As I was browsing the news today I came across an important article that really hit home. An FDA advisory panel has recommended the banning of both Vicodin and Percocet. The reasoning behind this proposed ban is that the acetaminophen that is used in these drugs increases the risk of liver damage. Acetaminophen for those who don't know is essentially Tylenol, and its combination with a synthetic opiate, such as hydrocodone, creates a synergy between the two medicines that greatly increases the drug's pain killing capacity.
I suffer from chronic pain in my lower back and legs due to a congenital defect that I was born with. One of my prescriptions I use to combat the pain is Lortab, a narcotic analgesic similar to Vicodin. I know the risk of liver damage, and I am well aware that taking acetaminophen over a long period of time can damage my liver. However, another thing that Lortab does is to help me relieve the constant agony. And in this cost benefit analysis of possible liver damage over constant intense pain, I know which one I'm going to choose. What I and many other sufferers don't need, is the government stepping between me and my doctors in their attempt to save me from myself.
But in this wonderful new Nanny state of ours, where our own individual freedom is tossed out the window for "safety" I don't even get a say in the matter. Instead the government gets to tell me that I must be in pain, because otherwise I might hurt myself. A little sadistic don't you think?
©2009 Dave Chance, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Last modified: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2009-07-01 05:31:44
Hi Dave,
[tongue-in-cheek] but...what if you make the WRONG choice? Government experts will be held accountable. That will cast doubt on the State...your choices must be made for you to prevent this.
-Jahfre Fire Eater
Posted By: Dr. Jacob R. Raitt
Date: 2009-07-01 13:21:44
Dave: I am terribly sorry for your pain -- but might you not like it better if you could receive your pain killer on Rx, and then adjust your own dose of ancillary and synergistic drug? You could still choose acetaminophen (and choose your dose), or you might prefer ibuprofen or aleve or aspirin or any of the other OTC medications available to you, and the choice would be YOURS, not the medication manufacturer's. You might even choose to select other OTC medications which contain acetaminophen, and there -- there is the true danger -- taking Rx acetaminophen combinations with any of the over 600 OTC medications that contain acetaminophen. You choose -- it's your life after all.
Posted By: Dave Chance
Date: 2009-07-01 14:38:54
Currently you can get just Hydrocodone and then take whichever supplement you want, from acetaminophen to ibprofen, and if this ban takes effect many people will just buy tylenol to mix with their hydrocodone because that's what they have found works best. What the FDA is doing is continuing to act our gaurdians by targeting companies that have done nothing worng. Every time I get my script it comes with a warning that says: "This medicine contains Acetominophen. Taking more Acetaminophen than recommended may cause serious liver problems."
If I want to take Lortab I know the risk, I also have tried other medications in verying doses and found that the combination between Acetaminophen and Hydrocodone is best for me. If others find that something works better for them, Ibprofen or asprin, they can take Vicoprofen or get plain hydrocodone and mix thier own. If this ban goes through I'll be using Hydrocodone and Tylenol it'll be the same thing except for we'll have just given the government one more foothold in controlling our lives.
Posted By: Johnny Potseed
Date: 2009-07-01 18:13:00
Now you know how pot smokers feel. It isn't as though this police state attitude against individual choice is new. Nixon, the corrupt traitor, declared war on drugs in 1969. Obviously, the government does not want you to have the freedom to use chemicals of your choice as you please.
What is the basis for this rule? It is the theory that your body belongs to the state. If it belongs to you, you can do with it as you please. If it belongs to them, they can tell you how to use it. In other words, you are part of a slave society.
Posted By: Dan Clore
Date: 2009-07-08 05:15:28
What is really ridiculous about this, is that the whole point of always prescribing the version of these painkillers that includes acetaminophin is to deter abuse (i.e., use for pleasure) -- by increasing the danger of using larger doses.
Now they've supposedly suddenly noticed that they're dangerous -- oh my Gawd!
Back when I could get doctors to prescribe opioid painkillers for my chronic pain, I would always ask for the version that does not contain acetaminophin. I would tell them that it upsets my stomach.
(Currently using Lyrica and naproxen for chronic pain.)