I guess I was a little behind in current events. My bad.


Before the other day I did not read current events AND my doctors did not tell me their personal problems with the DEA, cause my doctors figured I had ENOUGH problems. Anyway I did not know that DEA agents were after pain management doctors.

So when I moved and had to change doctors I was shocked when my new doctor said "well I need documentation as to WHY you have pain now" I didn't understand what he was talking about, boy was I behind the times. My life is pretty much just aimed at keeping my flairs under control, working and trying to get the groceries through the front door!

I can't spend much time on computer so I just did not know that the DEA was affecting my health care until now. So I had a friend help me with looking into the situation and here is what I found.

The first thing I found was that the DEA was shutting down pill mills everywhere. I thought that sounded crazy, but I also did not know that pill mill even existed. I thought doctors only prescribed pain medicine to people who have severe pain and disability. I have never seen a pill mill so I didn't know what it was. I probably have missed alot in the ten years since my diagnosis.

I was really curious why it took the DEA so many years to do something about the pill mills. Not the reputable pain management doctors who help sick people, but places that were prescribing pain meds to anyone that asked for it. How were they able to stay open for so long? It seems they were in operation for a long time with no problems from anywhere. That just seemed really strange to me that nothing was done for 10 years and then all of a sudden there is just this huge problem everywhere. This did not happen overnight!!! So I looked a little deeper and then found something interesting. The patent on oxycodone is expired 4/2013. Which is the very same drug that the DEA said was causing the pill mill problem. So it was ok to sell the oxycodone at pill mills until the very exact same time the patent expires??? hmmm....I don't buy the official story.

Then I saw the first t.v ad that said "are you addicted to pain medicine" 'we can help you".... with suboxone...which is also a pain medicine. So now that the pill mills are shut down everyone can go to another clinic to get pain medicine that is called suboxone. What a scam. Wonder when the patent on suboxone runs out?

I read that there is a huge problem with oxycodone addiction and that is why the DEA had to do something. WHAT? The DEA knew about the pill mills for years! YEARS. Too bad the war on drugs program couldn't stop this problem. Funny this government agency has spent enough money to start a whole new country with streets made of gold!

When I was younger and in college I did see alot of what was going on in society at that time. There has always been drug problems in this country. It just seems like each generation just gets a brand new drug. My generation had cocaine then speed....I had a few friends fall into that trap. It is sad, but there has been addicts in every generation. This is nothing new, and this will probably never change.

I would not be saying these things except I believe people need to know, especially people who have pain syndromes that will need pain medicine at some point.

I spent a few days thinking about everything, it made me sad. But then I became empowered....I felt something else fishy and started to connect some puzzle pieces. I was wondering how the money was going to be made with the loss of oxycodone sales. Then I read a article about how the afghan heroin was flooding the streets after the recent DEA shutdown of pill mills, and that many people were dying because the heroin was so pure. It was easy I just followed the money.

DEA shuts down pill mills
oxycodone patent expired 4/2013 (read what this means)
afghanistan heroin flooding streets of america

Seems the same people who operate the war on drugs are also involved in the afghan heroin trade. I don't see any other way to orchestrate such a complex market.

Maybe it is all just a big coincidence?

I found out today I have appointment to see the TOS specialist so he can tell my pain management doctor "why I have pain" since my surgeries were 10 years ago...... so that I can get the care I need. Maybe it would be a whole lot easier to just move to afghanistan.:eek

Wow is pretty much all I can say! Thanks for sharing the info.

I don't understand--what does the patent on the original form of oxycodone expiring have to do with an increase in illegal drug trade? A patent describes a product or process created by a company, and gives them exclusive rights to it for a specified number of years. This keeps other companies from copying or using their product/procedure, thereby reducing the profit they would now make from it for that number of years. The owner of a patent can license or sell rights to it to other companies, so that they still profit from production of their product. When a patent expires, that means other companies can now put out their own version of the product. Which means it usually becomes more readily available, and often less expensive since the competition generally drives the price down, and more places can be making and selling it. But since you need a doctor or medical facility, of some sort, whether legal or not, to get oxycodone, it is still a controlled market, whether by legal means or not, so price and availability may not be affected the same way that, say, toys are.

The company who created oxycodone still owns several current patents on newer formulations of the drug.

If finally the DEA has decided to crack down on pill mills (it took the USPS 10 years to arrest a local postal worker who they knew had been robbing our mail for those 10 years, it took 10 years for the city of Denver to arrest the obscene phone caller who used to call my dorm & colleges & homes all over the city, regularly, guess it just takes the gov't 10 years to get their backsides in gear) so that prescription drugs are harder to get, whether they should have them or not, then it is going to drive people to illegal drugs. And the illegal drugs currently flooding the country are constantly changing, have been as long as there have been illegal drugs, always the drive for something new, something to increase the profits just like any legitimate business strives for.

I don't see the connections you are implying, have I missed something?

I think it is just really unfortunate that legitimate patients get burned because of illegitimate doctors and "patients". There should be more intelligent thought into separating the two, not seeing everyone as an illegal drug addict, whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?

