Help me with my homework- drug abuse

Amberrrr

If you could add one more law to the existing laws addressing abuse of prescription medications, what would it be?

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I don't know how to answer this! I can't think of anything! What do you think?

nattyk

 I work in D&A counseling, and here's my 2 cents:

I would put a law in place that would limit the number of refills a doc can prescribe for addictive meds (opiates, benzos, etc).  Right now, there are people out there who are prescribed these meds for years.  Sadly, just like everything else, the people who dont abuse the pills are the ones that will suffer because of those who do abuse them.  But it would at least force the doctors to look for other ways to manage pain and anxiety.  With pain, there are also studies that have shown that pain tolerance is lowered when taking opiates for an extended period of time. 

Or, require that someone who is taking a medication for anxiety enroll in some sort of treatment/therapy that will help them to manage their anxiety without the medications. 

The bigger problem is that a lot of the abusers are people buying it off of the streets.  Not sure what laws can do to change that...

 

Amberrrr

The maximum amount of refills on controlled substances is 6 times in 5 months.

That's a good one though, thanks!

emschott

Amberrrr:

The maximum amount of refills on controlled substances is 6 times in 5 months.

That's a good one though, thanks!

I think PP means a lifetime maximum per person, like one doctor can only ever prescribe, say, 10 refills of a drug for someone.  After that, I guess, they would need to see another doc who could reevaulate the need for the drug and the new doc would have to start writing the script for it. 

As someone who has a sister addicted to pain killers to the point where she doses up and sleeps the majority of every day, day after day, (and her marriage just ended finally because of it) I have a couple of rough ideas off the top of my head.  Anyone who is on painkillers for an extended period of time should have to see a psychologist/psychiatrist who evaluates the patient's use/ dependency/ daily functioning in order to consider to receive the prescription.  Also, kindof like PP said, after X amount of time/refills, a patient should be reevaluated by another doctor who must determine whether the need for the drug still exists, and if the current dosage is correct, before they continue to receive refills. 

Another idea is to track what other medicines a person buys and limit what they can purchase.  In Wisconsin (maybe everywhere) pharmacies track the purchase of products like Sudafed.  People should have to get the barcode on their driver's license scanned when they purchase both prescribed and over-the-counter meds and should not be allowed to purchase/ possess a supply of multiple drugs like Benadryl, Sudafed, Nyquil, sleep aids, etc plus their prescription pain / anxiety meds.  This is what my sister does (doses up on pain meds, plus Benadryl, and god knows what else is in her gallon ziplock bag FULL of mixed up miscellaneous pills) and I wish it were possible to prevent her from buying all those things at once in the first place. 

nattyk

emschott:

Amberrrr:

The maximum amount of refills on controlled substances is 6 times in 5 months.

That's a good one though, thanks!

I think PP means a lifetime maximum per person, like one doctor can only ever prescribe, say, 10 refills of a drug for someone.  After that, I guess, they would need to see another doc who could reevaulate the need for the drug and the new doc would have to start writing the script for it. 

As someone who has a sister addicted to pain killers to the point where she doses up and sleeps the majority of every day, day after day, (and her marriage just ended finally because of it) I have a couple of rough ideas off the top of my head.  Anyone who is on painkillers for an extended period of time should have to see a psychologist/psychiatrist who evaluates the patient's use/ dependency/ daily functioning in order to consider to receive the prescription.  Also, kindof like PP said, after X amount of time/refills, a patient should be reevaluated by another doctor who must determine whether the need for the drug still exists, and if the current dosage is correct, before they continue to receive refills. 

Another idea is to track what other medicines a person buys and limit what they can purchase.  In Wisconsin (maybe everywhere) pharmacies track the purchase of products like Sudafed.  People should have to get the barcode on their driver's license scanned when they purchase both prescribed and over-the-counter meds and should not be allowed to purchase/ possess a supply of multiple drugs like Benadryl, Sudafed, Nyquil, sleep aids, etc plus their prescription pain / anxiety meds.  This is what my sister does (doses up on pain meds, plus Benadryl, and god knows what else is in her gallon ziplock bag FULL of mixed up miscellaneous pills) and I wish it were possible to prevent her from buying all those things at once in the first place. 

 

That's kind of what I meant, thanks for saying it better.    Even if the same doctor reevaluates the person, instead of just writing a script for a refill.  I didnt mean a lifetime max though, because you might actually need it later on, but if it's being prescribed for a long time, the person should be reevaluated.

Sorry about your sister's addiction, I know it's very hard to live with.  I hope that she seeks help soon.