The Opioid Crisis !

According to the latest Coronial Information report, in 2016 opioids killed more people in Australia than the road toll.  We recorded almost 8500 deaths from a substance that is supposed to relieve pain and is often prescribed to ease the aftermath of surgery.  The problem is that it is addictive and once it gets its grip on people that hold becomes relentless.

In fact, Australia has the eighth highest opioid consumption in the world.  Out of 167 countries and territories its ahead of New Zealand and the United Kingdom but still far behind the United States which recorded an estimated 400,000 lost lives since 1999.

Opioids are a legitimate pain killing product produced by big Pharma and like other commercial products it is subjected to normal marketing pressures.  The companies employ sales representatives who make calls on doctors in their surgeries to extol the benefits of their products and they often make their calls with gifts.  Usually these are handy medical products like blood pressure monitors which feature the company name and serve as a constant reminder to the doctor and staff of those company products.

The pharmaceutical industry is also famous for sponsoring medical conferences, dinners and training seminars in which doctors and their partners are flown to an exotic holiday destination where important information is dispensed by leading medical specialists.  There is usually adequate time set aside for sightseeing and hospitality and this tends to result in the sponsoring companies products gaining goodwill regard.  It is a legitimate way of promoting the sale of the sponsors products.

Medical products containing opioids that could be purchased over the counter without the need for a prescription were recently removed from sale and doctors were urged to think twice before writing scripts and transfer patients to safer non addictive medication.  It was noted that patients in the grip of addiction would resist but it was hoped that the medical profession would be the fulcrum that would break the opioid crisis in this country.

Such is the opioid hold that many of the addicted  resorted to what is called " doctor shopping ".  They became patients of a number of doctors in well diversified suburbs and from each they gained a script for a small amount of opioids.  The time factor between visits did not invite suspicion but the cumulation of opioids gained served to meet the needs of their growing addiction.

This was foreseen when opioid sales were removed from sale from chemists shelves and sixteen million dollars was voted from parliament to setup a monitoring scheme to bring this practice to attention.   The combination of the need for each individual medical card number to be recorded at each doctor visit and the computerised data base of the PBS would quickly identify the people using the " doctor shopping " ploy and bring it to the attention of the doctors concerned.

Sadly, three years after this was supposed to be implemented it remains a " work in progress " and a commencement date can not be determined.   What is not surprising is the reaction that would have occurred had it been the road toll that reversed the spike in deaths and not the opioid crisis.  The politicians would be howling like banshees and the cops would be under pressure to rule the road with an iron fist and adopt harsher life saving tactics.

Such is the pace of political expediency  !