The truth about OxyContin (poem)

by Alexander DeLuca, M.D., FASAM - 2001-08-08; latest minor revisions: 2006-06-02. Source.

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1) it is just another long acting opioid.

2) long acting opioids are good for a lot of reasons including that they are far less abuse-able if used properly.

3) if you lock yourself in a refrigerator, you will suffocate. This is an example of the improper use of a technology.

4) there is no significant difference between MS-contin, Kadian, OxyContin and methadone as far as the brain is concerned.

5) if you spill hot mcdonalds coffee on your hand under the sign that says, “watch out, hot coffee,” you will get burned. This is an example of the improper use of a technology.

6) we need short, quick-acting opiates, and slow, long-acting opiates. One size does not fit all. We have both endoscopic surgery for gallbladder disease, and open laparotomy for gallbladder disease. We need both.

7) if you park on a hill, leave the car in neutral, and fail to engage the parking brake, the car will run randomly down the hill and perhaps run a small child over. This is an example of the misuse of a technology.

8) it does not make any medical sense to punish the millions of pain patients to prevent what is, really, a comparatively trivial problem of prescription drug diversion. This is a media, police feeding frenzy. It is senseless. They will regret that they behaved this way.

9) all God’s children hurt or will hurt; nobody gets out alive.

10) they will regret they behaved this way.

11) it is possible to get 95% of all people with chronic pain down to pain levels of 0-3 using all the technologies we have, one of which is opioid medications. We should not rest until this is accomplished.

12) if you stick a small metal object into an electrical wall outlet, you will get a shock. This is an example of the misuse of a technology.

13) you cannot treat chronic pain in cancer patients without treating chronic non-cancer pain. This is a medical truth.

14) drug addiction can be treated. It is a minor problem, from a public health point of view, compared to chronic, untreated or under-treated, pain in this society.

15) you or your brother or your parents or your children or your nieces or nephews will get seriously injured, or develop a chronic painful illness, or will get cancer.

17) making sick people jump through hoops is damaging to the souls of those who hold up the hoops.

18) opiate medications are our friends. We need them.

19) they will regret they behaved this way.

20) we all need to show up and get back to work now.

[END]