Chuck Norris

Opioid Epidemic

February 4, 2022 by Chuck Norris Leave a Comment

Today in America, the drug epidemic stands as the deadliest it has ever been, nearly doubling in the past five years. The emergence of the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, is now driving one of America’s greatest unfolding tragedies.

We should have seen it coming. As reported by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, in the mid-to-late 1990s, medical prescriptions for opioids started to increase sharply in this country. Soon, nonmedical opioid use also started its climb, followed by “death rates associated with opioid overdose” increasing in virtually every population group. CBS News reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2018 National Threat Assessment showed that “illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids—primarily sourced from China and Mexico—are now the most lethal category of opioids used in the United States.”

Major pharmaceutical companies, prescription practices within the health care system, and just plain profiteers, must also answer for their role in the current state of our nation’s opioid epidemic. Such a reckoning is underway. According to the Associated Press, “public nuisance claims are at the heart of some 3,000 lawsuits brought by state and local governments against drug makers, distribution companies and pharmacies.”

Among them, two Ohio counties are now in the process of suing five pharmacy chains for not stopping the flood of pills that resulted in hundreds of overdose deaths in their counties. The Guardian reported that the jury found “the pharmacies played an outsized role in creating a public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain medication into their communities.”

Drug companies in this and other cases contend that they cannot be blamed for the epidemic. Their role is that merely of suppliers of opioids that had been prescribed by doctors. In the Ohio case, they have countered by stating that pharmacies “should be the last line of defense to prevent the pills from getting into the wrong hands.”

Observers of the case believed that the verdict reached “could set the tone for U.S. city and county governments that want to hold pharmacies accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis.”

While some lawsuits have resulted in big settlements or proposed settlements before trials were completed, the outcome is not always clear-cut. The Guardian notes that, in a recent decision, “a California judge ruled in favor of top drug manufacturers in a lawsuit with three counties and the city of Oakland.” A recent decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court “overturned a 2019 judgment for $465m in a suit brought by the state against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.”

The state of Washington represents the first state action against drug distribution companies to go to trial. As reported by ABC News, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson chose to do so after rejecting “a half-billion-dollar settlement” offer by “the nation’s three biggest drug distributors.” The state “is seeking a ‘transformative’ payout of tens of billions of dollars from the companies to help undo the epidemic’s damage” statewide, which is described as including “more than 8,000 deaths from 2006 to 2017 and untold devastation to families.” Opioid sales in Washington were up over 500% between 1997 and 2011. The trial is expected to last about three months.

The role of primary care physicians’ opioid prescribing patterns is also under legal scrutiny. According to the Shore News Network, a Roanoke, Virginia, doctor was recently “sentenced to 36 months in prison, a fine of $10,000, and a forfeiture money judgment of $500,000” for illegally prescribing controlled substances to patients “outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose.” High dosages of morphine, oxycodone and hydromorphone were among the controlled substances.

The prosecutor overseeing the case stated, “This significant sentence sends a strong message that our office will continue to investigate and prosecute any in the health care system who seek to illegally profit from the opioid crisis.”

Somewhat lost in the media coverage is the impact the current drug crisis is having on active military personnel and veterans. Little information seems to be currently available.

According to a 2019 report by Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, “programs aimed at reducing painkiller prescriptions to soldiers and veterans appear, so far, to be working.”

“Opioid prescriptions from Department of Veterans Affairs doctors fell more than 40% from 2012 to 2017,” according to the authors. “This coincides with the VA’s Opioid Safety Initiative, which began in 2013 and aims to educate healthcare providers on the benefits and risks of prescribing opioids,” reports Clark Merrefield.

“Despite fewer painkiller prescriptions, the opioid overdose death epidemic among veterans is still very real—and appears to be getting worse,” writes Merrefield. Citing data from the Veterans Administration, he goes on to say, “After troop surges in Afghanistan and Iraq in the late 2000s, opioid use disorders among veterans rose 55%.”

Recent research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine supports the belief that veterans remain especially vulnerable to addiction.

According to a November report posted on Filter, a news service focusing on drug use, policy, and human rights, a recent study published in the journal Addiction shows that military veterans today “are increasingly vulnerable to stimulant-involved deaths.” Based on “a nationally representative database of medical data available from the Veterans Health Administration,” between 2012 and 2018, over 3,600 veteran deaths in the U.S. involved stimulants taken alone or with other drugs—a death toll that has tripled over the six-year period.

“The adulteration of synthetic opioids in the stimulant supply is likely contributing,” says study coauthor and University of Michigan psychiatry professor Lewei Allison.

