Do you remember all those wild fires in and around Los Angeles, Calf a few months back. Most of those fires were started from a spark, a camp fire, or other such things. Those fires torched some 90 sq miles. Just look at the CDC opioid dosing guidelines – as a spark – The VA quickly adopted, as did the DEA. Some 30 odd state legislatures condified those guidelines as the law in their state.
It took the CDC THREE YEARS to admit their mistakes, but here we are SIX YEARS later, has anyone seen any significant movement to undo the harm caused by those 2016 guidelines? Does this suggest that those behind the OPIOID PROHIBITION AGENDA have no intention of actually IGNORING THE FACTS that they are causing suffering and harm to untold tens of millions of our citizens.
The CDC did acknowledge that their 2016 opioid prescribing guidelines were misapplied. In April 2019, the CDC stated that its opioid guidelines had been widely misinterpreted and treated as hard and fast rules, rather than as flexible recommendations. The agency recognized that this misapplication led to unintended consequences and patient harm
The CDC acknowledged that the misinterpretation of their guidelines likely contributed to:
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Untreated and undertreated pain
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Serious withdrawal symptoms
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Worsening pain outcomes
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Psychological distress
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Increased risk of overdose through use of illegal drugs
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Suicidal ideation and behavior
The misapplication of the guidelines included:
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Extension to patient populations not covered in the original guidelines (e.g., cancer and palliative care patients)
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Rapid opioid tapers and abrupt discontinuation without patient collaboration
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Rigid application of opioid dosage thresholds
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Duration limits imposed by insurers and pharmacies
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Patient dismissal and abandonment
In response to these issues, the CDC has since updated its guidelines to emphasize that the recommendations are voluntary and intended to be flexible to support individualized, patient-centered care
. The agency has also clarified that the dosage thresholds provided in the guidelines pertain solely to opioids used to treat chronic pain and are not intended for use in treating substance use disorders
It took CDC THREE YEARS to realize that the 2016 opioid dosing guidelines were a bad idea. I am sure that there are thousands of chronic pain pts that could have told them up front, before the ink had dried on the paper that they were written on, that they were a bad idea.
It took only a couple of weeks for 90 square miles to burn to the ground, but it is estimated that it is going to take 15 to 25 yrs for the whole area to get back to some sort of normalcy.
CDC causes patients to endure needless pain and suffering. Kennedy can help
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention badly needs an overhaul, especially because of its undue influence on how doctors treat pain patients. Secretary Kennedy has the power to change this.
Not a month goes by without one or both of us receiving emails from desperate people pleading for help finding a physician willing to take new pain patients − a task that has become next to impossible.
Increasingly, these pleas are not just about pain management but about finding ways to end their lives, as years of forced reductions or complete discontinuation of the opioid painkillers that previously allowed them to function have left them bedridden, in constant severe pain or both.
Many have become “pain refugees,” seeking doctors who will accept new pain patients. These are not addicts seeking a fix; they are ordinary people who suffered an accident or serious illness. They once had full, productive lives but now face unimaginable agony.
Patients seek doctors who can help manage pain
Newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has rightly called for a top-to-bottom reevaluation of U.S. public health agencies. One agency that badly needs an overhaul is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, especially because of its undue influence on how doctors treat pain patients.
In 2016, the CDC published a scientifically flawed opioid guideline built on weak evidence, misrepresented statistics and a fundamental misunderstanding of pain management with “suggested” opioid dosages. The CDC stressed that these guidelines are only recommendations, not “prescriptive.” Even so, when a government agency that people consider the premier authority on health matters makes a recommendation, it amounts to a de facto mandate.
By 2022, 40 states had enshrined the CDC’s 2016 guidelines into law. These state laws dictate the number of pills, their dosage and the duration that doctors can prescribe them. They impose restrictive opioid prescribing practices that undermine patient autonomy and substitute bureaucratic oversight for individualized medical decision-making.
Responding to criticism from scientists, physicians and patients, the CDC made minimal and meaningless changes to the guidelines in 2022.
Health practitioners who deviate from these restrictions do so at great risk − facing liability, regulatory scrutiny and even law enforcement action. Police department drug task forces may unfairly label doctors as “high prescribers” for treating patients requiring higher doses, leading to high-profile raids on their clinics.
Desperate, abandoned patients sometimes turn to street drugs, which adds to the toll of fentanyl overdoses.
Prescription painkillers aren’t the cause of opioid epidemic
The public, with help from the news media, still believes the myth that prescription painkillers are responsible for the overdose crisis. This is demonstrably false.
Prescribing peaked in 2012 and is now at 1993 levels – a reduction of about 50%.
Despite this, overdose deaths soared from approximately 40,000 in 2012 to 97,000 in 2024. Illicit fentanyl, often mixed with cocaine or methamphetamine, is almost always the culprit, not prescription pain pills.
The impact on the sick and powerless is staggering. One pain refugee cut off from medicine asked one of us if we knew how to test her street-bought pill − she took a small dose and vomited for 24 hours. A terminal cancer patient entered hospice, where doctors denied her oxycodone, causing pain and withdrawal. A mountain-climbing athlete was disabled by a serious accident and, now with brain cancer, sought advice on suicide due to unbearable nerve pain.
These are a few examples of the cruelty caused by the CDC’s misguided medical interference − an agony beyond most people’s comprehension. Even this tiny sample reveals the unimaginable torment caused by the CDC’s flawed foray into medicine.