Good point winic

My bad, I did not include all the information here.....was just a summary. I will show how I made connections, I just did not want post to be 8 pages long.....will go back to sources and supply for you. I don't just make random connections. I agree, I needed to include that information.

I had hell for 4 months due to the problems stated above as I had NO CLUE there was a problem with pill mills....I did not even know they existed Until I moved and the new pain management doctor said "I am no longer taking patients who need medication management (pain meds) due to problems with the DEA" "but since you were sent here by someone I know I will see if I can take care of you"

After 4 months I am still in alot of pain as the new doctor significantly reduced my medicine to the point where I really can not use my arms very much.......(I have worked and had decent life until 4 months ago)

I know I can have a much better quality of life, but I am stuck in the house until the new doctor decides I will not get him any trouble......

So even with proof of a bad birth defect that is notorious for causing severe pain....I am being questioned, sent to new doctors to get PROOF of pain, and way under- treated for months on end. All because of the situation I wrote about above.

I am exhausted from dealing with pain and will have to maybe look for another doctor if this new doctor only under treats pain.

We had to move due to economy, so I had no other choice. I do not know, but the new trend may be to just under treat pain.....and let people suffer. I do not know. All I know is that there is a huge problem and it is very sad for people who have severe problems with pain syndromes.

After going through pure hell I actually thought of a way for medical professionals to know what patients have pain syndromes just in case someone may need to move! There is a database that pain medicines prescribed is put into to find people who are breaking the law.....I thought hey, why can't there be a database that tells them who is following the laws exactly! Why does the system always cater to people who are doing the wrong things.......I think that everyone who has a PAIN SYNDROME needs a ID card connected to a database that will identify us as patients and not drug addicts.

I have never been a drug addict......nor addict in any form. It makes me mad that there is not a better system that identifies pain syndrome patients.

I have worked hard the last 10 years as a home health nurse and had to cope with a pain syndrome which was really really hard to do.....then to be treated like a criminal was just demoralizing and it made me furious.

I am not going to just sit here and complain, I am writing my state representatives....congress....everyone I can to try to make a difference.

Everyone here who has a pain syndrome, if you have to move and lose your doctor you may be treated really.....I was.

ANYWAY... I will reply back to show my work for you winci.

When patent expires , is that when the generics come into play?
more availability??

Oxycodone has been available as a generic for quite some time, not sure what patent is expiring.

Opiates and Benzodiazepines are controlled substances which are abused and resold for recreation. Doctors are weary of drug abusers shopping for Rx and leary of the DEA so they are not likely to prescribe just because you ask. Some doctors even make it a policy to never prescribe benzodiazepines.

A pain doc needs a full history and justification to treat you.

Yup. Only the patent holder can legally manufacture and sell the product as long as the patent is in place. Gives them that time to make their profit and recoup the costs of developing it in the first place. They can also license out (sell rights to) their product if they wish, making their profit by having other companies pay to make and sell it.

Once the patent expires, then anyone can copy and sell their own version, which is when the generics appear. The original company will still own the name of the product, so the people who invented Motrin are the only ones who will be able to sell ibuprofen as Motrin, but others can sell it under their own names or under the generic name of ibuprofen. In order to compete for sales, generics will be cheaper than the name brand, that's how you steal your share of the market, undercut the other guy. The more companies putting out a generic version, the more likely the price will come way down, as there are more places competing for the sales. They make their money on volume, not profit margin, plus, they didn't have to do all the research and development work in the first place, saving millions and millions in expenses.

A quick search on the oxycodone patent shows that the patent on the original formulation ended this April. The company still holds patents on several other formulations--delayed release, etc. They had already licensed out the rights to produce generic oxycodone, but those licenses have expired and not been reissued, so what I read said that for now, there is no more generic oxycodone available. The original patent, now being expired, means that other companies can copy and produce that version without paying for the rights to it, but what I read said that that version is the one most easily abused, so that might play into whether other companies would want to get into it, versus waiting several more years for the patents to expire on the better formulations. (Just imagine the lawsuit potential for a company who produces a generic drug known to be easily abused, when there are safer versions around!)

Cheryl, I don't doubt that you are being treated unfairly and improperly over your pain meds, it is not an uncommon story anymore. The pillmill doctors and their drug-seeking patients have ruined it for all of those with legitimate needs, compounded by a government agency who, like most government enforcement agencies, seems to go on the technique of "shoot first, sort'em out later". I also know someone IRL who, while only doing this when in legitimate pain, skips the inconvenience of going through her legitimate PCP and calls a network of friends (one of whom is a doctor, I believe) and they all share whatever spare pills they have to whoever is needing it the most at the moment, all kinds of heavy-duty, highly regulated stuff. (I no longer let her give my daughter rides anywhere. Never know what she might be on at the time, or mixing.) Any legitimate doctor now has to, absolutely has to, be cautious about prescribing these drugs, especially to new patients, or they can bring the full force of the DEA down on themselves, just by appearing to be a little too free with the prescription pad. Not right, but it is the way it is right now. It needs to be fixed, and speaking out is a good start.

I just don't see what the connection between this particular patent and manufacturing/business decisions could have in relation to the gov't finally getting off its overly large backside, and giving patients and doctors so much trouble, which actually has been going on for a while now, not just since April.