Gabapentin (Neurontin) is a drug that
is used for nerve pain and as an anti-convulsant. Some people have
been using it for years and had no idea that if one took way too much
of the stuff that some people would consider the “high” to be a
desirable state of mind. The person that I know takes it to moderate
headaches caused by spinal stenosis in the cervical vertebrae. A
responsible consumer of
drugs, she found that when she took the
prescribed dosage that she didn't like the feeling and so cut back to
half dosage. Last year the DEA people (who are guardians of anything
that might make people high) discovered that some junkies were using
it for that purpose and so they listed it as a schedule 4 drug making
testing necessary and checking it through KASPER a requirement.
I use a different schedule 4 drug that
also became listed several years ago when legislators decided that it
also needed to be tested and submitted to KASPER. This adds the cost
of quarterly tests to the cost of insurance and drives the cost up to
the consumer.
A few years ago when the Opiate
Epidemic began to blossom legislators decided that something had to
be done about it so they responded in the only way they know how
which is to pass a law. Or laws making the possession on
uncontrolled amounts illegal which had absolutely no effect on the
junkie's
use of them. What it did do is exponentially increase
police activity and overcrowd our jails dumping these people into a
justice system that had absolutely no idea what to do with them so
they either slapped their hands and told them to just stop it or,
alternatively, send them up to the Big House so the taxpayer could
take care of them more efficiently. Maybe create a few jobs in the
process.
Now, it strains credulity to think that
the manufacturers of these drugs and the distributors would not be
given cause to wonder who in the world is taking all of these drugs
since they were flying out of pill mills faster than corn flakes off
the grocery shelves. However, every one of them sincerely asserts
that they had no idea that those drugs were finding their way into
the illegal market.
KASPER was created in 2005 to monitor
the supplying and prescribing of scheduled drugs. It was the first
such system in the United States and has been a model for other
states. The Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting
System (KASPER) tracks controlled substance prescriptions
dispensed within the state. A KASPER report shows all
scheduled prescriptions for an individual over a specified time
period, the prescriber and the dispenser.
Given this system one could assume that
over prescribing of drugs would be immediately observable and
enforcement actions would be swift but for some reason that seems to
not be the case. I don't know why. Since all prescriptions for
scheduled drugs has to be submitted to KASPER then why in the world
is anything else necessary? But, yet the legislature of Kentucky has
seen fit to place further restrictions on reporting these drugs by
mandating at least quarterly blood testing to determine whether or
not the prescribed drugs are being consumed properly or to
investigate whether or not a person is illegally selling their drugs
or maybe even using other drugs. Mainly the latter since the state
of Kentucky really doesn't care if you're using them properly, only
if you're using them improperly.
Doctors now have the DEA and other drug
cops who are interested in preserving their jobs peering over their
shoulders to make sure they are doing their jobs right. Doctors are
scared to death of the liability and some have stopped prescribing
such drugs at all. So, here comes the testing. I only have a few
cases that I am directly familiar with but anecdotal evidence
suggests it is far more prevalent for people to run into the same
problems that I have. One has to wait until near the renewal date to
go into the doctor's office for testing. Sometimes its a urine test,
sometimes a mouth swab. I have to do the mouth swab because I take
so little of the drug that laboratories do not test for quantities
that small. If the test comes back negative, which sometimes it
does, then uh oh. You're at the end of your supply and still don't
have a renewal prescription. One time I spent 2 weeks off these meds
arguing with my pharmacy that the doctor had submitted a renewal and
the pharmacy insisting the doctor had not. One time I stood in the
doctor's office and watched the renewal done and the pharmacy still
insisted it had not been done. I must admit that the combination of
being off my meds and facing such frustration caused me to go
ballistic and make a fool out of myself right in the middle of the
waiting line. Two weeks is what it took and the pharmacy refused to
replace the meds for the time I had missed. Now, if you have been
through this for a while you probably have managed to rathole a few
just in case of things like this which I had and I had maintained
half doses for a while and I wanted to replenish this safety buffer.
No way!! My friend is facing the same thing and is experiencing pain
and anxiety while waiting for a retest. Was the failure of the lab
my friend's fault? Absolutely not but who bears the burden? Why,
you bear part of it because we all pay into Medicare. My friend will
bear the co-pay. The doctor and the lab will get to bill another
visit and repeat. How does that make sense? When my friend asked
what she should do while off her meds waiting for the retest what do
you think the response was? “Not our problem.” Verbatim.
My Take is that if you are a hammer
everything looks like a nail. Legislators who have absolutely no
idea what to do with medical procedures inflict laws that have no
effect on those who are acting
illegally but have a profound effect
on those who are acting legally. Why, in the name of heaven, is
submitting the prescriptions to KASPER not sufficient? Illegality
could be caught quickly and millions of dollars in policing and
testing could be saved. But legislators have to do something to show
the voters come election season. This is way easier than trying to
formulate a budget.
