Letters: Painkiller abuse is too frequent

Regarding "Grand jury to probe how system failed to stop Laffer, Brady from getting thousands of pain pills" [News, Nov. 20], Newsday has done a good job of focusing on prescription drug abuse over the years. It has finally led to this investigation of doctor shopping, and physicians prescribing mega amounts of pain killers, issues that have come to light as a result of the investigation into the causes of the Medford pharmacy tragedy.

But it strikes me that we're not looking at the real culprits here. Our media outlets advertise nothing but the newest pill for the newest illness, or pre-illness, showing wonderful shots of beautiful people while the voice-over states the dangers of taking the medication -- none of which address addiction.

People go to doctors demanding these new drugs, and doctors are as prone to advertising and pharmaceutical sales representatives as we are to TV ads, and probably give in more times than they would like.

So we need to go to the source of prescription drug abuse: the pharmaceutical industry and their ads. Start by crafting legislation that prohibits ads for addictive prescription drugs, or at least mandates a public service companion ad immediately following that speaks to its addictive possibilities. To stem prescription drug abuse, our society has to begin to realize we can't fix everything with medication.

Christin Veech, Commack
 

Too easy to blame docs for addiction

As a physician, I am again disheartened that it's so easy to blame physicians, as occurs in the article; specifically the sub-headline, "Few doctors check database" [News, Nov. 20].

When you go online to the state health department's website and search, the database for abusers does not show up. When you call the Drug Enforcement Agency, where doctors order prescription pads for controlled substances, they say they never heard of this database. Starting to get the picture?

I began looking for this database after a Queens County Medical Society meeting, where the database was discussed. It was agreed that there was such a site, but no one knew how to get to it.

So, I called various state department officials, and after getting nowhere last year, I gave up. Because I am on the advisory board at various HMOs, I happened to meet a person who worked previously for the FBI in narcotics, who told me to go to New York's "HCS" (Health Commerce System) website. Using this website's search function didn't turn up the database, but the former FBI agent told me exactly where to click, and I found it. I have now bookmarked it.

I go to it regularly and find it to be lacking. I know certain people are getting drugs from more than one place, because the local pharmacists call me in confidence to report their suspicions.

Granted, some people coming in for drugs pay cash for the visit, and probably have false IDs and give fake names and addresses, but this does not excuse the New York State Department of Health from its poor database, nor should the doctor be blamed for everything.

Dr. Sal Skeivys, Woodside
 

Most physicians that I know are very careful about prescribing narcotics. It's a delicate balance we all face between those who genuinely need pain relief and those who are abusing these medications. Drug abusers don't have that label tattooed on their forehead. If anything, I think most physicians come down on the side of being more cautious than they need to be, just to avoid any possibility of giving drugs to someone who is abusing them.

Physicians are concerned about this issue as much or more than anyone. After all, their license and reputation are on the line every time they write a prescription. However, asking doctors to stop what they are doing to check a government website every time they write a prescription for a controlled substance is not practical.

First of all, many physicians, myself included, probably had no idea this database existed until Newsday reported on it. More important, a lot of basic pain management falls on the shoulders of primary care physicians who barely have five minutes to eat lunch during their day.

The database could become useful, but only if it is linked to physicians' offices in a way that would make it much easier to use. As more of us use electronic medical records in our practices, the state may want to look into ways of linking their database to our systems so that a red flag of some sort would show up in the patient's record automatically.

Doctor shopping by patients is a problem that you can't expect physicians alone to solve; it's a societal problem. We don't need scapegoats. We need a better system.

Dr. Michael Melgar, Great Neck
 

Doctors, like bankers, need better ethics

We need judges and prosecutors who will put doctors who are criminals in jail and cause their medical licenses to be revoked. The oxycodone epidemic will abate if doctors are made to realize that carelessness, overprescribing or outright greed will land pill-pushers in prison.

Doctors who also aided railroad workers in procuring and filing false disability claims should likewise suffer the same fate ["Feds allege: Great train robbery; Long-running fraud allegedly produced hundreds of phony disability claims," News, Oct. 28]. Also, add to this list bankers and mortgage brokers who knowingly allowed their clients to falsify their incomes to qualify for mortgages beyond their means.

Jeffrey Myles Klein, Centereach
 

Open addict database to pharmacists too

As a pharmacist, I can tell you that in this age of high-speed technology, there is no good reason that a prescription filled for oxycodone on Oct. 1 cannot be reported to the controlled substance database until Nov. 10, as is presently done. The limiting factor is the state's controlled substance software, not the pharmacist.

Also, since pharmacists have to fill these prescriptions, it only makes sense that the pharmacist should have access the Controlled Substance Information database, as it is our lives and livelihood that are on the line. We are the last line of defense. If the doctors won't use the database, I am certain that the pharmacists will.

Apparently, some doctors have not the sense of responsibility and moral obligation to society required of their profession. It is high time for change, as too much is at stake. Lives are being ruined. There is no good reason that all of this data-gathering and technology cannot be accessed in real time, to the health-care professionals who have the need to know.

Frank DelliSanti, Deer Park
 

Improve knowledge about addiction

In response to the article, "Painkiller overdoses triple" [Health & Science, Nov. 2], when is enough, enough? Painkillers began being prescribed to terminally ill patients to help keep them comfortable in their last days. Today, these killer pain meds are being given out like candy.

A person can go from doctor to doctor, hospital to walk-in medical center on every corner, with the simplest complaint, and be given these powerful addictive pills. Every doctor who can prescribe this medication should take a complete course on the disease of addiction. It's real and it's treatable, but not if people suffering from this potentially deadly disease have such easy access to pills.

Maunie Nicotra, Rocky Point