CDC Spending $4.8 Million to “Raise Awareness” about Prescription Opioid Abuse
One would think that the massive amount of attention to prescription opioids and the sweeping changes to guidelines and law that have come this year would be enough to raise awareness in the US. But the CDC thinks that is not enough. It recently awarded a task order of $4.8 million to ICF (NASDAQ:ICFI) develop a large scale advertising program.
According to a press release, “ICF will oversee the development of a large-scale, targeted communications campaign designed to raise awareness about the risks associated with prescription opioid abuse. Among its responsibilities under the task order, ICF will oversee development and placement of digital and social media advertisements and maintain an active social media presence for the campaign. Additionally, ICF will create online, mobile-accessible training for providers. ICF also will develop tools, training and outreach to promote adoption of CDC’s Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain by physicians and other healthcare providers. This work supports the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ commitment to address the opioid crisis as a top priority and intensify its efforts to reduce opioid misuse and abuse.”
“Prescription drug overdose affects a vast number of Americans and their families each year,” said Frances Heilig, vice president for ICF International. “Our communications work on the risks of illicit drug use has given us a solid understanding of the impact of prescription opioid abuse on our society. We look forward to working with the CDC to help dissect and communicate this complex issue to increase its visibility across a variety of audiences and reduce the incidence of drug-related deaths in the United States.”
With access to opioids becoming an increasing problem for pain sufferers who do not abuse their medication, one can expect that the onslaught of ads and promotion of the CDC’s restrictive guidelines will simple amplify the problems many face around the country.
Filed under: General Problems
Much more goes on here than we are seeing. Dollars are changing hands a lot of dollars. You know they do not care about the people of this country FOLLOW the dollars then we will see what they are really doing .
The ,”why” is because the voices of truth cannot be heard if the government has forgotten how to listen to it,,,maryw
With doctors’ hands tied by the CDC and the DEA in my state of Alabama (and most all others ), and with no help with holistic alternative medications like marijuana or kratom (banned in AL)- chronic pain patients are pretty much left here in AL to suffer. Some commit suicide. Some go to the streets for the medications they had been getting for decades from their doctors (after their doctors cut them off cold turkey for fear of backlash from the DEA and CDC ). My opinion is this; unless this nation wants to see (#1) the illegal sell of prescription opioids go up (which could contain a much stronger drug like fentanyl disguised as Norco’/’Percocet’/ etc. and kill these poor people just needing relief to live their lives), (#2) heroin use WILL go up (again bc doctors put chronic pain patients on the street, to fill ERs who treat them like addicts, or to pain management who also treat CPPs like addicts & try to put them on things like Suboxone ), or they will see Suicides of CPP go sky high because we can’t live in pain like this for the rest of our lives (then, the CDC will more than likely blame it on opioid addiction. Noooo. It is a cat and mouse chase to get relief BECAUSE of what the CDC & DEA are doing to CPP! THEY ARE CAUSING THE PROBLEM!!! Why don’t they see this?) and that blood is on the hands of the DEA, CDC, the Attorney General, doctors who refused to adequately treat their CPP, etc (BTW, Jeff Sessions is currently our senator here in AL-soon to be Trump’s Attorney General). •Here (in AL), medical marijuana is illegal, recreational marijuana (if you can’t get a dr to prescribe it in fear of the government taking their medical license) is illegal, we’re one of the 7 states (I believe) that has banned kratom (has no high to it and has helped millions get OFF things like heroin, methadone, etc.- oh and is derived from strains of coffee/tea- helps with chronic pain, fatigue, PTSD, anxiety, the list goes on). AL Senator Jeff Sessions is the one who has caused all the chaos here in my state. Heroin use has gone up 200% within the last two years here in AL. The CDC and DEA have GOT to let up on these doctors. Doctors should be able to treat their patients as THEY seem fit and not worry about whether or not the CDC and DEA is going to take away their medical license just because they prescribed someone an opioid or mmj. If a patient has to go through the urine tests (to prove they are taking their opioids and not taking other drugs), random pill counts, blood tests, and random hair follicle tests (get treated like an addict basically) and they pass all that crap every time, why on earth would a doctor, the CDC, or the DEA deny a chronic pain patient the only medication that make their lives worth living?!?!? This has happened to me 3 times this year alone with doctors. The first doctor, who dismissed me and sent me to pain management. This is the doctor I had for 12 years with no incident, no ‘failed tests’, nothing.
