On the Nature of Narcotic Pain Killers, 

Big Pharma, 
And a Cadre of Paranoid Doctors

Series Part 3

June 5th, 2019

An Exclusive 5 Part Series by Rev. Dr. Don Noyes-More Ph.D., OMR, Expert Clinical Psychologist in Thanatology (Death and Dying), Medical Anthropology, and Addiction Studies and Treatment.

For Downtown LA Life Magazine 

and The Atwater Village Observer

In Part 1: I discussed the use and abuse of narcotic painkillers by seniors, and how to better control their uses and establish new, and better controls for geriatric patient populations.

In Part 2: I discussed the nature of pain and potential addiction. Also included was the transcultural use of narcotics in non-western medical systems.

My grandniece, (unnamed for the obvious reasons) is an executive with Kaiser Permanante. Her team is tasked with drug analysis, comparisons, policy, and pricing. She has given me a good insight into Kaiser and the realm of drugs for this major American HMO. “You know Uncle Don the paranoia surrounding ‘Opioids’ has become almost psychiatric, doctors are running to the hills.” She laughed and took another sip of her coffee. I already knew this but it still comes as a shock. My response was: “Doctors who diagnose and prescribe correctly will have no problems, it’s that 5% of doctors we need to worry about.” My niece looked at me and said: “they are paranoid from guilt and fear” Indeed. 

A good friend of mine Peter, (Real name) was a Drug salesman, one of the first African-American drug salesman for American Home Products Corporation (AHP) and later Burroughs-Wellcome in the San Francisco – Marin County territory in the 1980’s and 1990’s. He was a millionaire through the sales and promotion of many extraordinarily dangerous drugs including: 

1980’s: Fenfluramine/phentermine or “Fen-Phen”

“Every woman wants to be thin, it was the easiest of drugs to sell.” He went on to tell me how drug salesmen would use incentives (for number of prescriptions written or direct bribes) to doctors for the use of this drug including the attention grabbing trips to Hawaii for Office Managers. “Worked all the time, doctors jumped at it like fish to bait, office managers were more greedy than doctors.”

This network of Big Pharma drug pushers was an acceptable well-known manner in which drugs were/are sold to doctors. (I am not speaking of Kaiser.)

After the obese and ‘fat’ men and women started to stroke out, have heart attacks and die did any attention come back to Big Pharma. They develop drugs that they could sell for large profits, many-times upon the bodies and health of patients. The doctors were culpable as they have been many-times before and after. It seems Fen-Phen was nothing more that reformulated Amphetamine, as in “Speed” “Meth-Amphetamine” etc. Big Pharma and doctors were killing off the very patient population it was making money on. Sound familiar today? Did Big Pharma learn its lesson after many deaths and millions in fines and personal injury suits? Of course not, it’s all about the profits. They just plowed ahead with drugs they could “legally” sell and push on greedy doctors willing to make a buck regardless of patients real medical needs and requirements. Nothing changed. The drugs ‘pushed’ did:

Narcotic Pain Killers

The opium poppy and its amazing anesthetic properties have been known, some medical anthropologists think, for about 4-5,000 years. Without this opium product millions upon millions would have suffered needlessly and in excruciating pain and suffering. Its use has not changed. But why and how it has been prescribed has changed for many in the ‘west’ - by Big Pharma drug pushers and immoral doctors.

My auntie is a patient of Kaiser. She is my father’s half sister by 20 years. She is about my age of 70. She has horrible pain and problems with arthritis in her left shoulder. I had the same thing but my right shoulder. I went to an Acupuncturist and after 5 treatments I had no more pain and could lift my art over my head; something I was unable to do before treatment. I told her to try it and she had the same result. But she still was given 10 mg of Oxycodone Hydrochloride, USP which she sill takes 2-3 times daily. Her doctor has never modified nor inquired about this, or even asking about her Acupuncture results which Kaiser paid for. My doctor at Kaiser never prescribed narcotic for my arthritis and always followed up as to my Acupuncture results.

