As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than Advil and Tylenol

Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by shams93 on Thursday November 09, 2017 @12:02PM (#15663973)

This is not the case when you suffer major 3rd degree burns. When you need morphine in the case of say regrowing nerve endings in a damanged limb advil will not cut it, not even medical cannabis will cut it, there are still cases where giving a patient morphine is appropriate.

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Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by SheepSlapper on Thursday November 09, 2017 @12:11PM (#15664044)

The discussion around opiate abuse isn't about the extreme cases. Yes, if I get 3rd degree burns then I want to be as out of it as possible until the pain goes away.

The problem isn't the extreme cases, it's the every day ones. Opiates are being massively over-prescribed in cases where OTC medicine or a shot of whiskey would suffice, and this over-prescription is a driving force behind the addiction epidemic.

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Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by randlet on Thursday November 09, 2017 @12:24PM (#15664127)

> or a shot of whiskey would suffice

Not sure if you said it in jest or not but alcohol is also highly addictive, prone to abuse, and harmful to your health and IMO would really not be a step in the right direction.

edit: I almost added to my comment "It's almost taboo in our society to mention this fact" but didn't. I was almost immediately down voted so I guess maybe I'm not wrong...

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Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by stouset on Thursday November 09, 2017 @03:50PM (#15665773)

You’re not wrong, but the likelihood of addiction from two weeks of drinking vs. two weeks of opioids is, I suspect, not really comparable.

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Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by illegalsmile on Thursday November 09, 2017 @01:39PM (#15664697)

I'd say it's extremely taboo to mention anything negative or even the possibility that alcohol is one of the most abused and disruptive drugs in our society.

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Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by graphitezepp on Thursday November 09, 2017 @02:31PM (#15665175)

People don't even like to call it a drug, which severely bothers me to be honest. I've tried some things and alcohol, from my perspective, is one of the more dangerous drugs around

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Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by sliverstorm on Thursday November 09, 2017 @12:32PM (#15664202)

Yeah, but what is it, 1/8 Americans are already alcoholics, so 12% of the time you're not making things any worse!

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Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by walshemj on Thursday November 09, 2017 @05:16PM (#15666273)

As on expat UK-> USA said if you have a pint for lunch people start leaving AA leaflets on your desk.

A while back I was talking to a course tutor who in the UK gave the "dealing with staff with serious addiction problems" course - he commented its when you find 3 or 4 stashes of vodka hidden in the office that you know you have a problem

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Re:As epidemic rages, ER study finds opioids no better than ... by jschwartzi on Friday November 10, 2017 @08:38AM (#15669766)

Like that time I was given two weeks of Vicodin for a scrape on my elbow.

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