Habili-blog 8/24/18
“In case you didn’t know”
by Jared Mayes
Overprescribing opiates
As Dr. (INSERT NAME HERE) kisses his wife goodbye, he looks at her 75% synthetic body and gives a nod of approval. He hops in his brand-new Porsche, fires it up, and turns on the radio as he speeds off to work.
He has a picturesque life ruled by money, status, and power. Little do we know that inside his skin crawls. The facade he portrays everyday as he walks into his private practice and says hello to the beautiful young receptionist that his wife is secretly jealous of and intimidated by is the only thing that keeps his life from crumbling into millions of pieces.
He sits down at his desk, and there is the envelope he has dreaded for exactly 365 days when the last one arrived. Inside he finds the hauntings of his most recent failures. The annual report of patients who have overdosed on pain medications prescribed by yours truly. He slumps in his chair teetering with the idea of giving up the life he has built for himself, but ultimately swallows his sympathy for the lives lost with a big gulp of designer coffee, stands up, and proceeds into his first appointment of the day.
Take away the stereotypes from this more-than-likely scenario and you have an all too common account of the medical field. A whirlwind industry filled with corruption, deceit, and of course money. From the quotas placed on Doctors by pharmaceutical companies to push their legal narcotics, to the under-the-table deals exchanged by patients and doctors, we have created an uncontrollable monster.
We live in a time where 72,000 people are dying annually from drug overdoses, 83% of which are linked to opioids.
Despite the reality of the picture I painted of Dr. Death, I’m a reasonable guy. The majority of doctors would never trade the well being of their patients for success and wealth. I also know that there are a lot of people out there who legitimately need pain management and who don’t abuse it. We cannot however turn a blind eye to those who so nonchalantly load the ammo in the gun that is the opioid epidemic. That’s why the San Diego County Medical Examiner Office has begun mailing these “in case you didn’t know” reports to hundreds of California doctors.
I have caused a lot of unintentional wreckage in my life by my actions, a lot of which I am still choicely ignorant to because I never looked back to see the results I had triggered.
When the consequences aren’t seen, the remorse is removed.
I see two reasons why these letters might play a small, yet significant role in the reduction of overprescribing opiates. The first being the actual guilt and regret of now knowing that their actions have led to the despair of families who have lost loved ones. The second being the more humanistic reason. The fear of losing their livelihood. The cars, the money, the comfortability of being in the small elite economic bracket.
I focus more on the results than the motives. Whatever the reason that gets through to a Doctor doesn’t take away from the fact that there has been a direct correlation between the doctors that have received these letters and the reduction of opioid prescriptions. In a time where everyone wants to point the finger at someone else, it’s about time we found a way to make sure that the accountability for overprescribing opiates resulting in death, is no longer being passed around like a good old-fashioned game of hot potato.