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Sally Young's avatar

I am a retired nurse of 39 years. I was still working when the rules started changing for opioid prescriptions. I know the healthcare professionals and organizations weren’t ready for this change. Even with doing their best and following the new guidelines, I can’t forget the patients who suffered because of it. I am aware of what led to these changes. I am aware of drug addicts versus people needing short term pain relief. I’m all for giving the doctors back a little decision making when it comes to treating their patients. I know this is starting an even bigger discussion of the growing involvement of insurance companies in the decision making of our healthcare. I still think we need to lean toward less government control and a more physician-based plan of care. Thank you☺️.

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Jerry Richardson's avatar

I’m an 80 year old man. I abused alcohol and amphetamine from age 13 to 40. I’ve been a recovery since. At age 65 I began using prescribed opioids for severe pain due to neck and knee injuries. At age 70 I was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed amphetamine. At age 75 I had a partial knee replacement. Not wanting to increase the opioid dosage for the surgical pain I decided to slowly came off the opioids prior to knee surgery, and use a non-addictive drug instead. I believe that alcohol and opioids could have masked my ADHD for 57 years. So here I am needing a drug that can help me maintain a decent quality of health and life, and because of manufacturing restrictions of the generic form of amphetamine, I’m forced into a 600% greater monthly copay for the name brand. Of course the cost of all drugs continue to rise that don’t have a generic equivalent. Many mental health drugs have no generic equivalent, yet many believe mental health is this country’s most serious health issue. I apologize for the length of this post and if it’s a bit off subject.

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