This season, we are fortunate to have guest blogger Jillian Leigh Faxon
of Western New England University College of Pharmacy. She worked closely with yours truly to create a fun end of year blog. Each day for twelve consecutive days, up until Christmas, we added an image related to something that has happened in the pain world (medications or politics) over the past year.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!
December 24, 2014:
On the TWELFTH (12th) day of Christmas PainDr gave to me,
a new PO PAMORA;
celebration with a HORA;
and relief for the O-I-C “tush-ee”.
“Celebrating” Opioid-Induced Constipation: Emerging Therapies
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December 23, 2014:
Disposal
Urine Screening
Maximum Daily Dose
Number of Pills Prescribed
Safe Storage Urine Screening
On the eleventh day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, 11 civil standards, most of which should already be.
Politicians Bamboozle Constituents & Neglect Real Issue of Opioid Risk Mitigation
Prescription Monitoring System
Conduct and Document a Risk Assessment
Chronic Controlled Substance Treatment Agreement
Conduct and Document a Thorough Medical Evaluation
Periodic Follow – Up Visits and Evaluations and Referrals
Signed Informed Consent Form Including Information From the Drug Insert 
December 22, 2014
On the tenth day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, 10 milli-grams – a Zohydro dose that’s even low for me.
ZOHYDRO: What weighs more – A pound of feathers or a pound of hydrocodone?
December 21, 2014
On the ninth day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, Uncle Sam demands to sample your pee-pee
Urine Control or YOU’RE in Control
December 20, 2014
On the eighth day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, Hydrocodone is no longer a Schedule III.
DEA: Hydrocodone Combinations Will Be a Schedule II
December 19, 2014
On the seventh day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, tramadol’s C IV, with marginal mu affin-i-ty.
Comparison of tramadol to tapentadol
December 18, 2014: Day 6
On the sixth day of Christmas Pain Dr. gave to me, meth-a-done conversion with warnings of 6 C-Y-P’s.
(3A4, 2B6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C19, and 2D6)
Methadone Dose Conversion Unscrambled
December 17, 2014: Day 5
On the fifth day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, 5 CANN-AB-IN-OID rings…
D.C., Oregon and Alaska Vote to Legalize Marijuana
December 16, 2014: Day 4
On the fourth day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, 4 new opioids; and half with ADF technolo-gee.
Take aim at the battleship, not the dinghy
- Embeda (FDA labeling for ADF)
- Targiniq (FDA labeling for ADF)
- Xartemis
- Zohydro
Hysingla (Sorry, see you in 2015)
December 15, 2014: Day 3
On the third day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, 3 politicians seeking votes with imprecise pomposity.
Zohydro : Rogue State Politics & A Law Enforcement Perspective
Stupid Is As Stupid Does
To be fair, this blog was written in June 2014. There have since been updates:
Four drugs are now officially categorized by FDA as having Abuse Deterrent Formulations. These include
Embeda, OxyContin, Targiniq. Hysingla.
And just for the record, there has not been a single report of Zohydro abuse to date.
December 14, 2014: DAY 2
On the second day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, two Evzio flicks with a chainsaw and a big tree.
2. Preventing Opioid Overdose Deaths with Evzio
December 13, 2014: DAY 1
On the first day of Christmas PainDr gave to me, a journalist who lacks veracity.
A Year to the Day, Opioid Prescribers Fall Prey
Jillian Faxon is a PharmD Candidate at Western New England University College of Pharmacy in Springfield MA. Ms. Faxon is originally from the Albany area and was thrilled that she could complete all of her PY4 pharmacy rotations at home. Ms. Faxon is an active member of Phi Delta Chi and was previously Worthy Vice Counselor of her Gamma Tau chapter. Through Phi Delta Chi, last year she participated in a program called Generation Rx where she educated college students on preventing the misuse and abuse of prescription medications. Ms. Faxon is pictured to the left with her dog Mila.
Great job, Jeff. to HS – this is what Jeff and I describe as “neuromysticism” – which is a DEA and media-fueled effort to “create science” in its absence. And kudos to Zogenix for Zohydro’s incredible safety history since it was released!!!!
