Are Oxycontin Doctors Overmedicating Kids to Death?

"There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it -- ALWAYS." Mahatma Gandhi

Courtesy: healthwise-everythinghealth.blogspot.com

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - In June 2010, I wrote about Lisa Humphrey, MD, Medical Director of the Pediatric Palliative Care Program at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio who was quoted as saying -- "Recognizing and treating pain in children can be a challenge. Unlike adults, kids may not cry or complain when in pain."

Dr. Lisa Humphrey

The good doctor further stated that children exhibit other symptoms such as refusing to eat or drink, becoming quiet, withdrawn, having sleep problems, are fussy and have changes in mood or behavior. "If their child is not acting like themselves" Humphrey says, "then we should look at pain management so children can go back to their job at hand, which is to have fun and explore."

I challenged Humphrey's pain management of children by asking if the medical profession would be treating them for addiction to opioids when they become teenagers.

In 2009, the maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma attempted to market for "the undertreatment of pain in newborns and pediatric patients" as well as for something they called "pregnancy pain." I made a complaint to a government agency against Purdue Pharma and the FDA forced them to discontinue this frightening marketing tactic. I knew Purdue Pharma would find another means of marketing in their effort to addict even the most vulnerable of people -- children. How far behind is the undertreatment of pain in pregnant women?

So why the push for pain management of children -- and I'm not writing of cancer pain -- I am writing of something as routine as a tonsillectomy.

This push for the undertreatment of pain in children -- where is it coming from? Purdue Pharma? No, they don't have to risk marketing for the undertreatment of pain in pediatric patients and having their wrists slapped. Why? Because they fund the following pain societies to do their marketing for them:

• American Chronic Pain Association
• American Pain Society
• American Academy of Pain Management
• American Pain Foundation
• American Board of Pain Medicine

This country is experiencing a tsunami of prescription drug death, addiction and abuse -- and we haven't seen anything yet. As long as pharmaceutical companies without a conscience such as Purdue Pharma continue to push the undertreatment of pain -- and direct it at defenseless children -- we have a true national health crisis looming ahead of us.

In April, I wrote that Purdue Pharma was advertising for clinical studies in the treatment of "moderate" to "severe" pain in children ages 6 to 16. Every state in the country should see the tsunami headed their way in the next couple of years because of the criminal marketing used in pushing narcotics to not only adults -- but now children. If there is any doubt that we are not headed for a national crisis of unbelievable proportion, consider what these funded pain societies of Purdue Pharma advertise on their websites.

One example is shown below:

The Use of Opioids for the Treatment of Chronic Pain

"Undertreatment of chronic non cancer pain - Pain is often managed inadequately, despite the ready availability of safe and effective treatments".

"The undertreatment of pain in today's society is not justified. There is currently no nationally accepted consensus for the treatment of chronic pain not due to cancer, yet the economic and social costs of chronic pain are substantial, with estimates ranging in the tens of billions of dollars annually. Pain is often managed inadequately, despite the ready availability of safe and effective treatments. Pain is one of the most common reasons people consult a physician, yet it frequently is inadequately treated, leading to enormous social cost in the form of lost productivity, needless suffering, and excessive healthcare expenditures. Impediments to the use of opioids include concerns about addiction, respiratory depression and their side effects, tolerance, diversion, and fear of regulatory action".

Fear of inducing respiratory depression is often cited as a factor that limits the use of opioids in pain management. It is now accepted by practitioners of the specialty of pain medicine that respiratory depression induced by opioids tends to be a short-lived phenomenon, generally occurs only in the opioid-naive patient, and is antagonized by pain. Therefore, withholding the appropriate use of opioids from a patient who is experiencing pain on the basis of respiratory concerns is unwarranted. Other side effects, such as constipation, can usually be managed by attention to diet, along with the regular use of stool softeners and laxatives. Sedation and nausea, possible early side effects, usually dissipate with continued use.

Current information and experience suggest that many commonly held assumptions need modification. Studies indicate that the de novo development of addiction when opioids are used for the relief of pain is low.

Diversion of controlled substances should be a concern of every health professional, but efforts to stop diversion should not interfere with prescribing opioids for pain management. The mission of the American Pain Society is to serve people in pain by advancing research, education, treatment, and professional practice. The undertreatment of pain in today's society is not justified.

The "undertreatment of pain" in America will not destroy us -- but the tsunami of death and addiction will -- all generated by Purdue Pharma's shrewd marketing of OxyContin.