I feel the need to weigh in. I was addicted earlier in life and no longer use any legal or illegal narcotics in an abusive way. I suffer from several bad chronic pain diseases ; the worst of which are the RA and endometriosis.
It's one thing for people who don't know what they are talking about to think I should not ever take any legally prescribed narcotics because somewhere else, others get too much of it, and sell it , or just as bad, they don't protect the children and adults in their family by storing it locked up and hidden safely from where it can get in the wrong hands. I am on methadone to control my addiction, and it works just fine for me. I am not on a "high dose" and I have no cravings . Without it, I do. Now, add to that the fact that I have all this pain and take mostly NSAID type meds but at times have to control it with something stronger.
my RA doc rx'd me 200 oxy-somethings (not oxycontin) maybe it is oxycodone ? Anyway , in the 2 years I've had it, I've taken maybe 5 or 6 altogether. The reason is , it makes me constipated.
I live alone, and keep it in a safe place but if I lived with anyone it would be way more locked up, like my methadone liquid is. I am required by law to keep that locked up. While I am in a preachy kind of mood, most children and teens that get their hands on such things, it comes from pain clinics, not addiction clinics. We don't even have pills at our clinics.

oh, and by the way, the reason I became addicted in the first place, in my early 20's....because of the severe endometriosis pain that no doctor would help me with. I was not diagnosed then and they assumed I had "normal" menstrual cramps.
My old boyfriend, thinking he was helping, gave me narcotics for the pain. It was idiotic but in that much pain I would probably do it again with no other alternative.
We need the government to stop mandating what and how the medical doctors can treat us.
Also there are groups of mothers who started a hate campaign against narcotic pain rxs, (kind of like Mothers Against Drunk Driving) only, for pain meds. I am all for the MADD group, because nobody should get behind the wheel of a car impaired. But the other groups were angry because their sons had bought these things on the black market and they felt their sons actually were in the right to "experiment" and it's the prescriptions at 100% fault.
It is really crazy the more you know about it.

I always forget something I want to say. I don't post often but when I do it's long. sorry. I want to say I also think everyone on here makes good points. It is so complex. Oh and if anyone wonders, the reason I am on methadone but have pain, is because when it is used as a maintenance drug, it does nothing for pain and also, I am not at all impaired by it. (even the white house of all places, agreed that was true) it's when you mix it , with other certain meds that I would be impaired, and/or getting pain relief. I would not have had to be on it in the first place if they would have treated my pain , not dismissed me and caused me to medicate myself in the stupidest way possible. I drank , back then, too. Whiskey, when I had cramps. Ros, I am sorry about your Mom. It made me think of a friend of mine, who is on the verge of her Mother also needing in home hospice. I told her it was a good idea, now I am worried I gave wrong advice ? OMG, I hope someday we can find a balance between truth , fears and fiction, when it comes to adequate pain relief. I recall about 15 years ago, hearing doctors were being sued , for making pain patients , some on their deathbeds, suffer because they were afraid of turning them into "addicts"....and that laws /rules would be changing, for the better. But a complete opposite thing has occurred. So sad.

ThisToo, I think there is STILL the fear of terminal patients becoming addicted. In my mind, so what??? Both my father and sister died of cancer, and it's a terrible way to go. If a drug like Zohydro can make the end more bearable, bring it on. I believe England still uses the Brompton cocktail for cancer patients, a little concoction that contains heroin, among other things.

Another use for Zohydro might be for burn patients. I completely agree with those who have said it should not be easily available, but there are situations where I think it could and should be used.

there are a lot of good comments here. i think sammy said something about going to pain management for chronic pain. i think that's something that is starting to take hold in many parts of the country. you see bad press about pain clinics in florida and new york because they were run by greedy doctors who turned them into pill mills and wrote scripts like you wouldn't believe. if pain management clinics and hospitals were the only ones to prescribe certain types of pills, it might be easier to track. maybe if all family doctors couldn't write a script for hydrocodone for one to keep in their medicine cabinet, things would be different.

i think zohydro would be very beneficial in hospice or hospital settings. i watched my mother and stepfather die from cancer. i watched my stepfather take more morphine and fentanyl than i thought anyone could, and still was in pain. my mother's cancer progressed too rapidly for her to be in much pain; with the first administration of morphine in the icu, she basically went to sleep for 10 days before she died.

sammy, you also stated about how we see all those commercials about not letting animals suffer. one of my cousins is going through a rough time with her cat - a lump on his foot turned out to be cancerous, and her only options are amputation or to keep him clean and comfy until he passes. the cancer will likely come back in other areas and he's already 16; he's had a wonderful cat-life. she can make the decision to keep him comfortable and at home and love him until his quality of life degrades to a point, then she can have him humanely euthanized. i often wondered, even talking to my mom about it, why we couldn't do that with my stepfather. watching someone suffer and lose their quality of life and just be in nothing but pain, KNOWING they are going to die from their disease, i wish we could do something for them. if zohydro can help with that, i hope it does.

