The Opioid Epidemic

[flyingpylon]

And it's absolutely true. If it wasn't for marijuana I really don't think I would be alive today.

(And BTW, "Last Dance with Mary Jane" by Tom Petty is my favorite song of all time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowSGxim_O8. I wonder how many of you get the reference to the "Indiana Boys".)

That's a song that can mean different things to different people. What is your interpretation of "Indiana Boys"?

[farjean2]

Regarding Petty and the "Indiana boys," I have to confess I don't get the reference at all ... please educate me.

I grew up in Ohio and it was well known there, or at least believed by many people, that hemp plants were abundant in Indiana and you could even find them growing in the wild along the highway. I knew people who claimed to have found them. I was still using it for a couple of years when I came back from Vietnam and I confess to driving along I-70 one night with some friends to look for it with a flashlight. We never did find any but then we probably wouldn't have known it if we saw it any way.

So I hope that sheds new light on the opening lyrics....

But she grew up tall and she grew up right
With them Indiana boys on an Indiana night
Well she moved down here at the age of eighteen
She blew the boys away, it was more than they'd seen
I was introduced and we both started groovin'


Or I could just be reading something into it that's not there like Peter, Paul and Mary claimed about "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Little Jackie Paper".

You be the judge.

[Libertarian666]

But for sure do not go anywhere with the label of "Spine Center".

Geesh, I wish you had posted this before I made an appointment with the "Florida Spine Institute". With an MRI, two EMG's, and a session with an electrical stimulation machine called a BioWave they used up all the money for the year in our spending account on the diagnosis and now there's nothing left for any kind of treatment unless I pay for it myself.

Ultimately they decided that all I needed for now was physical therapy and after a few sessions I'm pretty well convinced that this is another medical scam. For the "manipulation" part I think you could just get a simple massage and it would be just as effective. And then there was the "exercise specialist" who taught me something called "myofascial release". It consists of pressing tennis balls against my pectoral muscles to release "trigger points" to help with my neck pain. Based on what I read online the science behind this is questionable but I'm still doing it even though I'm not sure it's doing me any good beyond a placebo effect.

One of the EMG's that cost over $500 apiece did reveal that I have something called "cubital tunnel syndrome" which I had never heard of but I wasn't surprised since my arm and elbow have been hurting like hell and I read a website where it was called "The Programmer's Nightmare". As for how to treat it, the physical therapist had never heard of it so I went on Youtube and found lots of suggestions for what to do and the exercises seem to be working.

I was almost disabled a number of years ago due to pain in my hands, diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. I ended up having to use voice recognition software pretty much exclusively.

That isn't particularly good for programming, but it's better than being crippled. I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which is now up to version 15 I believe. They have recently changed their licensing model, so that you can install it on as many computers as you want with one license, so long as there is only one user. Which I think is good for an assistive technology that people who need REALLY need.

I am using it to dictate this response, as my hands are bothering me somewhat. Fortunately I no longer have to program all day, but finishing my book project was very hard on my hands until I wrote voice macros to do things like copying and pasting images.

I also use an ergonomic keyboard from the Kinesis Corporation, which allows the fingers to be in a more normal posture, with the middle finger slightly lower into the "bowl" where the keys are arranged.

[Jack Jones]

I also use an ergonomic keyboard from the Kinesis Corporation, which allows the fingers to be in a more normal posture, with the middle finger slightly lower into the "bowl" where the keys are arranged.

I also use a Kinesis! Expensive, but worth every penny.

[Libertarian666]

I also use an ergonomic keyboard from the Kinesis Corporation, which allows the fingers to be in a more normal posture, with the middle finger slightly lower into the "bowl" where the keys are arranged.

I also use a Kinesis! Expensive, but worth every penny.

I have three of them, of which two were purchased for me by employers.

[farjean2]

I was almost disabled a number of years ago due to pain in my hands, diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. I ended up having to use voice recognition software pretty much exclusively.

