Is this new fascination and news stories regarding prescription drug abuse

[Horse with no Name]

meant to sway us to pity poor Rush?
For the past few days I have seen that news everywhere.
Truth is, this "epidemic" of prescription drug addiction has been going on for years.

[tridim]

1. Who are they blaming?

The doctors, the patients or the drug deale..I mean drug companies?

I don't watch the news any longer, so I don't know what they're saying.

[Horse with no Name]

2. Basically everybody except the people that do the drugs

:)

[Warpy]

3. Right, they blame the doctors for prescribing

and parents for leaving them in medicine cabinets where their kids can get at them. No blame on kids, of course, or drug company ads that suggest a pill can fix your lousy life.

Docs are walking a fine line. There is an actual federal law that says a patient has a right to pain control, but the DEA leans on any doc they think is prescribing "too much," whatever that is (besides ignorantly arbitrary).

I don't think they're softening the sheep up for Fatass's fall from grace. I think they're just trying to increase paranoia among pain patients so that they're nice little Puritans and do without pain control and get isolated and depressed and suicidal.

[Horse with no Name]

4. Sigh

You are probably right.
That is horrible.
When I hurt my back, I decided that I would rather keep my set of problems with back pain and needing meds (I took Bextra) than to buy another set of problems with surgery and possibly an increased need for narcotic pain medication.
Not sure that it won't get to that point, but right now just keeping it in check.
I honestly think the reason the DEA is leaning on these docs is because this medication is expensive and the insurance companies don't want to pay for it, so they threaten the docs and they prescribe Darvocet or Ultramm or something just as inexpensive but ineffective.
:(

[Warpy]

5. Actually, the DEA is focused on narcs

which remain the safest and most effective drugs for chronic pain. Opiates have no upper limit for dosage, and few people who take them for chronic pain run into any trouble with them at all.

You were prescribed Bextra so that you wouldn't ask for drugs that actually worked but which would raise eyebrows in the DEA.

My wish is for every DEA agent out there to experience what ails me with their doc being leaned on to avoid giving any of his patients opiates.

Karma.

[Horse with no Name]

6. I think you misunderstood

It was my choice not to take narcotics--only because of my fear of the increasing need for them when you start taking them. Tolerance does develop and it takes increasing amounts to achieve the same affect, although tolerance and addiction are completely different. If it comes to a point that I need them--I will take them.
I think insurance companies are evil and corruption personified and they are our current government's bedfellow...and some of the opiates are extremely expensive.
I think that is why they they are bullying the docs...to keep them from writing scripts for the expensive stuff because the insurance companies don't want to pay it and our government sends the goons in under the guise of contributing to addiction.
They could care less about the suffering of the common person because people like Rush can get it if they want--albeit illegally...but then again, nothing will happen to him.