PHARMACIST STEVE

If you wish to watch the whole show here is the link.

http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2016-03/11-031116-breaking-point-heroin-in-america

After watching this “special”.. it is clear why it took them over ONE YEAR to get it together… I just wonder how many families they had to follow to find the “worse case story” they could broadcast… I guess that is what sensational journalism is all about..

They had THIRTY NATIONAL ADVERTISERS on this program:

HomeAdvisor.com              Gain Detergent                   Geico                     Zillow.com              800AskGary.com                Progressive Insurance

Kraft Foods                           Verizon Cellular                 Banquet Foods    Vision Works          Dannon/Activia                  ATT Cellular

Quicken Loans                      Huggies                               Dell Computers   Honda                       EHarmony.com                  Red Lobster

Lexus                                      Truecar.com                       Kohls                     Werthers Candy      Allegra                                  H&R Block

AARP                                     Yoplait Yogurt                     Ford                       Downey Softner        Farmer’s Ins                      marie callender’s

Builders Supply

They start off talking about the 129 that die everyday of drug overdoses… of course this story is about Heroin… no sense of mentioning that  57 deaths are from OTC medications… after all the story is based on Heroin abuse… which accounts for abt 17% of all overdose medication deaths.. no sense in confusing the people watching the show with FACTS …

They move on the state that these drug over doses are greater than car accidents – abt 40,000/yr – and guns abt 11,000 homicides.

Again they state that 4 out of 5 Heroin users started out with prescription opiates… they , of course, never clarified if they started with a legal Rx for opiates, got them from friends/family, on the street or robbed a pharmacy… again no sense in confusing the audience with FACTS.

The first family (Aaron & Catlin)… both are Heroin abusers… but the only history that is provided is that Aaron has OD’ed TWICE before and Catlin is currently in rehab.. Also notice that Aaron is a SMOKER.. claimed to be the most addicting drug out there and causes abt 450,000 deaths/yr, but this story is Heroin addiction and 8,000 deaths.  Also, at least Aaron’s MIL was a smoker as well…

They mention that “China White”  ( Heroin mixed with Fentanyl) and claim that Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than Morphine… which is true if Fentanyl citrate was being used – like the commercial product like Duragesic – but the Fentanyl being mixed is from China is AcetylFentanyl… which is only about 7% potency of Fentanyl citrate .. again don’t confuse the audience with FACTS.

Of course, after Aaron had OD’ed the first time, they could have put him on Vivitrol (long acting Naloxone)… shot every 28 days.. and there would be no more “highs” or OD’s for Aaron, but instead .. they allow him to OD a second time and then send him to The Phoenix House were his recovery is done cold turkey and using “talk therapy” … where he fails… OD’s and dies after 8 days.

Then we meet Matt and Savanna .. Matt is working for $10/hr and Savanna is on Subutex at a cost of $17/day…abt 30% of Matt’s weekly pay. Just like Aaron & Catlin… Matt and Savanna are both Heroin addicts..

Matt tried to show a judge that he is clean, a family man, steady job holder… this seemingly “heartless” judge.. decides that he is not rehabilitated enough.. imposing a $5000 bond and breaking up the family and putting the “bread winner” in jail.. So now his wife and baby daughter has to find how to financially survive. Savanna apparently spirals out of control.. ends up in jail… the baby girl ends up living with her Grandmother.

 

 

  New Hampshire spends TWENTY TIMES more money on law enforcement than treatment. If the state had paid for Savanna’s Subutex ($17/day) … and the judge had been a little more open minded… Savanna and Matt could still have been a happy family.. Matt could have been a productive member of society. Instead the state is now having to bear the cost of incarcerating both of them and probably bearing some cost for raising their daughter via Medicaid.

 

 

 

The DEA agent says that this a medical issue, a public health issue and law enforcement issue. It would not be hard to imagine if the two couples that were the focus of this story that if “the system” had been more focused on their medical needs… Aaron might be alive and Matt and Savanna , Aaron and Catlin may have been a intact family. Being productive members of society… instead of being a liability on the system.

 

Also notice that when they went to the local bureaucrats to get the approval to open a residential home for single mothers in recover… TWO of the FIVE BUREAUCRATS voted NO!.. and the chairman of the counsel did not sound happy that the vote passed to approve the home.

Is it just me, or did that vote and the tone of the chairman’s statement… spoke volume about the attitude and mindset of that community and perhaps the whole state.

106 million chronic painers and THIRTY national companies advertising/supporting this show/network… I would suspect that there is a lot of money exchanging hands for the products that they produce.. and those in the chronic pain community purchasing those produce. I am especially surprised that AARP is one of the sponsors of this program.. they claim that they represent 30 million 50+ people and I would suspect that at least 30%-40% of the people they claim that they represent… are chronic painers..  I wonder how many of their dues paying members are HEROIN ABUSERS ?

This story kind of reminds me of going into a “mirrored fun house”… what you see in the mirror doesn’t reflect REALITY…  Like all the pictures of models on magazine covers that are “Photo-shopped” to make them “look better”… in this case, FACTOIDS were “Photo-shopped” to make them look like the TRUTH  ?

Filed under: General Problems