Drugs can really be a pain, especially when you can’t
get them. A front-page news article as well as a TV news report
this week stated, “There is a shortage of painkillers
and anesthetics at hospitals and pharmacies across the country.
A crisis is developing in availability of some drugs.”
The
coordinator of medication policy and safety at Henry Ford
Hospital reported in a Detroit News article, “Shortages
have been getting worse and the situation is now critical.” Hospitals
are having to hustle weekly to locate and have on hand sufficient
supplies of painkillers, anesthesia and various oncology drugs.
Patients have been reported to be waking during surgery and
experiencing extended wait periods for serious operations.
The article stated; “The problem has been developing
over the past four years and is now at the worst point it
has ever been.”
As
we wonder why shortages are reaching record numbers we have
to consider foreign countries’ economies afford
better health care and that could be driving demand up.
Health care
officials are said to be having difficulties locating raw
materials. Manufacturers claim equipment used to produce
many of the medicines
is getting old and requires additional service to keep
pace with demand.
There
always seems to be a justification for all health care problems
and most often we are told higher prices
will correct
them. Regarding prescription drugs, I wonder if higher
prices produce more or better medications or just the
outcome we
are facing now – most people cannot afford them.
A major problem arises when insurance companies and Medicare
are not
willing to pay the increased cost.
What
seems odd to me while reading about shortages is to also
hear reports that there are too many painkiller
centers
open
to the public. Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was said to have
the most in the country and people from all over the
nation were
flying there to get their meds. If hospitals and legitimate
pharmacies can’t obtain the needed supply of
painkillers, how do clinics in Florida get them? Has
anyone traced
how many shipments arrive daily in Ft. Lauderdale and
where
the drugs
are coming from?
I
live in Florida winters and watch the area news. Just prior
to leaving this year, I noted a pain clinic
may
be raided
and shut down one day, and another —run by the same doctor — open
up at a new location the next week. Is there no penalty, other
than being shut down, when a clinic is raided? Or are big fines
being levied and paid — and to whom?
A major problem associated with clinics doling out pills is
that when someone gets their prescription filled, they sell
the pills for 10 times (or more) their value. They also get
different prescriptions from different doctors under different
names. How do doctors keep their credentials, continue to write
prescriptions and sell medications out of these clinics? Makes
you wonder if Big Pharma prefers doing business on the black
market; they are probably not as closely monitored there as
they are on the open market.
Another
difficult thing to understand is how companies can advertise — “Raise your own marijuana plants” — and
sell them when they can only be sold to those with a prescription.
Aren’t those prescriptions federally illegal? The media —newspapers,
TV, Internet and radio — make big announcements
about the black market trades and medicine cabinet
and pharmacy
robberies. They also report how great the mark
up is for these drugs on
the street. These informants, as well as companies
which teach how to raise illegal products, are
contributors to the problem.
Many popular Internet sites (perhaps unknowingly)
assist in promoting street sales of painkillers
as well.
So prescription drugs are fairly easy to obtain illegally,
but those really needing them have trouble getting them legally.
As I see it, we need stronger enforcement and much stiffer
penalties for those breaking the laws regarding distribution
of prescription drugs.
This may take a bite out of the black market trade and free
up enough medications for those who really need them.