Founded in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, the CDC’s mission was to stop the spread of communicable and infectious diseases. After helping eradicate malaria, which was endemic in the southern states, the CDC then tackled scourges like tuberculosis and smallpox.
Over the years, the agency has undergone mission creep, offering advice on many private health and lifestyle choices. An agency that takes on too many responsibilities can end up doing none of them well.
Fortunately, Secretary Kennedy can address this issue. In the spirit of compassion, we urge him to reform the CDC, restoring trust by ending its interference with patient-physician autonomy and refocusing on protecting lives from communicable diseases and public health threats.
Unwanted involvement from an agency that was never qualified to engage in personal medicine has caused unspeakable harm. Any one of us is one accident or illness away from facing the same fate − suffering that we wouldn’t allow for our pets.
Secretary Kennedy has the power to change this.
Dr. Jeffrey A. Singer, author of the forthcoming book “Your Body, Your Health Care,” practices general surgery in Phoenix and is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Josh Bloom is director of chemical and pharmaceutical science at the American Council on Science and Health.
Filed under: General Problems
This aligns with everything I’ve been observing for many years. Opioids have been falsely claimed to be uniquely, deadly dangerous not only to patients, but to the public at large. Prescription opioids do not turn people into criminals, or addicts. For most of US history, opiates were legally available for purchase from retail shops or by mail order. All of us who are old enough were given codeine cough syrup at some point and short prescriptions for injuries or after surgery, and were not transformed into monsters. In fact, detailed studies of criminals and crime data published in “A General Theory of Crime,” Gottfredson, showed criminals start with crime, and those who use drugs start several years later. Criminals also eat cheeseburgers, drive cars and shop in supermarkets.)
Meanwhile law-abiding pain patients are deprived of the most effective medication known to humans, opioids, in the service of a drug war in which there isn’t even a defined goal, while the same government that is getting between doctors’ prescriptions and pain patients’ needs, funds free needles to use illegally manufactured drugs.
pss,,to Steve point,,it took a few weeks to burn 90 square miles,,but 25 years to repair it,, Fires,NATURE CAN/WILL destroy everything in their path,lives will be ruined ,some forever,,from taking everything a person has worked their entire life for,,,it is exactly the same ideology as washington dc that has been done to us,,it took 100 years to shut down psych asylums of abuse,,,why???,lawyers,,protecting them,society prejudice,etc,,WE ARE UP AGAINST THAT SAME DESTRUCTION,,THAT SAME PREJUDICE,, and a mentality that is demented ,,when harming the sick,dieing becomes a sport for $$$$$$ in Washnigton,,,,,they really do not care,,, that their torturing us to death,,,Much like nature or fires.tornadoes,,really dont
care what they destroy,,,reminds’ me of a piece of knowledge an old farmer friend once told me,,Mary,, your suppose to be smarter then the horse,,We as humans are suppose to be smarter then so-called animals,,I would amend that a bit,,to we are not suppose to act like starving animals towards one another,,Money is to politicians like a meal to a starving tiger,,,Greed is their demented mentality,,,Those effected by those Fires,,would have less heart-ache,less financial trauma,emotional trauma,,,,if they were made whole once again,,by the emphathy,HUMANE HUMANITY of others,,,,same as us,, those w/life long pre-existing medical condition folks, in non choice physical pain,but for some reason,,the mean cruel animals are winning rite now,,,mw
U know,,,Steve nails it,,When we met our politician in wisco,,,we repeated what Steve stated,,via law cfr 42-1395,,,,,that the cdc dea,doj,,kill-odyn,who also went to Washington in 2010 to be liebermen intern, had no authority to do this,,,only Conress had this authority to change laws,,,Wisco politicians responds’ at that time,,,,was they didn’t hold the power in the house and senate,and when we repeated what Steve said to our politician,,,,,it stopped him,,The politician had no excuse anymore,,other then,,,,they don’t hold the power at this time,,Wellllllll,,,NOW THEY DO,,, so let see if they were just a bunch of prejudicial liers,like the rest of Washington,,or truthful,,,in fixig this legality/acceptance of medical torture in the healthcare setting for the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,,,,So far they have come up w/every bull-sjhit- lieing excuses to justify their torture upon the medically ill,sick and dieing,,,For the reality was ,it was always about the money,,make no mstake about.
..Im learning via fakebook,which is a great ,get out info/media tool,but also many times is nothing more then a popularity contest for ,any who chose to interpret other humanbeoing as they see fit,and obviously not truthful,not as truth,more in a bias prejudice manner ,,which is why it turns into highschool crap so often on fakebook,,Which is not helpful,,but Washington D.C,, ,and the life of the elites are the same.It never is about truth,or the harm their bias,prejudice group think they all concure amongst all of them,,it is about the $$$$$,,,and it does not matter who they kill by torture to get it,,kolodny went after the weakest,,how noble,honorable of him,,and he is part of the Washington dc elite,,,and until we get someone w/power who actually see’ the truth in whats been done to our medically sick,our dieing,our medically wsick children,and recgonizes it is wrong to tortue the sick and dieing,,we alll are going to forcible suffer in treatable physical [ain from medical conditions causing agony,,, for someone opinion that produces a lot of $$$$$$$ for them,,,,,,Unlike all our advocates who are paid nothing,or virtually nothing to try and stop this acceptance of torture in the healthcare setting,,,maryw