CPP NEED HELP AND OPTIONS! We need help. We need to be able to treat our bodies as we see fit. If we aren’t able to find a doctor who will treat us the way we should be treated and cared for, then CPP need alternative options as well. The PROVEN holistic alternatives for treatment of pain are kratom and marijuana. However, some people cannot use the alternatives (whether they live in an illegal state, they live in a legal mmj state but doctors won’t prescribe it for fear of backlash, or some CPP’s bodies just can’t tolerate alternatives). Some people, like me whose only option is opioid therapy, are SUFFERING with hellacious pain (as well as having no doctors to treat my fibromyalgia, lupus , neuropathy, epilepsy, degenerative disc disease, etc. the list goes on) everyday from various illnesses because doctors simply will not help chronic pain patients. Trust me when I say that there WILL be a #suicideepidemic
over what is happening here and in many many other states. This has GOT TO BE FIXED! And I have a Fibro FB page with 10K+ people on it. We are setting up and event soon for CPP to actually contact their senators and representatives about the CDC and DEA. We’re going to contact Trump as well (.if that will do any good- we have to try!). I’ve set up petitions and events in the past. So I’m not just some whiny CPP that does nothing about what is going on. I AM TRYING! But I AM GOING TO NEED THE HELP OF ALL THE CPP THAT I CAN GET! I have a few other pages who said they would post my event. I’m hoping that this page will allow me to post it as well.
I’m sorry that I wrote a book, but, I’ve been though so much in the past year that it has disheartened me tremendously. The medical community has become uncaring to their patients. They’ve become ‘puppets’ for the CDC, DEA, pharmaceutical companies, & the Attorney General-just to name a few. We are tired of PUPPETS! We need CARE!
From 1850 to 1987 we as a society funded totally by our government /tax dollars allowed the crippled,the medically ill w/painful medical condition to be locked up in Warehouses,,cal;led PENNHURST,,,because they were simple crippled by some medical condition..We put these innocent souls threw barbaric treatments,ie,shock treatment,lobotomies,and god know what other secret government funded sicko treatments,,UNTIL SOMEONE AT CBS HAD THE BALLS TO FILM naked men,women and children in their own human waste,,w/no cloth,no food,no treatments at all,,,We allowed this to go on for over 100 years,,and we are allowing it again to happen just like the PENNHURST of the days of old,,where the crippled from medical conditions are being locked up in some ,’prettier” psych ward,”away,” from the view of the public,suffering in agonizing physical pain,,when once again there are MEDICINES that have proven to work to lessen their physical pain ARE BEING FORCIBLE TAKEN /DENIED ACCESS TO THEM,,,yet again our government hasn;t learned from history,,and allow some psychopaths name KLONDYN,, to repeat history and open up new PENNHURST,, funded by our dime,,to house the chronic physical pain HUMANBEINGS,,with no effective medicines to lessen their physical pains,,,why???Why are we allowing history to repeat itself??Because the voice of truth cannot be heard if our government has forgotten how to listen,,,,!!!!they censore us always,and hide our deaths,,,they refuse to hear the truth anymore,,,,in the meantime,,,7 people ended their physical pain last nite by death,,and 29 out 30 patient in psych wards are chronic physical pain people FORCED into treatment w/the promise of medicines and receive NOTHING effective to lessen their physical pain..Alllll sanctioned by KLONDYN,, and our government!!!!!HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF,,PENNHURSTS HAS RIZEN AGAIN,,,,PAIN FOR BY OUR DIME!maryw
DeeAnn, the last thing the CDC cares about is quality of life unless you’re a heroin addict!
This is truly ridiculous! Honestly will likely be spent putting forth the CDC opinion of opiate abuse NOT the reality. As a chronic pain patient this pains me that much more. I know that it will be even more of an uphill battle to have any quality of life at all.
Leave it to the government to spend our money on something that doesn’t work. Anyone who hasn’t already heard that opiates, including those prescribed for legitimate purposes, are in the opinion of the CDC something to be avoided at all costs. What crap!
That’s the federal government. Throwing money at programs that don’t and have never worked. Our tax dollars hard at work.