The General's Drug Problem
This was in USA Today as well. It's a long article but well worth the read. Apparently the medical establishment still does not have a handle on pain management and the aftermath.
The General's Drug Problem TAMPA - Standing before a packed hall of 700 military doctors and medics here, the deputy commander of the nation's elite special operations forces warned about an epidemic of chronic pain sweeping through the U.S. military after a decade of continuous war. Be careful about handing out narcotic pain relievers, Lt. Gen. David Fridovich told the audience last month. "What we don't want is that next generation of veterans coming out with some bad habits." What Fridovich didn't say was that he was talking as much about himself as anyone."I was fighting the pain. And I was fighting the injury. And I was fighting the narcotics." For nearly five years, the Green Beret general quietly has been hooked on narcotics he has taken for chronic pain - a reflection of an addiction problem that is spreading across the military. Hospitalizations and diagnoses for substance abuse doubled among members of U.S. forces in recent years. This week, nurses and case managers at Army wounded care units reported that one in three of their patients are addicted or dependent on drugs. In going public about his drug dependency during interviews with USA TODAY, Fridovich, 59, echoes the findings of an Army surgeon general task force last year that said doctors too often rely on handing out addictive narcotics to quell pain. An internal Army investigation report released Tuesday revealed that 25 percent to 35 percent of about 10,000 soldiers assigned to special units for the wounded, ill or injured are addicted or dependent on drugs, according to their nurses and case managers. Doctors in those care units told investigators they need training in other ways to manage pain besides only using narcotics. "I was amazed at how easy it was for me or almost anybody to have access and to get medication, without really an owner's manual," says Fridovich, deputy commander of the nation's roughly 60,000 Green Berets, Army Rangers, Navy SEALS and secretive Delta Force teams. For such a high-ranking military officer, publicly acknowledging drug dependency was unprecedented. More... http://www.theleafchronicle.com/arti...roblem-w-VIDEO |
Doctors prescribe that stuff way to much IMO. When I was in you could get anything you wanted from the Bn Doc.
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I understand that there was a similiar problem after the Civil War with wounded Veterans who experienced morphine for the first time.
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have lots of friends with hiatal hernias (serious acid reflux) from all of the Motrin team guys used like aspirin.
They say serious pain killers are one of the most adictive things going. Frido, from my experiences with him, is a very straight shooter...glad we have guys like him being successful. I watched him chew an 06 Inf type a new asshole when he was an LTC SF controller @ NTC. The 06 was the division ops officer and totally disregarded the SF intel until they got waxed...it was great to see. I admired his directness and honesty. |
Could it be that a number servicemembers actually carry the gene for addiction but never had problems with it because they never used opiates until they were seriousely wounded? They start taking them for the pain and then they become addicted. Happens to a number of otherwise ordinary people. I read a book and then watched the movie about a female undercover narcotics officer who in her work had to occasionally use small amounts of cocaine. It turns out that she carried the gene, became addicted, and then had to go through rehabilitation and leave the narcotics field.
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Gen and Addiction/Etc.
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Now, I think these men are getting some different kinds of wounds these days? I certainly am no expert nor anyone's judge as every wound is different. I could not imagine a man I respected being burned terribly by WP. |
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We tend to wait to use methadone for end-of-life care in my field (and our pediatric palliative team seems to support this practice). (I hope this post isn't seen as a hijack.) |
One of the best MDs I ever worked with was the ER Physician at Womack back in the mid-70s. He developed a case of nephrolithiasis and self-treated with oral morphine, became addicted, was rehab'd and lost his license to prescribe controlled meds.
I saw far too many get hooked on pain or other meds. Richard :munchin |
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Part of the problem with a lot of the pain meds out there is that the user develops a "tolerance" to the meds effectiveness, so like any other type of addiction, more is needed to get the same effect.
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I see first hand the problem just about every day. I often feel the healthcare personnel are converting patients to drug seeker :(. I do admire those who display true grit and gut it out to the point of being unable to sleep/woken up/in tears. Then I had to encourage their taking it as it's hindering the healing process. Hats off to the good general for raising awareness. |
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