Trends: Hippocratic Hypocrites
Doctors started the opioid epidemic - When will bad deeds and incompetence finally be punished?
A friend recently sent me a link to a Tedx talk from many years ago discussing addiction. I made it 7 minutes and 23 seconds into the video before I couldn't handle looking that doctor in the face for another second.
Too many questions swirl around this writer's head. Questions that I shouldn't, and have never, asked (or seriously considered) of any healthcare professional or the entire addiction issue until this very point.
Lifting the Veil
This particular doctor started his tug-at-the-heart-strings, talking about the struggles and trials of these broken people who inevitably become his patients.
I get it. Life is rough for many people. Living in a society with 24/7 Medical Care, Government Assistance Programs, and Free Access to Drug Rehabilitation Services - it's difficult for a drug user to stay dirty. I honestly don't know how these drug addicts cope. /sic
But, the absolute cope here is the pushers, not the pushed. All the while, this doctor was empathizing; I couldn't help but wonder about one of the most disturbing thoughts I've ever had about that profession:
How many families have this Doctor’s colleagues directly destroyed
through addiction to opiates?
I'm not trying to be hyperbolic. I'm not even trying to be mean. However, the question is both critical and extremely serious: How many? Indeed there must be records somewhere that could tell us exactly.
We know the effects of opiates on the general masses, as it is literally a phrase. If you don't, google the opioid epidemic and face the inundation of media stories. Otherwise, this issue needs a more critical examination.
Drugs Sell Themselves
First, I'd like to point out the most obvious: People genuinely looking to escape reality will find any means and climb any mountain to do so, including a bullet if necessary.
It's tragic and sad; it's time to move on.
What bothers me here is the degree of empathy this medical professional was expressing for individuals who, through their fault (or his), picked up a pipe/needle and took the Charlton Heston approach to addiction:
“… From my cold, dead hands.”
-Charlton Heston
The paramedics will probably arrive before hands turn cold: death is frequent. So, why should I have a bleeding heart from self-inflicted wounds by fully-grown adults who don't even contribute taxes? I guess I usually wouldn't #FreeChoice if it wasn't for the fact that many of these addicts started on the Doctor's Script before moving on to be Street Gripped.
Honestly, I do feel for them. I came from a rough upbringing, and I've personally thrown around the phrase "Not all families are created equal" more casually than is perhaps appropriate. Regardless, we must place the blame on something far more concrete than simply "Society."
There are millions of stories from other storytellers about individuals in the most depressing instances of squalor and near-depravity who aren't addicted to deadly substances. Heartbreaking stories, tragic stories, stories where you would almost entirely forgive the individual for packing it in and taking the express train to "no f*cks left" town.
Yet, they don't.
They struggle, they pan, they hustle, and for some of us watching - they inspire.
Imagine the single mother who raises their “abusers” child. Or the convict who hit rock bottom and bounced instead of landing. The world is full of tragedy; we don't need to go far or pan wide to see it. If these people can avoid life-altering substances, surely there must be hope for the rest of us. Or can it indeed be said that I am only one event away from a (shortened) lifetime of absolute squalor before I, too, am giving drugs the old 'Heston Approach'?
I damn well hope not.
Of course, according to many of the stories of these newly created Pharmaceutical Industry clients (Read: Addicts), it all starts about the same… A regular person living life has an accident that doesn't kill them, so Doctors make ill-advised (most evident by now) decisions to seemingly, help speed up that process.
Every industry loves returning clientele. It's usually any industry's bread and butter. What better way of assuring a follow-up visit than grabbing the client where it hurts, while they are most vulnerable and trusting.
You know, before the IV drip wears off.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not placing all the blame at the feet of our world-class, world-renown doctors who spent approximately 40,000 Hours in Training (10-14 years) at some of the best schools and facilities in the world. Markedly with access to technology that is historically and entirely without parallel in many other developed or developing nations today. It would be wholly disingenuous of this writer to assume that any of these Highly Trained, Highly Regulated, Highly Insured, Sworn-to-Protect Careerists could ever possibly manage to Google something. It's not like they have access to untold millions worth of Industry-Informed Media, Resources, and Networks at their very fingertips.
That would be pretty damning if true.
As most media loves to report, the manufacturer of these exotic drugs is to blame. The Pharmaceutical Reps are the actual drug pushers. They lied, they cheated, and they misled doctors.
Sure. Maybe. But none of that resolves the nationally and internationally unfolding dire situation we are now witnessing. Nor does it provide any protection for the public when this industry over-prescribes. The existing laws aren't being enforced, and the truth is in the morgue.
Frustratingly, what I find the most egregious about this entire situation is not the for-profit nature inherent in Healthcare and Pharmacology (which is a blessing more than a curse) but rather the empty and void pleasantries of our Medical Caregivers. The audacity of anyone who swears to the Hippocratic Oath of 'Do No Harm' (among other professional requirements) as a medical professional only to turn around in seemingly the same breath and demand action on an issue they entirely wrote the script on.
With doctors like that, who needs drug dealers?
As always,
Farewell, and Good Luck.
-Dark Philosopher
Mapping Trends:
Rising public backlash and increasing partisan political involvement may lead to higher rates of prescription fraud, lower rates of seeking medical assistance, and higher polling of distrust of established institutions among highly impacted groups in some regions,
Statute of Limitations expiry (Cira year 2045) on many legal actions may lead to a more significant increase in Media and Pundit awareness immediately prior,
New Dosing or Addiction Metrics developed, leading to Legislation for the Re-classification of Controlled Drug Schedules and Review/Alteration of current Practitioner Access.
Future Black Swan Possibilities:
Nationally circulated tragedy, news story, or revelation leading to Congressional Investigation or Oversight,
Possible incrimination of legally protected persons, including FDA Board Participants, Corporate Heads, or representatives and medical service providers following a crisis event.
Article Updates
October 28th, 2022 - Grammar and Format
November 16th, 2023 - Fixed Layout, Format, Signature