Last week I read that even though Americans are only 5% of the world's population we use 80% of the world's legally prescribed narcotics. You think this could be be true? Really, we use that much? Then along comes this story. The DEA charges that two CVS pharmacies in Florida violated their licenses by ordering 3 million oxycodone pills in 2011- more than twenty times the national average. WOW! Either these two pharmacies are smack in the middle of a war zone or I suspect someone's partying hard.
When I was training there was a big push to treat pain more aggressively. No question, no patient should be left in pain but we've overshot. Now some patients even with minor injuries demand narcotics. Sometimes even demanding the above highly addictive oxycodone for a minor injury. An injury mind you with no swelling, bruising or other objective evidence of injury. Physicians who prescribe narcotics in this scenario are doing their patients no favors. It's beyond time to rethink our management of everyday pain. This is something I hope to explore on an up coming show on Dr. Chambers On Call on KFWB News Talk 980 Sundays 4-5 PM. I'll give you a head's up when the show is scheduled.
