DEA crackdown on nursing home drugs under fire

I think it's about time......
DEA Crackdown On Nursing Home Drugs Comes Under Congressional Scrutiny


The New York Times previews a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday where nursing home operators and caregivers will criticize a narcotics crackdown by the Drug Enforcement Administration that they say "has left seriously ill patients crying for pain relief. The D.E.A. says it is merely enforcing the law that requires pharmacies to wait for prescriptions that are signed by physicians before dispensing potent painkillers like Vicodin, Percocet and morphine. ...

Now many of the nation's nursing homes report delays of a day or more in getting pain drugs to patients, according to the Quality Care Coalition for Patients in Pain, a group set up by nursing home operators, pharmacists and nursing groups. ... Nearly two million people live in the nation's 16,000 nursing homes, the Census Bureau says. Surveys show pain management is an issue for 40 to 85 percent of them, and Medicare says they often need more pain relief" (Wilson, 3/23).

The original story is here: http://www.ultimatenurse.com/forum/f38/u-s-drug-move-said-deprive-elderly-needed-pain-meds-87694/

With the amount of drug diversion, fake prescriptions and abuse going on, I have to say that controls and safeguards are needed.

That's not to say the process could not be streamlined. This this falls into the category of patients and doctors are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Do wish they would either expand available "back-up" stock or let us borrow narcotics from other patients. Burns me up when I've got a patient that needs their Oxycontin or Percocet and I've got a drawer full of it for other patients.

Can see the need for the rules they have in place, but it doesn't help the patient that needs it.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursefriendly.com

cougarnurse wrote:There are the few who ruin it for the many, eh?

Yes, and it is because of those few that all the regulations and oversight are needed. As much as they may slow down patient care, they are in place for a very good reason.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursefriendly.com