c-ray
04-27-2006, 04:32 AM
New York Times columnist John Tierney is my hero today for his op-ed piece, "Potheads and Sudafed."
http://headaches.about.com/b/a/257110.htm
Tierney refers to a "coalition of Republican narcs on Capitol Hill, in the White House and at the Drug Enforcement Administration," and says,
"They've been engaged in a long-running war to get the F.D.A. to abandon some of its quaint principles, like the notion that it's not fair to deny a useful drug to patients just because a few criminals might abuse it. The agency has also dared to suggest that there should be a division of labor when it comes to drugs: scientists and doctors should figure out which ones work for patients, and narcotics agents should catch people who break drug laws.
The drug cops want everyone to share their mission. They think that doctors and pharmacists should catch patients who abuse painkillers — and that if the doctors or pharmacists aren't good enough detectives, they should go to jail for their naïveté."
Many a patient and patient advocate have wished that some DEA officials would find themselves in pain and be denied relief because their doctors feared DEA monitoring of their prescribing patterns. We've written letters, signed petitions, held marches, testified at committee hearings, and more. Yet, the situation is getting worse rather than better. Increasingly, people in pain find their doctors fearful of prescribing adequate medications because of DEA scrutiny.
As an example of the DEA's duplicity, Tierney cites the situation with research on medical marijuana. The FDA has approved experiments with marijuana, but researchers can't conduct them. Why? Because the DEA won't allow the high-quality marijuana needed for the experiments to be grown, even specifically for the experiments. Officially, the DEA says they want patients to get the best care, but their actions repeatedly contradict that statement. So, who is really looking out for the patients? It seems as if the FDA may be trying, but their hands are tied. Patients are stuck in the middle -- stuck without adequate care.
Thank you, John Tierney, for your powerful statements.
http://headaches.about.com/b/a/257110.htm
Tierney refers to a "coalition of Republican narcs on Capitol Hill, in the White House and at the Drug Enforcement Administration," and says,
"They've been engaged in a long-running war to get the F.D.A. to abandon some of its quaint principles, like the notion that it's not fair to deny a useful drug to patients just because a few criminals might abuse it. The agency has also dared to suggest that there should be a division of labor when it comes to drugs: scientists and doctors should figure out which ones work for patients, and narcotics agents should catch people who break drug laws.
The drug cops want everyone to share their mission. They think that doctors and pharmacists should catch patients who abuse painkillers — and that if the doctors or pharmacists aren't good enough detectives, they should go to jail for their naïveté."
Many a patient and patient advocate have wished that some DEA officials would find themselves in pain and be denied relief because their doctors feared DEA monitoring of their prescribing patterns. We've written letters, signed petitions, held marches, testified at committee hearings, and more. Yet, the situation is getting worse rather than better. Increasingly, people in pain find their doctors fearful of prescribing adequate medications because of DEA scrutiny.
As an example of the DEA's duplicity, Tierney cites the situation with research on medical marijuana. The FDA has approved experiments with marijuana, but researchers can't conduct them. Why? Because the DEA won't allow the high-quality marijuana needed for the experiments to be grown, even specifically for the experiments. Officially, the DEA says they want patients to get the best care, but their actions repeatedly contradict that statement. So, who is really looking out for the patients? It seems as if the FDA may be trying, but their hands are tied. Patients are stuck in the middle -- stuck without adequate care.
Thank you, John Tierney, for your powerful statements.