That isn't particularly good for programming, but it's better than being crippled. I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which is now up to version 15 I believe.

My hands were so bad around 20 years ago that I couldn't hold the cards in my hands while playing a card game. Tests for carpal tunnel and arthritis were negative so the M.D. just prescribed large doses of Ibuprofen for 30 days nonstop. That, along with limited computer activity for almost two years seemed to do the trick. When I went back to programming full time I was very careful to rest and do some stretching with my hands when I felt them getting tight and I never had the problem again.

Cubital tunnel syndrome, also called "ulnar nerve entrapment" is like carpal tunnel but on the other side of the arm. You feel it in the elbow and the two outer fingers. Now that I have the official diagnosis confirmed with an EMG ($$$) the next step was figuring out why. The doctor didn't seem to have any definitive answer. Strangely, it started getting worse after I retired and spent much less time in front of the computer. At this point I'm operating under the theory that it wasn't from computer use after all but from my lifelong habit of sleeping on my stomach which puts the arms in a very bad position with the elbows bent. Been trying to break that habit and I guess time will tell if my theory is right.

A fellow female programmer had carpal tunnel and she got the operation. She said the relief was instantaneous and she ended up wishing she had done it years earlier.

I've read that there is an operation also for cubital tunnel but it is more invasive and has a longer recovery time so I hope I won't have to go there.

[Maddy]

Nearly one in four people on Medicaid, the U.S. health program for the poor, received powerful and addictive opioid pain medicines in 2015, according to research by a drug-benefits management firm.

The analysis by Express Scripts Holding Co., one of the largest managers of Medicaid plans’ drug benefits for the past two decades, found that about 6 percent of all prescriptions in the program were for the pain pills. The report shows the extent to which the controversial class of narcotic pain medicines has penetrated the U.S.’s health-care safety net.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... tudy-finds

I can understand why a high percentage of Medicaid recipients would come in requesting pain pills, but it surprises me that their requests are being indulged. I mean, it's not like the doc is going to run into them at the next neighborhood cocktail party.

[farjean2]

I can understand why a high percentage of Medicaid recipients would come in requesting pain pills, but it surprises me that their requests are being indulged. I mean, it's not like the doc is going to run into them at the next neighborhood cocktail party.

Maybe he/she wants them to come back.

[Libertarian666]

I can understand why a high percentage of Medicaid recipients would come in requesting pain pills, but it surprises me that their requests are being indulged. I mean, it's not like the doc is going to run into them at the next neighborhood cocktail party.

Maybe he/she wants them to come back.

Since Medicaid patients have the same outcomes overall as patients with no insurance, maybe that's all they get out of it.

[farjean2]

When I got my opioid prescription at the "spine center" I had to submit to a drug test which, they informed me, was required by law. Presumably this was to prevent me from shopping around for new doctors willing to prescribe pills.

[Maddy]

It still seems awfully odd that large numbers of physicians would willingly put themselves under scrutiny, knowing that there are redundant systems for tracking prescribing patterns.

[Maddy]

It's a tough choice, but when it comes down to your license to practice medicine versus a single malt whiskey, there's only one thing to do. . .

Federal agents and police officers arrested Dr. David Taylor, 74, and two others for allegedly running a pill mill on Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island. The doctor diverted 4 million pills with a street value of $40 million to Staten Islanders, according to authorities.

The pain management specialist allegedly took money and goods, including single malt whiskey, for the prescriptions. The Feds said the doctor would write scripts for oxycodone and Xanax without an examination, MRIs, or medical records.

DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt said: “It is alleged that millions of dollars’ worth of pain medication was diverted onto the streets of Staten Island, enabling addiction and overdoses on the borough. These arrests will impact Staten Island’s opioid market by shutting down an illicit pill distribution operation located at the heart of the borough."

http://www.fox5ny.com/news/263303206-story

[dualstow]

sigh, when I was growing up, I’d have thought Opioid simply meant resembling a young Ron Howard.