Andrew Kolodny Rips National Pain Report For Unfair Reporting
Dr. Andrew Kolodny has criticized the National Pain Report for what he calls “its unfair and false reporting” on him.
He said it is “absolutely false” that he is “aggressively pushing the idea of restricting or eliminating opioid usage” as we indicated this week.
“I have never pushed for a policy that would restrict or eliminate opioids,” he said. “I believe opioids play an important in both the treatment of pain and addiction.”
What he is for, he said, is responsible prescribing.
Kolodny also believes we should avoid referring to the crisis as an epidemic of drug abuse. As he said on the Brandeis University website: “Calling it an abuse problem suggests the cause is bad behavior—people abusing dangerous drugs to get high. While it’s true that some people got addicted from recreational use, many also became addicted taking opioids exactly as prescribed by doctors. Once addicted, people aren’t using heroin or pills because it’s fun. They need to keep using opioids to avoid feeling awful.”
Kolodny, who in addition to his work at Brandeis University is also executive director of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, started working on the issue about 15 years ago for New York City’s health department.
Kolodny has been in the news recently urging the Trump Administration to move faster to address the issue of overprescribing and addiction.
“There really isn’t anything this (federal) commission is going to figure out that we don’t know already,” Dr. Andrew Kolodny, told the New York Times. “What we need is an enormous federal investment in expanding access to addiction treatment, and for the different federal agencies that have a piece of this problem to be working in a coordinated fashion.”
“Policymakers wanted to stop so-called ‘drug abusers’ but were ignoring the problem of overprescribing. It was all focused on preventing kids from getting into grandma’s medicine chest, but no one was looking at why every grandma now had opioids in her medicine chest.”
Kolodny indicated he would think about writing a column talking about opioids and chronic pain for the National Pain Report but said, “Had you approached me before you did this false reporting, I might have been more inclined to do it.”
The day has come when I AGREE with Andrew Kolodny Kolodny also believes we should avoid referring to the crisis as an epidemic of drug abuse.
On JUST ONE THING… substance abuse/addiction is not a EPIDEMIC… because the word EPIDEMIC suggests that something is CONTAGIOUS and substance abuse/addiction is a mental health problem, not a moral issue and both our current and previous Surgeon General and new head of the CDC agrees with that statement.
Doesn’t anyone really wonder that only 5% of so called “addicts” that go to a sobriety clinic stay “clean” ? Maybe that is because they were never really addicted but was prescribed opiates and was not properly weaned off and had become dependent and experienced withdrawal symptoms and when they are properly weaned off… SURPRISE … no longer addicted.
I read this article several times and not ONCE did Kolodny mentioned that substance abuse/addiction is a MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE.
I had a Logic professor in college whose favorite quote was , “.. never say never and never say always… because someone will always prove you wrong… because there is no absolutes in life “
So this statement is patently UNTRUE It was all focused on preventing kids from getting into grandma’s medicine chest, but no one was looking at why every grandma now had opioids in her medicine chest.”
I hope that Ed Coghlan will not let him make any posts… this statement shows he is interested in the liberal distribution of controlled substances: “I have never pushed for a policy that would restrict or eliminate opioids,” he said. “I believe opioids play an important in both the treatment of pain and addiction.”
Since the medications that are used in a chemical rehab are both controlled substances a C-II Methadone and a C-III Suboxone. So apparently Kolodny and the members of his Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing are very supportive of the prescribing of controlled substances/opiates… but mostly limited to those who are dealing with substance abuse/addiction. Apparently a pt being dependent on one of those meds is perfectly fine, but .. those suffering from chronic pain should only get “responsible doses” Whatever in the hell that is ?
Filed under: General Problems
I recently had another serotonin reaction syndrome that put me in the ER for 48 hours. The cause was amiltriptyline prescribed in early March by a young neurosurgeon for my foot neuropathy. I suffered for about 20 days until my wife took me to the emergency room I know that Suboxone by design is a very dangerous concoction that can make people violently ill. The damage done by SSRIs, SRIs and TCAs is real and can cause permanent damage to your brain. Klodony is operating outside his area of expertise.
