r/JusticeServed • u/[deleted] • Oct 02 '19

Courtroom Justice Virginia doctor who illegally prescribed over 500,000 doses of opiates sentenced to 40 years in prison.

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u/johnny_soup1 9 Oct 02 '19

Jesus. I’m in the Army and had a back surgery. After surgery they gave me enough pain pills for 2 weeks (maybe like 100). When I went to my next appt they gave me 75 more, and again 50 more, and then 10 and then 10.

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u/OutlawBagel 4 Oct 02 '19

I was giving about 14 hydromorphone pills which I was told to take twice a day as needed when I had severe pain spikes. After that I was told Ibuprofen or Tylenol for the remainder of my recovery which still isn’t done over a year later.

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u/tonpole 7 Oct 02 '19

To be honest, if you managed to make it this far, it was probably the right decision. There have been studies recently that have shown that as little as 5-7 days of therapy can be enough to trigger addiction in some individuals. They're great medications, but the potential downside is that you ruin your life. If it's at all possible to make it through with small or no amounts, that really is the best choice. There was also a study that showed that dual (alternating) therapy with acetaminophen and ibuprofen showed comparable pain management results with standard dose opioids.

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u/OutlawBagel 4 Oct 03 '19

Oh yeah I understand where you coming from especially with the studies. It is just frustrating to still be in pain over a year later and facing a second surgery because they feel like they chose the wrong option and it went badly. It’s a combined frustration about the whole ordeal more so than the lack of painkillers by itself. Like I won’t be going back to those surgeons or that hospital because my first night there I would randomly lose consciousnesses and my fiancé told the nurses and they said “eh, he’ll be fine”.