Elizabeth Llorente’s Foxnews articles on the opioid crisis

Ms. Llorente’s articles are:

1.  As doctors taper or end opioid prescriptions, many patients driven to despair, suicide. 
2. Doctors caught between struggling opioid patients and crackdown on prescriptions 
3.  Health experts offer solutions for unintended consequences of opioid crackdown 
4. Tough new opioid policies leave some cancer and post-surgery patients without painkillers  

Of all the statements by all of the professionals in the four articles, the most significant was by Dr. Kenneth W. Fogelberg, an OB/GYN in Santa Maria, CA who said “The key is to get the government out of medicine entirely,” “Let the politicians and lawyers do what they do and let us practice medicine. We have licenses and DEA certificates and most of us know what we’re doing.”

The problem is that doctors are the low-hanging fruit in the government-created war against drugs. The War Against Drugs was a fake government-created plan used to attack the blacks and anti-Vietnam War left by Richard Nixon, as substantiated by John Erlichman. The vilification of cannabis was a result of that political ploy. Today we have evidence to show that cannabis is actually a healthful, natural medicine that can be used effectively against multiple deadly conditions, including pain and cancer. So you would think that recognizing that 40 year old propaganda machine would open people’s eyes to the propaganda against opioids. But that hasn’t happened and the government is still attacking doctors for doing their job.

Nowhere in Ms. Llorente’s articles does she even approach the subject of the fact that opioids are not the cause of addiction. And none of the medical professionals were quoted on anything pertaining to that very significant fact. Instead, most of the articles are simply pertaining to the quashing of the restrictions levied by the CDC. That is like being concerned that you didn’t vacuum your house as the tornado tears it apart.

All of the comments by the professionals were true. Dr. Kline said “It’s mass hysteria, a witch hunt. It’s one of the worst health care crises in our history.” Diederik Lohman, director of Health and Human Rights for Human Rights Watch stated “The government has a duty to respond to the overdose crisis but to do so in a way that is harming people who have a legitimate medical issue is a human rights issue.” Michael Schatman, MD, of Boston Pain Care stated “The CDC guidelines… have been hijacked and weaponized as an excuse for draconian legislation.” Stefan Kertesz, MD, addiction specialist and professor at the Univeristy of Alabama School of Medicine said “We’re targeting the most vulnerable and sickest people who have been on opioids a long time.”

Dr. Mark Ibsen, a Montana physician attacked by the medical board, came the closest when he said “My nephew died of a heroin overdose. But incarcerating doctors is not going to solve the addiction crisis.”

But the problem is in the lying, conniving government officials that have an agenda to incarcerate innocent physicians for money, put minority citizens in prison for drug use as a means of disenfranchisement for political power, and as a form of collateral damage, eliminate the expendable populations of poor, elderly, government insured, and disabled. Hopefully it won’t take 40 years for the truth to come out.

Examples of the government lies spewed by the officials interviewed for these articles are:

1.     John Martin, DEA Administrator who said: “They’re really going after the worst of the worst of the criminal violators. Most prescribers have nothing to worry about.”

2.     US Attorney B. Jay Pak in Georgia, after putting 30 Atlanta doctors on notice that their opioid prescribing were “in larger quantities and higher doses than others” called those doctors “outliers”.

And then the DOJ lies and government agenda caused President Trump to state: “Whether you are a dealer or doctor or trafficker or a manufacturer, if you break the law and illegally peddle these deadly poisons, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will hold you accountable.”

But since the DOJ is not following the law, they attack doctors who are exempt from the law by misstating the statutes to a naïve jury who believes them over the defense. Gone is the concept of innocent until PROVEN guilty.

The articles written by Ms. Llorente are well-written, balanced with both government positions and professional positions stated in an unbiased manner. However, no real solution is presented. That’s because the real problem and the real solution weren’t presented to her. If she is interested, hopefully she will approach me for more.