Thanks so much for the very festive page, Dr. Jeff, enjoyed, and all the comments……..God bless yall in this New Year, and may pain reduction be our chief concern!!!! herb neeland,,,,,”doc”
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! May everyone have a happy, healthy and safe holiday season and New Year!
Merry Happy Christmas Holidays, Dr. Fudin
Thank you Kim. same to you and your family!
Are they anything the people can do to fight back against the government playing doctor ? I have looked for advice online, and looked for petitions to sign. Who do we need to get in contact with to let the government know that we are not alright with what there doing to us. I recently watched part of a show about drug abuse and the law. I just caught part of it but it makes since the government doesn’t want to stop drug dealers completely. The show talked about how it kept jobs going in the court system and kept the prisons running It said that the government depended on drug dealers. If you think about it They are right, look how much money they get from catching drug dealers. The prisons are full of them or people that commited crimes because they were depended on drugs. I know since these new laws have passed that my home town has gotten 3 times more crimes commited than before. Last year we never heard of meth or heroin in our small town and now its everywhere. I know in the past 3 months me and several of my family have lost out doctors that prescribed our pain meds. Its not right that law binding citizens that need medicine can’t get it. The government might think that there helping the fight on drugs but all that I have seen done is the people that need there medication can’t get it. Drug heads that sale their medication can afford to pay a $500 office call at a doctor to get medicine. People that abuse drugs don;t care they go to meth or heroin but the people that need medication won’t do this. They just have to suffer. I wish the government would take a look at what they have done How much worse things have gotten. People that do get medication are getting robbed when they come out the pharmacy. Heroin and meth are everywhere, they haven’t stopped the drug users they have just made them go to other drugs that are more dangerous. They need to check how much diseases like hepatitis and aids have gone up.I thank you for starting this blog but I just wonder what else can we do? Who do we need to contact to get something done?
The government knows EXACLTY what they are doing AND who is being affected and how. You and your family are what is considered ‘collateral damage’. Every war, ESPECIALLY THE WAR ON DRUGS, has acceptable levels of collateral damage. The govt not only knew that this was going to happen, they counted on it, especially the DEA. They were losing their main cash cow, marijuana, how else could they prove they were needed and keep funding and job security? Invade the health care system and scare the living hell out of patients, pharmacies, doctors, and hospitals.
Seems to have worked nicely. We are invisible, hardly worth a soundbite in media pieces on the ‘prescription drug epidemic’.Have you noticed how they used to say that the authorities need to balance the restriction on pain meds with the needs of legitimate patients? Now? The needs of the legitimate patients, many of them disabled, are almost never mentioned at all except maybe as suspects in future pharmacy stick-ups! *http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=8104 (Thanks to PharmacistSteve for sharing this illuminating news piece)
Buckle up Candice its going to get alot worse before (IF) it ever gets better.
No Zohydro abuse to date?!?! You mean the Massachusetts State Legislature, the media, and the rest of the narcoterrorists were wrong?!?! You mean that physicians have stepped up to the plate and decided to practice sound opioid risk mitigation?!?! The next thing you’ll be telling us is that there really is a Santa Claus!!!! 😉
Dr. Schatman,
There really is a Santa Claus! 🙂
I appreciate the hell out of this. On a day filled with grim reports from consumers who have been robbed of their quality of life by predatory practitioners who exposed them unnecessarily to injury, this makes me smile. Just keep on truckin…
Very good idea Dr. Jeff, The Twelve Days of Christmas , when the New Year begins we should just keep this going throughout the year. 365 more days ahead of as all , we have lots of pain, doctors care just the same, pharmacist turn us away , say no more , show us the door , what shall we do but keep pushing ahead, we deal with pain but soon will find what we need just the same.
Brilliant!!! Colorful, fun and engaging. Brilliant.
Thanks Lynn! Keep an eye on it – they will be getting more intense. If the final one on day 12 doesn’t make you laugh, I’ll owe you a dinner! Happy Holiday season. 🙂
Agreed! Great work, as usual, Jeff.
Great idea. These chainsaw Evzio blogs are a riot. I’m wondering why you didn’t do 8 days of Hannukah, but then again maybe you have too much to cover. I’ll keep my eye on it each day. Keep up the great work and advocacy in 2015!
This is great! I will share in my group. 🙂