Greg Gharst is a lieutenant colonel and a preventive medicine officer in the Medical Services Corps within the U.S. Army Reserve and currently serves in the Center for Strategic Learning at the U.S. Army War College. In a November posting on the Center’s “War Room,” he writes: “U.S. military leaders must both acknowledge the effects of the opioid epidemic on the military, and further, they must act to mitigate the disastrous effects of widespread opioid abuse and overdose deaths connected to the U.S. military and military veterans … the opioid crisis presents a military readiness problem, and should be addressed with a sense of urgency as is warranted.”

Chuck Norris is one of the most enduringly popular actors in the world. He has starred in more than 20 major motion pictures. His television series “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which completed its run in April 2001 after eight full seasons, is the most successful Saturday night series on CBS since “Gunsmoke.” It is seen in more than 80 countries worldwide, ranking as one of the top U.S. shows in both sales and audience. He is a New York Times best-selling author of two books, including the 2004 autobiographical “Against All Odds.” Norris is a renowned teacher of martial arts and six-time undefeated world middleweight karate champion. He and his wife, Gena, have a home in Dallas and a ranch near Houston, where they divide their time

The Challenge of Finding What Soothes the Pain

November 25, 2021 by Chuck Norris Leave a Comment

In the journal JAMA Network Open, research on the long-term effects of contracting COVID-19 shows that at least 50% of COVID-19 survivors experience numerous physical and psychological health issues lasting six months or more after their initial recovery. According to The Washington Post, while the adverse health effects vary from person to person, more than half experienced a decline in general well-being and the onset of pain. “Cardiovascular issues — chest pain and palpitations – are common, as are stomach and gastrointestinal problems,” reports the Post.

While some doctors see these post-recovery symptoms as largely psychosomatic, what such a diagnosis conveniently sidesteps is the greater issue. There is a lack of understanding of what exactly is triggering the infirmities, making the approach to treatment a guessing game. The Post goes on to say that other disabilities lacking a clear treatment, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, are hopeful that current research into long COVID-19 may unlock some answers to their condition as well.

This got me to thinking about our concept and understanding of pain. What the Free Dictionary describes as “an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons. Discomfort that that signals actual potential injury to the body.”

It is important to remember that pain is also subjective to the person experiencing it. It comes in many forms, and with thoughts of Veterans Day fresh in mind, comes the memory of those Americans whose service to our country has left them not only with many forms of lingering disabilities but loss of limbs. They know pain all too well. According to DAV, a nonprofit charity that provides support for veterans and their families, integrated data from the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense show that “after leaving military service, over 80% of amputees also have diagnoses in each of the following categories: mental disorders, diseases of the nervous system and sense organs, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue.”

They also suffer from “phantom pain,” which the National Center for Biotechnology Information clinically defines as “the perception of pain or discomfort in a limb that no longer exists.” It is something that veteran amputees have in common with those on the receiving end of what the Center estimates to be the 30,000 to 40,000 amputations performed each year In the United States

According to the website Neuroscientifically Challenged, phantom pain doesn’t just occur in limbs, it has also been recorded after the loss or removal of other parts of the body. In one study of 5000 American veterans, “78% of them reported experiencing phantom pain in their amputated limbs.” It is a condition that remains not well understood by medical professionals, even though they have had a long time to work on the problem.

As reported by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “phantom limb sensation” was first described by French military surgeon Ambroise Pare in the sixteenth century. His writing on the subject is believed to be the first recorded description of this condition. Neuroscientifically Challenged says, the term phantom limb wouldn’t be used until the Civil War — more than three centuries later.

Today, there are several pharmacological treatments for phantom limb pain. High on the list is opioid drugs (and we all know by now how that approach has turned out).

Among the alternate treatments available is “mirror therapy.” This is a technique where a mirror is situated between the missing and intact limb, so it reflects the patient’s intact limb. ‘This creates the illusion (from the patient’s perspective) that they have two intact limbs,” says Neuroscientifically Challenged. “They can move their intact limb and observe the illusory limb moving in the same manner. It is thought that this imagery may help to reduce some of the discomfort caused by the lack of visual feedback from a missing limb that the brain has maintained an internal representation of. Although studies support the effectiveness of mirror therapy, the mechanisms underlying why the approach works are not fully understood.”

As stated by the Mayo Clinic, today “no medications specifically for phantom pain exist” and “no single drug works for everyone, and not everyone benefits from medications.”

Another form of pain, not to be confused with phantom pain, is “referred pain.” This “refers” to pain that you experience on one part of your body that is not the actual source of the problem. Healthline explains it this way: “When your body experiences a pain stimulus, your nervous system carries the signal to your brain. The brain then sends a signal to your body that you’re experiencing pain. Sometimes, because of how nerves are wired in your body, your brain will send a pain signal to a different part of your body than the area where the pain stems from … Researchers are still working to understand the exact mechanism and reason why your body has this type of reaction.”

