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Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 4:48 am
by Rustsmith
I don't know how long this will be available, but here is the link to my interview on the opioid crackdown.

http://www.koaa.com/story/37417551/opio ... r-to-treat

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:14 am
by Yankiwi
Good, Steve.
People in general and doctors just don't get it. RLS is different and tylenol etc just don't work. Xanax laced with fentanyl does not come from a doctor or pharmacy. The opioid epidemic is being blown out of proportion to the reality of genuine patients needing pain control. In my opinion, decades ago the epidemic was fuelled by doctors overprescribing but now it is street drugs doing the harm. The two cannot be compared.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 6:29 am
by debbluebird
Very good Steve!!

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 6:55 am
by ViewsAskew
Hope it is up for awhile - have no wifi where I am, so cannot watch it until I get home!

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 12:19 pm
by Polar Bear
Steve, excellent.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 4:48 pm
by Rustsmith
The Foundation staff advises me that the link was picked up by a national news feed. So it is getting more exposure than even I had hoped for. Now I just need to hope that it doesn't attract unwanted attention. Thankfully I live in a building with greater security than if I was still a suburban home owner.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:06 pm
by 2BassetMom
Thank you Steve, excellent.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2018 6:48 am
by leggo_my_legs
Great interview!!! And not too horribly biased coverage by the news (that's the most I'll give any news these days). :lol: A lot of time they subtly undermine the interviewee but I thought they were respectful to you.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2018 3:47 pm
by Rustsmith
leggo, I agree about the potential for slanting the message. The person editing the spot can do so much to change the message and that was my fear until I saw it. Some of the TV stations advertisers are the local hospitals, one of which I was very careful not to name. On two different occasions I have been involved in issues that were reported on the national networks. In both cases I was amazed at how much they could bias the message by only reporting the facts that fit the media's viewpoints. It wasn't what they reported, it was the part that they chose not to report.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2018 8:43 pm
by debbluebird
I can't stand the news media.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2018 9:34 pm
by jul2873
Great job, Steve. Thanks for putting yourself out like that. I'm sure it wasn't easy. But then, nothing about this lousy disease is easy anyway.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:44 am
by leggo_my_legs
Steve, yes. And even their tone of voice.

I did discover a bias when I thougjt about it...every time they report on the "opioid crisis" they don't have a dissenting opinion, but yet they felt obligated to "balance" your perspective with Mr. Doctor Authority Figure.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:09 am
by badnights
But they didn't balance Steve's opinion, they only "balanced" the opinion of a pain patient. For me, the main point is that this is a disease that's treated with opioids. It's not pain, it's a disease. As far as I know, it's the only disease legitimately treated with opioids. I hate how they didn't emphasize that point, probably didn't even get it, they just lumped you in with pain patients. Pain patients have a different set of problems. Perhaps - with the proper support, which is generally absent - a pain patient can change her neuronal connections in such a way that she no longer experiences pain, but such a feat is not possible for WED/RLS. Or, if it is, no one has even theorized how to go about it.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:31 am
by leggo_my_legs
Great point badnights!

When I say pain I'm thinking of the paper that described how itching, electrical sensations, etc are considered a form of pain.

But I'm sure the news wasn't making that distinction.

Re: Opioid Interview on TV

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:59 am
by badnights
Yes, our sensations can be described as pain. They fit within the broad definition of pain, which is a distressing and unpleasant sensation, but unlike most pain, they don't usually include the impression that body tissues are being damaged.

Whether we call it pain or call it something else, the main point I think needs to be made is that opioids treat our primary disease symptoms. They're not treating pain secondary to growth of cancerous tissues, they're not treating the pain of a back injury, not treating "by-products" of disease; in WED, they're treating the main (often the only) symptom of the disease.

I don't think I've described the difference convincingly, but I sense that there is an important difference between why opioids are used for WED and why they're used for other conditions.