Fake News about Policeman's Fentanyl Overdose - Numerous Major News Outlets Were Duped by This False Story

[DonRocks]

"Fake News" - A concept Donald Trump invented to keep the media at bay, right? Well, not so fast ...

Here is a partial list of major news outlets that published this false story without proper fact checking. These are sources that I found in about five minutes - there are many more:

NBC News, CBS News, ABC Chicago, Washington Post, The Express, Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Breitbart (nice irony, assholes), NY Daily News, Inside Edition, Vox, NY Post, CNN

I read this story, saw it was about Fentanyl, and thought to myself, 'This cannot be right. Either this "white powder" isn't Fentanyl, or the story is completely false.'

And yet, it scared the hell out of me, because I AM A FENTANYL PATIENT for the pain I'm in (and *our nanny government* is forcing doctors to discontinue it because of false reports like this story).

Karen used it, too, when she had cancer, for several months - I used to be right next to her when she was sucking on a Fentanyl lollipop. Hell, I used to open and hand her the lollipops.

The story reports that an officer dusted some white powder off his shirt with his hand, and then "within minutes, fell to the floor," having an overdose.

That's not how Fentanyl works! It takes Fentanyl many hours to begin working, and skin contact cannot possibly absorb the medication that quickly. I put on a 50mcg, 72-hour transdermal patch of fentanyl last night at 11:30 PM, and woke up at 6 AM this morning - not overdosing, but in so much pain that I reached straight for my rescue medication for breakthrough pain. Just a few months ago, I was on *double the dose*, and even that wasn't enough.

"The Viral Story about the Cop Who Overdosed by Touching Fentanyl is Complete Nonsense" by Jerry Samuel Faust on slate.com

Either the Slate story is false, or all the other stories are false. As someone who takes Fentanyl, I can *promise* you that Slate got it right.

All these "opioid overdose" stories you're reading about are a result of people *abusing their medications*, and guess who's going to suffer the most? That's right: legitimate, chronic pain patients like me who take them *exactly* as prescribed. And who are in *absolutely NO danger* from them.

Now, every doctor in the country is too scared to accept new opioid patients, and my current doctor has his panties in a knicker, and has decided to stop prescribing opioids to *everyone*.

My doctor pulled me aside and told me that "the pendulum has swung WAY too far in the opposite direction," and that he'll no longer be prescribing opioids because he's afraid of losing his license (this, after spending the past several years *increasing* my dose). Don't feel sorry for him - he's deliberately falsifying his dictations about our appointments to make himself sound more innocent, instead of having the balls to stand up to our dictatorial government - he knows full well I need this medication, but he's looking out for himself).

Guess where that's going to leave your humble moderator?

Guess where that's going to leave readers of this website?

What is going to happen to people who have permanent nerve damage, or pain from broken backs and hips that will never go away?

This country is going to see innocent pain patients who really *need* powerful pain medications begin committing suicides, and then these morons in the media are going to start asking themselves why all these suicides are happening.

Well, I can answer that for you right now: Because chronic pain patients are deciding it's no longer worth it to live with the pain they're in now that the government is strong-arming doctors into denying their medications.

All because of stories like this. And because the media has refused to separate addicts from honest, chronic pain patients who take these drugs as prescribed.

Mark my words. I see this coming down the pike within a couple of years, and people are going to feel guilty as hell about it. Or, maybe they just won't care since it doesn't involve themselves.

So what's the bigger public health crisis? Addicts who abused the medical system because they didn't have the discipline to follow their doctors' orders? Or legitimate chronic pain patients committing suicide because there is no longer adequate pain relief to be found? Or, perhaps worst of all, legitimate chronic pain patients who can't afford health insurance to pay for their medication, and decide to use heroin as their option of last resort? (The latter two groups could easily merge into one, once opioids become unobtainable through legal means.) The news outlets have never bothered to separate these into distinct groups of people, so how could you possibly know?

[DonRocks]

"Prosecutor: Man Kills Doctor Who Wouldn't Prescribe His Wife Opioids" on cbsnews.com

There aren't enough details in this story. 

If - IF AND ONLY IF - this man's wife was a long-term patient of the doctor, and the doctor cut her off from the opioids he got her dependent on, without providing her an adequate alternative - then Michael Jarvis is an anti-hero to me.

Don't say I didn't warn you (if you're linking in from CBS News, scroll up). This may be the first of these stories, but I promise you it won't be the last.