Beware, Pain-Sufferers Jeff Sessions Is Coming for Your Doctor
A new push to imprison those who prescribe too many opioids
This article from Reason Magazine says Today Sessions announced a new task force devoted to fighting opioid overdoses by going after doctors who overprescribe the drugs. He's not even trying to sugarcoat it—he wants to put doctors in prison cells.
The bad news is patients and physicians will suffer. The good news is apparently Arizona doesn't have an opioid problem as it's not included in the Arizona U.S. Attorney's District.
In Sessions speech he said: "This sort of data analytics team can tell us important information about prescription opioids—like which physicians are writing opioid prescriptions at a rate that far exceeds their peers; how many of a doctor's patients died within 60 days of an opioid prescription; the average age of the patients receiving these prescriptions; pharmacies that are dispensing disproportionately large amounts of opioids; and regional hot spots for opioid issues"
The problem comes when primary care physicians and pain management specialists are considered peers. Obviously pain management specialists will write opioid prescriptions at a rate that far exceeds a primary care physician.
Lets face the facts, there aren't a lot of pain management specialists so pharmacies that are dispensing disproportionately large amounts of opioids may simply be close to a pain management specialists.
The following districts have been selected to participate in the program:
- Middle District of Florida,
- Eastern District of Michigan,
- Northern District of Alabama,
- Eastern District of Tennessee,
- District of Nevada,
- Eastern District of Kentucky,
- District of Maryland,
- Western District of Pennsylvania,
- Southern District of Ohio,
- Eastern District of California,
- Middle District of North Carolina, and
- Southern District of West Virginia.
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