, not what we take that we could possibly overdose on like the recreational users.
WRONG, ALL WRONG! And it needs to be reversed as soon as possible, or the US is going to have more and more people drop out of work because their pain can't be managed at all!!! And no one who can help is listening!

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Moe (# 1530) --

Hi there is new paper on cdc website about the Misapplication of the Opiod Guidelines, dated April 2019. It details and targets Ohysicians for underprescribing, cut offs and Hard limits. I printed this out took it to my Doctor appt. And told her I should have never been dropped so low according to the CDC, NIH. JAMA ETC.check it out for yourself. There is power for the patient in this erratum published by CDC.

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I have Erosive Osteoarthritis. My hands are deforming more daily and I am having both hips replaced 6 weeks apart. The deterioration is in every joint. Both knees already replaced. Legitimate pain management is demeaning in this area. All my physicians agree I have chronic pain, but refuse to prescribe opiates. Latest suggestion was Tylenol for Arthritis. Give me a break. Too bad we can't have those treating us live a day in our bodies and take Tylenol for pain. After 5 or 6,000 mg with no relief they will cry uncle. Tired of Dr's covering their asses instead of treating legitimate chronic pain patients.

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The reluctance of drs to prescribing narcotics is an epidemic that is making the lives of those of us who suffer chronic pain not worth living.
Recent diagnosis of erosive osteoarthritis is devastating. I have had severe joint pain for years and my hands are barely functional. Dr. acknowledged it is extremely painful and there is no treatment. When I inquired about pain meds he said to take Tylenol! Really? It does nothing for chronic pain especially the intense pain I suffer from.

Doctors fear the DEA far more than they care for their patients. The unwillingness to prescribe necessary meds violates the Hippocratic Oath all doctors take. "FIRST DO NO HARM." Maybe those who licensed physicians should enforce this creed. Chronic pain sufferers commit suicide daily because the pain is too much and they have no quality of life. I get it because I have come close on more than 1 occasion of putting myself out of misery. Would my physicians care or understand? Of course not.

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Re: Leebs (# 1530)

I agree, I'm in my 60s and seen slow but steady decline with meds, not everyone abuses, but a lot people actually need, not everyone can handle this world the way it is these days,some people may not accept the way we are suppose to feel, (go buy bottle wine or carton of beer all will be just great) I don't think, just because a lot of semi famous people have over indulged O.D etc, does not mean everybody is going to over indulge, some people actually need these meds so they can have some relief from modern times and to ease the pain, thanks good luck everyone.

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It’s not the pharmaceutical companies that are to blame, it’s the feds and state governments that are pressuring MD’s in an effort to stop overprescribing. Doctors are put through the ringer with extra paperwork to justify even some basic prescribing. And the DEA forecasts the annual consumption to try and scale back (although this year those restrictions have been lifted). The focus really needs to be on the pill mills, patients that are getting too many through various ways (i,e- doctor shopping....).
But there is more and more evidence that this strategy is not altogether successful (especially when it impacts Docs writing scrips for people with documented chronic pain), it is leading to many good people seeking out relief which can lead to illegal substances (fentanyl) and overdoses. People need to write letters to the DEA, AMA, FDA and their Congressman and Senators. The approach is not as simple as saying that ok we’ll stop people getting this medication, it’s not working. My opinion and a growing number in the medical field.

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Re: Goat c (# 8)

I'm on Medicaid, and trust me, they police the crap out of the patients, Doctors and pharmacists. My Dr takes away another tablet every time I see her. Suicide is now in my mind again. Please don't blame all the Medicaid patients, I'm sure some of them abuse it just like people of means. There is always someone out there to ruin it for everyone who truly needs it. I don't want to take street drugs, but what is the alternative? Agony?

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KRATOM. It is no panacea and NOTHING like opioids but it makes life bearable by taking just the edge off and you function normally mentally.

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