My state (WA) made a big fuss about changing regulations so that most doctors could not prescribe high-dose narcotics without consulting with a pain specialist, and requiring all doctors who prescribe any narcotics to do an annual, very minimal training. I don't believe this did anything to reduce the number of deaths from overdose or to reduce the number of people abusing narcotics. It did make it extremely difficult for low income and rural legitimate pain patients to get appropriate care.
My state, like most states, isn't investing in something that would actually help- a statewide or nationwide prescription monitoring database. This would alert pharmacists when a patient has been doctor-shopping, collecting too many prescriptions from too many sources. It would also make it obvious when a patient is taking their medication as prescribed, so that those of us who do take narcotic meds responsibly wouldn't be needlessly hassled.
One other thing I try to mention when this topic comes up...the best predictor of whether someone will become addicted to painkillers is whether they've ever had a problem abusing other substances. Yes, there are kids who start young with prescription drugs, but they are much more likely to be stealing a family member's meds or buying them on the street than they are to have been prescribed the med. Simply taking narcotics does not make one an addict- the person has to at some point begin abusing it. Personally, I've been on and off opiate medications for ten years, dealing with RA and my previous spinal cord injury. I'm very careful to never take more than prescribed, and to stop taking my as-needed meds when my pain lets up. Using an extended release morphine is the only reason I'm still working. I am a much more productive member of society with my meds than without.

new york has very restrictive narcotic prescribing laws. i just took training for naloxone/narcan administration, which is an intranasal drug that stops opioid overdoses. I-STOP requires doctors who are prescribing controlled substances to check a patient's history online - any time you're prescribed a controlled substance from any new york doctor, it's on this database. when pharmacists dispense a controlled substance, they check and update this database; the pharmacist has access to the past six months of controlled scripts.

in new york state, I-STOP has reduced opioid abuse related deaths. between that and narcan training, we are saving lives. education wasn't working - how many of us remember DARE? we have education about opioid and other drug abuse in schools and it isn't working. attacking it from the other side, after the abuse has started, is our only option at this point. until we can find a way to get through to kids and young people, we're not going to be able to successfully address the addiction crap.

caren, what you're describing in washington doesn't seem like a useful idea. that looks like all it did was, like you said, create more hoops for legitimate patients and doctors to jump through. i wonder if there is a group in washington petitioning for something like that? emailing or tweeting representatives is a great place to start.

re: predictors of addiction, there is a two part problem there. when we're looking at adults who are being legitimately prescribed opioid pain relievers, whether or not they have had an addiction issue in the past is a good indicator of if they may or may not have an issue now. most people who are prescribed opioids and take them as directed will not develop a problem. the second part of it is theft and doctor shopping. kids steal these pills from friends, family members, whoever's medicine cabinet they can get into. others doctor shop and use some, sell some pills.

one person i've worked with used to go to the ER after hours, when there wouldn't be a dentist to confer with in the hospital. she'd talk up her tooth pain and how she can't get to a dentist yet, can't you prescribe something like oxy? she'd tell them she only needed 6 pills because she was in recovery and they'd figure that was pretty honest of her - she'd walk out with a script for 6 oxycodone pills. at home, she'd change the 'six' into 'sixty' and the '6' to '60'. this is before I-STOP of course, but it's an illustration of what lengths addicts will go to. many of the rules we have in place in new york state help curb this kind of crap. if we can keep people from abusing and becoming addicted to opioid pain pills, we can keep many people from going to the street and buying heroin. that is the progression, at least here in new york. heroin is cheaper and just as easy if not easier to get.

Steph I've heard of systems like I-STOP.
I am in agreement with anything that helps keep meds in the right hands & out of the wrong.
All meds that can be abused, stolen, sold should be locked up.

Caren just made a huge point. Her meds kept her productive & working. The same here, I could have never maintained any work without the help if my medication with my spinal & nerve injuries.
I drove with ice & hot packs strapped on.
The point is you have so much to loose.
The thought of being denied pain control & at the same time denied assistance/disability is maddening.

The ideal that terminally ill patients may become addicted or dependent is ludicrous. To treat pain such as that is humane & that's all that matters. Who makes these rules? I'd wonder if they were the ones on drugs, as that makes no sense at all. Anyone who has
Seen someone suffer on a death bed surely would agree. Give them what ever is needed.

I'm sorry Ros. Always sad when a loved one goes through such a horrid experience.

Because someone has earned fame & chooses to abuse accidentally or intentionally ODs the rest of Chronic Pain patients risk loosing relief?
To me that says I, you, we are not as important as that person.
Well I & we are.
Because they made a bad decision other patients who follow the rules to a T should not be left to suffer?

I've had pain that robbed me of every thought, could barely speak...... You get the picture. Could not imagine going through that with nothing.
Had to wait for my surgery date. My vitals were all over. None of us should have to worry about being left to suffer.

Let one person walk in those shoes & I'm betting they'd change their minds, let those fanatics see a loved one in so much pain you can't touch or move them, they will change their minds.
It's such a shame that it's such a worry.
As long as there is anything that can be abused there will be those that abuse.
We as people, adults have to take responsibility.
I truly hope every person living in CP has a choice to receive treatment to gain relief.
Sammy

Do you people have any idea how wonderful it is to see such a senstive and thoughtful conversation about this? It is a controversial issue, all of us have one or more horses in this race, we have widely different experiences and views, and each one has taken the time and patience to spell out their thoughts coherently and graciously. Y'all are just the best!

The county just north of mine, rural and economically depressed, has long had one of the worst heroin problems in the nation. Although there have been many bone-headed attempts to deal with it, they have also done two very smart things: made needles available without a prescription, to help keep AIDS from spreading as badly; and trying to make sure every user in the area has and knows how to administer Narcan. I don't know how many lives have been saved with the Narcan, but it is a lot.

Once again, those who do something irresponsibly make it hard for the people with genuine need and for those who are willing to try to follow the rules. I have to wonder how many street users have been created by an inability to get need pain medication the right way.