I live with ongoing severe pain from three different sources. When I was in the hospital 8 years ago my orthopedic surgeon gave me a strong narcotic for the pain, which was absolutely correctly prescribed. But it was way too strong for me, dizzy, fast beating heart, feeling like passing out, so I asked to have a lower dosage. He prescribed a low dose of Norco (Narcotic) 5mg as needed for pain, which I still use at the same dosage level. My pain is episodic in nature; some days no pain, other days, unceasingly horrible pain that can bring me down in tears. Pain can be soul crushing and damage almost every aspect in one’s life and social interactions.

I have never told my doctor one factor in the use of a narcotic for pain control, I have never had a “High” or “Euphoria” from any prescribed narcotic. Why? I believe the reason is because I have struggled with ADD/ADHA since I was 8 years old. I have always kept this as my own secret. Thank God it never impacted my ability to read or write which saved me from scholastic disaster. My brain functions differently and that includes with narcotics. I have never had any bad experiences with narcotic painkillers. There is no “high” to chase for me. It just kills pain. My only and sole side effect has been insomnia from time-to-time. Not even common constipation, which narcotic painkillers can cause, has happened.

I have taught many seniors how better to control, monitor, and seek potential alternatives for ‘chronic pain’. (See Part 2 of this series) I also have developed a pain-meditation program that helps lower pain, not take it away. A number of people including myself have been able to lower their narcotic painkillers because of this program. I recently personally asked my doctor to reduce my painkillers by 123 pills yearly, almost unheard of with patients. I was seeing results from my program and had extra dosages that I just threw away. So I lowered my dosage to fit my new requirements. That's responsible use!

A previous doctor of mine asked me to try a drug commonly used for pain management. The psychiatric response to the drug was horrible. So he put me on another drug in that category, same psychiatric results - thoughts of death, suicide, and sleepwalking presented a serious risk for me. When I stopped the use of these drugs the symptomology stopped. I have no such response to narcotics. 

Has Big Pharma done research on alternative painkillers? Indeed they have. Painkillers such as Tramadol (Synthetic narcotic) and Methadone (Narcotic replacement treatment) both are as addicting as Heroin. My sister Rena has been addicted to Tramadol for years. She ran out of the pills and was without them over a weekend of serious reactions and withdrawal symptoms, which sent her to the hospital (not Kaiser). When I was given Tramadol along with Norco I also had a serious psychiatric/physical reaction. When I took just the Tramadol I had the same reaction again. I stopped the prescription and the bad symptoms went away. Big Pharma wants you addicted that is how they and drug pushers make money - They don’t care and as many doctors have not cared.

Now Doctors who prescribe narcotics for the sake of money not treatment are being prosecuted. Even the good doctors seem to posses a collective guilt and paranoia over their narcotic prescriptions, many times to the detriment of their patients. Once doctors were being forced to prescribe correctly and held to personal liability the care of their patients became unimportant. Many seniors across the country have been left wallowing in pain. One doctor told me, his eyes popping out of his head, “They ‘gonna’ come after me, I could be in jail.” Not if they prescribe, monitor and follow these patients. It’s almost as though doctors are throwing the babies out with the bath water; totally cowardly and irresponsible.

The time is now... 
for both doctors and patients to face the music:

-NO you are not going to get narcotics for minor pain and pain that can be effectively controlled by other means without serious side effects. 
-YES you are going to be asked to try the alternative modalities of pain control when appropriate.
-YES doctors will have to reeducate themselves on pain management and effective alternatives to narcotics.  
-YES you are going to get the correct narcotic dosage if you have qualifying pain.

Doctors have got to stop treating their patients that use and have proven their responsibility using narcotic drug painkillers as some kind of medical desperados and addicts. It's shameless CYA (Cover Your Ass")

The responsibly for the “Opioid Crisis” lays at the feet of Big Pharma and immoral doctors, not their patients, whom they have purposely hooked on drugs through no supervision and lack of real medical care.