Doctors raked in cash to push fentanyl as N.J. death rate exploded [View all]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Mon Jul 3, 2017, 09:01 AM - Edit history (1)

Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold

This is a good look at how companies woo doctors to prescribe fentanyl:

Link to tweet

Doctors raked in cash to push fentanyl as N.J. death rate exploded

Updated on June 29, 2017 at 10:39 PM Posted on June 29, 2017 at 7:00 AM

BY STEPHEN STIRLING AND ERIN PETENKO
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The most powerful opioid ever mass-marketed was designed to ease cancer patients into death. ... It's ideal for that: the drug is fast acting, powerful enough to tame pain that other opioids can't and comes in a variety of easy delivery methods -- from patches to lollipops. ... But a dose the size of a grain of sand can kill you.

Meet fentanyl. It's heroin on steroids. It's killing people in droves. And, in New Jersey, you can get it after having your tonsils removed.

In fact, doctors who treat children's colds and adult's sore knees are prescribing it with alarming frequency, far more than oncologists easing end-of-life cancer pain. ... The surge is stoked by companies that shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to doctors, wining and dining them in hopes of convincing them that their particular brand of fentanyl is the solution to all their patients' pain problems.

Evidently, it's working.
....

Stephen Stirling may be reached at [e-mail]. Follow him on Twitter @sstirling. Find him on Facebook.

Erin Petenko may be reached at [e-mail]. Follow her on Twitter @EPetenko. Find NJ.com on Facebook.