By Rob Lorei
Today our guest is Dr. Darryl Paulson, professor emeritus of government at USF St.Petersburg, to talk about how the state crackdown on pill mills and prescription drug abuse has made it harder for actual pain sufferers to get the medication they need. At one point, Florida was ground zero for prescription drug abuse, with hundreds of so-called “pill mills” run by unscrupulous doctors operating across that state. In 2012 a task force was formed that arrested hundreds of doctors and patients that were abusing the system, and established firmer requirements on how these medications can be dispensed. As Paulson wrote in a perspective piece for the Tampa Bay Times, these rules have set up expensive and timely hurdles for people with actually chronic pain to obtain the medication they need to manage it. Paulson himself has suffered from chronic pain since childhood, and has repeated faced obstacles in obtaining medication since the new laws were enacted.
2 Responses to “USF Professor says prescription drug crackdown harms legitimate pain sufferers.”
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Dr. Paulson’s comments are right on target. Thousands of Floridians who suffer chronic pain are forced to suffer needlessly, or cope with unreasonable measures that treat those in pain unfairly. I had to drive 450 miles round trip leaving my family in the middle of a vacation to fill my prescription, because CVS won’t honor a legitimate prescription from out of area. All of my future travels must be scheduled around my prescription refill dates. You feel like a drug addict shopping around to find a pharmacy that has your doctor-authorized pain meds in stock. And of course, you have to pee in a cup with every doctor trip to make sure you didn’t take anything else for your pain. Sometimes, you can’t get prescriptions filled, and because the dosages are so closely prescribed, with no spares, when you run out, you may have to suffer for several days. No wonder people turn to the illegal drug market, choose marijuana as an alternative, or worse, take their own lives because they can’t obtain the lawful help they need. This restriction on pain meds is responsible for a tremendous amount of pain and suffering on top of the chronic pain already experienced.
I came across this story where you were talking about people having a difficult time getting access to pain medication to manage their chronic pain issues.
I wanted to reach out to the station because I offer a service as a Personal Trainer that specializing in flexibility and mobility using Yamuna Body Rolling and other stretching modalities. People sometimes utilize Body Rolling as an alternative to pain medication. Body Rolling reduces pain, prevents injuries, improves one core strength, and improves mobility issues. Body Rolling involves a series of routines using various size balls and ones own body weight to loosen up areas of tension in the body. I offer privates and group classes in the Tampa Bay area. If you would like I am open to coming into the station to share more about this with your listeners. Hope all is well. Thanks.