Mom speaks up on House and pain meds
I've been reluctant to post this, and thus potentially instigate the wank again, but I've been talking to my mother, who has been in House's position pain-wise for many years, and while she feels for House, she is not so quick to apologize completely for his Vicodin dependence.
She wants to know, for example, who House's pain specialist is. Mom sees a pain specialist on a regular basis who takes care to cover the whole person, psychological as well as physical. But is House treating himself? That's a big medical no-no, no matter how brilliant any individual doctor might be.
She also believes it strains believability that House would be on Vicodin for a chronic pain condition. According to her, long-acting medication is indicated for chronic pain. She has been on both a Duragesic patch and on Oxycontin, a long-acting version of Percoset without the aspirin. Doses on these therapies are dispensed on a limited basis and are monitored, so there is less opportunity for abuse or accidental overdose. (I know this is true first hand because I've driven out of my way to pick up her Oxycontin for her because the local pharmacy is not allowed to carry it.) And because these therapies are long-acting, the absorption of medication into the body is more regulated- the patient is less likely to experience extreme highs or lows and the physical dependence is less severe. Why, my mother wonders, are these alternative therapies never mentioned?
Cross-posted to house_md.
She wants to know, for example, who House's pain specialist is. Mom sees a pain specialist on a regular basis who takes care to cover the whole person, psychological as well as physical. But is House treating himself? That's a big medical no-no, no matter how brilliant any individual doctor might be.
She also believes it strains believability that House would be on Vicodin for a chronic pain condition. According to her, long-acting medication is indicated for chronic pain. She has been on both a Duragesic patch and on Oxycontin, a long-acting version of Percoset without the aspirin. Doses on these therapies are dispensed on a limited basis and are monitored, so there is less opportunity for abuse or accidental overdose. (I know this is true first hand because I've driven out of my way to pick up her Oxycontin for her because the local pharmacy is not allowed to carry it.) And because these therapies are long-acting, the absorption of medication into the body is more regulated- the patient is less likely to experience extreme highs or lows and the physical dependence is less severe. Why, my mother wonders, are these alternative therapies never mentioned?
Cross-posted to house_md.