Excellent article, as always. Since anyone who disagrees with Kolodny or mentions his conflicts of interest or how hypocritical it is that he’s a shill for suboxone, don’t be surprised to see him delete you or block you on social media. I felt honored when he finally blocked me,
Excellent rationality, reading through the double talk we’re constantly bombarded with. I may call it a drug crisis which is both a supplier and consumer problem, because that can’t be completely denied, but I tend to think of the response to it as an ideological war. I’ve met some who work in substance abuse, who I call Nazi’s, because they are so black and white in their points of view. They have an absolute certainty about things and you can’t change their minds. Yet I find very few who live their lives absolutely one way or the other, most of us tend to live in the gray areas in between. Meaning there is no one size fits all, no perfect treatment for every illness, no single answer for every problem. Those who impose such absolutes and then rationalize their double standard are usually hiding something they’re afraid of. I wonder what Andrew Kolodny’s is afraid of?
Well the main motive is money, that is what all of them are afraid to reveal. Kolodny is just a front man, a sacrificial appendage, he’s not the prime mover. Since the 70s, at least, folks have been groomed to look no deeper than the surface of a thing and believe someone else, like “the news” has done that already.
The money to be had in a short time for “opioid (opiate) crisis” and many many MANY other ‘fears’ is just sitting there for the taking, …if one is willing to lie today. How can SS and Medicare and the national debt be so outrageously impoverished when just recently so fat in a country blessed with resource and hard workers like this one?
This has been going on a long long time, and health care ‘things’ are very easy to lie about. Consider the calculated scams that are Diabetes II, “Mental Health”, “fitness”, surgery, and all the new pharmaceutical choices that are far more deadly than beneficial.
He sells malpractice insurance . What better way to increase revenue than to make statements that make every pain doctor seem irresponsible.
Talk about a man that STILL can’t get his facts straight or maybe his lies
straight! hmm
Kolodny, look into my eyes It’s already been proved over and over that this is not a crisis of overprescribing by doctors or patient addiction!
Get that through your head! The problem is, and always has been, illegal drugs and illicit deadly fentanyl, also an illegal drug!!
If you truly wanted to help people you’d quit playing doctor and let our pain management drs be our drs!
You don’t treat people with complex incurable diseases nor do you treat war injuries etc.. for you to insert yourself into very complicated diseases that DO cause chronic, unending terrible pain has already caused enough suffering that you should be sued by many entities and I hope it happens!
You’ve never been backed up by facts except of your own making!
You have a narcissistic personality, a craving for power and attention, and a need to be sadistic! You have little empathy for others and can’t seem to understand how you’re causing misery!
Searching for facts means little to a man who “knows it all” I suppose that’s why you block anyone who opposes your ideas! Trying to decide, Sociopath or psychopath!
And you’re a psychiatrist!! ♀️
Kolodny complaining about “unfair and false reporting” is on par with Hitler complaining about people being unkind. The ignorance, arrogance, & hypocrisy of the man is absolutely mind-boggling.
Ahhhhhh, …so he’s has read NPR, …he knows the truth…
Or here is another point of view:
https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong/up-next?language=en
Great Talk
http://www.lynnwebstermd.com/over-prescribing/
Dr K:read this:^^^^
Great article by Red
OH! And “unfair reporting”!?? Seriously?? After all the lies and misinformation he’s spread??
NPR is telling the real truth, not some weird contorted version that they’ve deceived themselves into believing.
Imo, the reason traditional rehab doesn’t work is because it’s a bad approach.
How many years have we had sobriety house, halfway houses, drug court, inpatient & outpatient rehabs..and all of them have appallingly low success rates.
It’s time to look into the alternatives that have been working so much better for so many people with addiction problems; Ibogaine, Ayahausca, LSD & Changa to name a few that help with the ‘mental
side and kratom to help get them through withdrawals.
The founder of AA originally wanted people with alcoholism to try LSD then do the 12-step program.
Addiction is caused by genetics & environment.
Sure they do well when they’re in an isolated environment, but, if you can even afford to go there or they accept Medicaid/Medicare then you have to find good aftercare, which is also expensive.
We need stigma & harm reduction, decriminalization, and a whole new approach.
Methadone clinics are notorious for being extremely hard to stick with, as you often have to go everyday, they’re expensive and interferes with a persons ability to maintain employment, as there are often lines and long waits that make people miss rides, buses & are then late to work and fired.
It’s also a booming business and Methadone & Suboxone are both very hard to taper off of when the person wants to.
I hope we can soon open our minds to some to new ideas about how addiction should be approached and treated.
And yes- why is it ok for opioids Methadone & Suboxone to be prescribed and used to help people get their quality of life back, but not pain meds – that do the same thing for pain patients??
Kolodny & cohorts need to visit the real world. Mayyybe the reason “grandma” has meds in her medicine chest is, because grandmas are older and more prone to have chronic pain and illness issues…? SMH.