Letter To The Editor

Attached a letter to the editor sent to the Miami Herald, Sun Sentinel and SunPost in response to their articles about prescription drug abuse.

LETTER

Prescription opioid use and dependence reached a record high threatening the public health of our society.
North America, with 4 percent of the world population consumes more than 50 percent of the world's supply of morphine and narcotic prescription drugs! It is unlikely that Americans suffer from an opioid deficiency syndrome but are using them for any aches or pains for which those drugs are not intended for.
The prescription of those drugs are strictly regulated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) but they can be easily obtained from unscrupulous black marketeer selling those drugs via the Internet, drug dealers and also from self-declared pain specialists, better described as " drug dealers in white coats", who advertise their services on backpages of local newspapers.
Many doctors who appropriately prescribe pain medications are caught between the regulatory scrutiny of law enforcement agencies, and the demands of their patients for immediate pain relief. Most of us rely on the information supplied by the patient and cannot verify the accuracy of the information. Those doctors are then blamed for an overdose death and as a result are increasingly reluctant to issue pain medications.
Therefore, we need to built in safe guards to protect physicians and patients by creating a state-wide prescription drug database to identify and to curb narcotic prescription drug abuse. Such legislation would save countless lives and protect physicians and patients who legitimately require appropriate pain management modalities. The legislation should also include the narcotic pain medications dispensed in doctors offices. Otherwise, doctor shoppers will use those pill mills in medical practices to feed their addiction.

Bernd Wollschlaeger,MD
President of the Florida Society of Addiction Medicine
16899 NE 15th Avenue
North Miami Beach,L 33162
Phone: 305-940-8717