One example of referred pain given by U.S. News — and a good reason we should not ignore such pain — is a sign of a heart attack can appear as a sensation of pain in the jaw. “That doesn’t mean there’s a problem with your jaw. It’s a problem with your heart that is ‘referring’ pain to the jawline.” Another example is pain in the upper back area right below and between your shoulder blades. It could be an indication that you have a stomach condition.

Say a U.S. News report, a relatively common example is when the first and only sign of a problem with the hip joint is the onset of knee pain. As with phantom pain and other health conditions, researchers are still working to understand the exact mechanism and reason why the human body has the reaction it does. As to adverse health effects of long COVID-19, medical science may have a clue or two as to why, but we have no answers.

Write to Chuck Norris (info@creators.com) with your questions about health and fitness. Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Who’s To Blame for the Addiction Crisis?

October 7, 2021 by Chuck Norris Leave a Comment

As reported by Reuters News Agency, a trial involving four large pharmacy chains was to begin last Monday as the Ohio counties of Lake and Trumbull seek to convince jurors of the pharmacy chains’ responsibility for flooding their communities with addictive pain pills and thus contributing to the current deadly U.S. opioid epidemic. To date, more than 3,300 cases have been brought primarily by state and local governments to hold the companies responsible for their role in this destructive public health problem.

These actions can be seen as merely a preview of the finger pointing that is sure to follow as we try to understand what has led us to a drug and alcohol epidemic-within-an-epidemic. A tragic development that has taken more than 93,000 lives from drug overdoses in 2020 alone. In a world where, according to an American Psychological Association poll, nearly one in four adults report drinking unhealthy amounts of alcohol to cope with their stress. Excessive alcohol consumption was already the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is responsible for more than 95,000 deaths a year.

Keep in mind, precise data on current drug or alcohol related deaths is hard to come by. It can take months for medical providers to provide toxicology reports for overdose incidents. As to alcohol, it is even more complicated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of June 2020, 13% of Americans had reported starting or increasing some form of substance use as a way of coping.

As William Stoops, professor of Behavioral Science, Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Kentucky Institute, explains in an American Medical Association report, “People are more stressed and isolated, so they make unhealthy decisions, including drinking more and taking drugs.”

“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, a growing number of older Americans were misusing alcohol and prescription drugs. Add social isolation to the mix, and fears about contracting a deadly virus, and substance use among seniors is at an all-time high,” says Bulat. She further reports that substance use disorder among senior citizens is often overlooked, especially if they have medical or behavioral conditions such as depression or dementia that may be masking the signs of addiction. Polypharmacy, the practice of taking many medications at the same time, which is common in older adults, also increases the risk of overdose.

“People often think of addiction as a disease that strikes younger people, but it can happen to anyone at any time during their life,” she stresses. “During our senior years, a number of factors converge that increase the risk of substance abuse issues.”

Speaking of young people, the impact of the pandemic on our younger generations is maybe even more troubling. According to a study from the University of Surrey recently published in the journal Psychiatry Research, the pandemic has severely impacted the mental health of young people, generating increased levels of clinical depression.

Says Dr. Simon Evans, Lecturer in Neuroscience at the University of Surrey: “For many years there has been a rise in the number of young people experiencing problems with their mental health, and it is concerning to find that this has been significantly exacerbated due to COVID-19. Supporting the mental health of young people and ensuring they can access the support they need is vital to ensure their overall wellbeing … it is crucial that we take steps to protect their mental health.”

As one reader commented on last week’s column, discussion of the impact on substance abuse among young people was missing from my piece. Let me address it now.

According to a recent U.S. News report, a study published March 29 in JAMA Pediatrics highlights young people’s vulnerability to addiction, with adolescents (aged 12 to 17) seeming to be more inclined to develop addiction to substances faster than young adults (aged 18 to 25).

“Rates of past-year cannabis use disorder were greater among teens than young adults at all the time points since first use of the drug,” writes U.S. News. “For example, within 12 months since first cannabis use, nearly 11% of adolescents had the disorder, compared with just over 6% of young adults.”

According to Emily Einstein, chief of U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse Science Policy Branch and co-author of the study, “Research has shown that brain development continues into a person’s 20s, and that age of drug initiation is a very important risk factor for developing addiction … Offering timely treatment and support to young people who need it must be a public health priority.”

As noted in a separate U.S. News report, substantive evidence exists that marijuana increases the risk of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. The report goes on to say that there is evidence of a toxic relationship between marijuana and depression. “A study published in the journal Addiction found that teenagers who suffered chronic depression were more likely to develop marijuana-use disorder later in life,” they write.

Not all experts concur, admitting that there remains a lot to learn about whether marijuana use may lead to mental health problems in young people. Medical organizations remain conflicted as to the nature of the relationship between marijuana and mental health. At the same time, the social stigma attached to addiction, seeing it as a moral failing on the part of the individual, continues to impede needed progress in addressing the problem.