Comments 1 - 6 of 6        Search these comments

1   NDrLoR   2017 Dec 29, 8:29am  

"Drug companies also try to woo physicians with gifts. Some companies host fancy dinners, and others sponsor conferences and junkets."

It's a common thing for the closest relatives of physicians to be addicted. My friend's father was the only doctor in their small town from 1934 to 1968 and was always receiving samples, which he took home to his family--his wife became hooked on Valium. After he died very unexpectedly in 1968, her life fell apart. For all practical purposes, she spent the remaining 15 years of her life in bed, taking three Valium a day. None of the nearby physicians would subscribe for her, so every month her son had to take her to a physician in a small town 130 miles away to get her month's supply--not surprisingly, he takes it too, 50 years later in his 70's.
2   WatermelonUniversity   2017 Dec 30, 2:36am  

Can’t blame big pharmas in this case. Most of these victims chose to get high.

If you want to nail big pharmas for something it’s their collusion with políticans to keep prescription drugs sky high.

This is also not a problem for the country. If people with money want to kill themselves with drugs, what does that have anything to do with anyone else? Gene pool also improves.
3   NDrLoR   2017 Dec 30, 7:39am  

BorderPatrol says
If people with money want to kill themselves with drugs
Overall, it's a net gain for society when people like this off themselves.
4   Indiana Jones   2017 Dec 30, 9:54am  

Bad reporting by WaPo or maybe fake news.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-24/deaths-from-prescription-drug-fentanyl-up-by-1800pc/9184396
"Deaths from the potent prescription drug fentanyl have rapidly increased in Australia, with a senior doctor calling the trend a "national emergency".

A report from the National Coronial Information Service (NCIS), commissioned by Background Briefing, shows 498 fentanyl-related deaths occurred between January 2010 and December 2015.

This figure marks an 1,800 per cent increase on the previous decade, where NCIS data records 27 fentanyl-related deaths."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-21/doctor-shoppers-not-at-heart-of-prescription-opioid-crisis/9167606
"The path to prescription opioid addiction is often as mundane as it is potentially fatal. Overdose deaths from prescription opioids outstrip those from heroin and ice."
5   anonymous   2017 Dec 30, 10:44am  

It's not just an American problem. It's an issue in Canada as well.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/04/25/an-epidemic-within-an-epidemic-why-opioid-use-in-canada-keeps-rising.html
I know it's easy to say that anyone who gets hooked on this stuff deserves it, but if you've ever seen a good person who is a highly-productive member of society have their life ruined, becoming a massive drain on their family and society, you might think otherwise. Humans are flawed, all of us, just in different ways. For some it's a weakness to addiction and rarely does the problem resolve quickly or confine itself to the user alone.
6   Ceffer   2017 Dec 30, 11:26am  

European societies have made the cultural conveyer belt from addiction/alcoholism to marginalization to frank morbidity to death more efficient and less conspicuous in the public eye. The rest of the society goes about it's business. A little societal denial goes a long way.

Americans think it is something that can be and ought to be "fixed" rather than just part of the way things are.

Please register to comment:

api   best comments   contact   latest images   memes   one year ago   random   suggestions