Pat Oreilly

The following is a series of articles by Pat Oreilly

We will be adding new articles on a regular basis
 

Oxycontin


Pat Oreilly
 

Anyone that has lived with chronic pain pays special attention when we hear the word opiate ( or narcotic) in a news broadcast. Lately the opiate we are hearing the most about is OxyContin. What is Oxycontin and why is this story spreading terror in the lives of people with chronic pain?

The new timed released version is not appropriate for:

1. Used PRN. (on an as-needed basis) It should be taken on a regular schedule set by your doctor
2. Immediate post-op. (First 12-24 hours) unless the patient is already taking it prior to surgery.
3. Pain that is mild or not expected to persist for an extended period of time.

Recently, the company that manufactures OxyContin, Purdue Pharma,has removed the highest strength of this medication, 160 mg., from the market to try to prevent diversion of the drug to illegitimate dealers.  In addition, Purdue Pharma has made a good effort to stop diversion of it's product into illegal markets. These efforts include:

1. Working with the FDA to make warnings on labels and package inserts more prominent so no one can miss them. The FDA strongest warning label called "the black box" is clearly imprinted at the top of each label and package insert.

3. Distributed kits to help physicians distinguish between real pain sufferers and fakers that do not need this type of medication. These kits contain tamper-proof prescription pads for physicians to use with this medication.

The company and all agencies involved in this battle recognize that this medication has proved to be a life-saver for millions of pain afflicted people, and want to see that it will continue to be available for those that legitimately need it. However, media hype has made it seem as if this drug is causing a national epidemic of abuse of the drug and is causing a rash of robberies across the country. This simply is not true. 
 

The South-Florida Sun Sentinal reported that there had been 152 fatal overdose cases in six months caused by Oxycontin. As the story was reported other news wires picked it up and published it in national news agencies.  This is an example of how the Oxycontin statistics have been blown out of proportion.

Pat Oreilly, 2001

Not long after mailing her letter, found that she couldn't live with her pain any longer and took her own life in November 2001.

There are thousands of chronic pain patients being denied pain relief because of the stigma that has been placed on narcotic medications. There are also physicians being prosecuted for prescribing these same narcotics for pain relief. These brave individuals know that we suffer with continuous chronic intractable painand only want to provide us with relief and yet they are being charged with crimes for doing so!

We believe that the general public (for the most part) is unaware of our struggles in finding relief for our pain. And should be made aware that we are out here struggling to find pain relief.

If all of us together, could make the general public aware of what Judy so eloquently describes in her letter to Congress, then surely, surely we might see a 'changing of the tide' towards our pain, our physicians and what they so bravely attempt to do for us. And that istry to provide us the relief we so humanely deserve.