Matthew Perry- “I wonder how much this moron will pay”

Where did you read about him leaving anything to his assistant?
I thought he left everything to his family in his will.

I agree.

Agree sentencing should be the same, but it sounds like bail was not granted to the dealer because she’s a dual national (presumably of a country with no extradition treaty with US) who was considered a significant flight risk. Whereas most doctors, even dodgy ones, don’t have the underworld connections to get themselves smuggled out of the country.

Most people charged with dealing would get granted bail - she’s being treated unusually harshly rather than him being treated leniently.

It's worth reading the medical saga of elvis presley to get a better understanding of it

Of course there are people living with chronic pain who benefit from opioid, and they are also used for acute pain, there is a lot of fear and ignorance around their use and many people can live with them for years. Nerve pain is awful, I have every sympathy with you. Not sure there is such a thing as short term chronic pain. Chronic pain is any pain that's lasted for more than 3 months,

Just because they have a medical degree doesn’t make them any better whatsoever, they’re just a legally licensed drug dealer. It pisses me off no end that someone’s qualifications or career is taken into account when being sentenced for a crime. Should have received the exact same punishment.

@Grandmasswagbag am on opiates for chronic nerve pain, and know few others who are too (with ms)

I was offered morphine patches for chronic arthritic pain in my spine. I declined them because I want a quality of life and felt a reliance on strong opioids would disable me more than the pain does, so yes, they do offer them here in chronic situations where the condition is untreatable.

I though that opioids are only used here for end of life care and short term chronic pain. Obviously there are a lot of people addicted to OTC painkillers but they are no where near as strong and lethal as something like oxy. I've never heard of people being prescribed strong opiates in the UK for chronic pain, because it's not effective treatment. 'Breakthrough pain' is simply a marketing tool that the saklers came up with when patients complained that the effects didn't last any where near 12 hours. They knew the time release stuff was essentially BS. It was all lies to make Drs feel comfortable prescribing in a way they never would have before.

just so appalling

'@mathanxiety Doctors in the US' do not 'give them away like candy.

I’ve lived in the US for 20 years and that was not my personal experience. I also had many friends getting hooked up on opiates thanks to doctors prescriptions due to injuries, accidents etc… once my friends were unable to get them prescribed they would turn into the dark web to buy them. Clearly we’ve had different experiences when it come to American healthcare and that’s OK.

Its a shame it took the death of an actor from a third rate sitcom
to unearth this. If it had been an average Joe, no one would have cared.

@mathanxiety

Erm ok. I disagree.

I worked on stuff relating to opioid epidemic and litigation.

If the tv advertising didn't work in the US, it wouldn't happen. Manufacturers spend millions on it.

It wasn't a point about Perry's case (as I already said) but the US healthcare system in general which is set up in a way which gateways patient access to addictive meds.

There is far less of an issue with prescribed pharma becoming opioid addition in the UK because physicians prescribe more carefully and review more regularly. I didn't say it doesn't happen at all but the epidemic won't happen in the UK.

Yes, this is what I thought. No better than drug dealers.

Yes, Matthew Perry took the drugs but he’d also tried several times to get clean. People around him including his assistant seemed to be happy to facilitate his addiction instead of helping him to stay off drugs. Incredibly exploitative. I was so sad to read the piece.

So much here that simply isn't factual.

You don't get 'several weeks supply in one go' in the US - maybe thyroid meds, or some other medication to treat a long term condition, but not painkillers.

Health insurance doesn't impact the quantity a doctor prescribes.

The advertising of drugs on TV doesn't mean patients get a prescription if they march to their doctor demanding one.

The US culture of giving the consumer what they want...

• nonsense.

The indicted doctors in Perry's case were operating outside of the law and in contravention of professional practice. He was being treated lawfully and in accord with professional practice (though ketamine is a controversial treatment) by a doctor who was giving him infusions, and seeking extra ketamine from the pill mill operators.

fpm.ac.uk/opioids-aware-clinical-use-opioids/current-uk-data-opioid-misuse
There should be no complacency about opioid misuse in the UK.

I live in the US and have never been given a 'tube of painkillers' by any doctor or dentist, and I've seen plenty here since 1989.

'Doctors in the US' do not 'give them away like candy'.

Were they his doctors?

Or Doctor Feelgoods, rogue doctors supplying controlled substances and operating pills mills?

But was he?

If he was out of it and asking for more, isn't the person who administered it partly responsible? And the qualified doctor who supplied it knowing?

If you had someone suicidal and handed them a knife, I think we would argue some culpability.

Oxycontin is available in Europe, including in the U.K. Many people take it for pain with no problems apart from the medical dependence that comes with regular use of opioids.

The problem in the US was initially due to the time-release mechanism not working properly. Drug companies refused to allow doctors to permit 8-hourly dosing instead of the recommended 12-hourly dosing. So the patient would feel fine for say, 6-9 hours, then be in agony until the next dose. Drug companies insisted the mechanism worked fine and told doctors to increase the dose. So a patient who was taking 10mg twice a day would have their dose increased to 20mg twice a day, instead of 10mg three times a day. But they would still be in pain between doses. Doctors gave higher and higher doses without the pain being relieved consistently - no wonder patients became addicted!

In Europe now, doctors who understand pain management will switch a patient to 8-hourly dosing if 12-hourly doses wear off too quickly and breakthrough pain is not controlled by the sister drug Oxynorm. This allows patients to be stable on lower doses. Many stay on the same dose for years. Just because it is a street drug, it doesn't mean it can't be used by patients who need it. For many it has fewer side effects than alternatives such as morphine.

Ketamine is also used in pain management, both in emergency medicine and for long-term management of chronic pain (by regular infusions). It is also used for treatment-resistant depression, often in the form of a nasal spray.

So many myths floating around!

Yep, ketamine is highly addictive, so basically he was trying to treat his addiction problems with a highly addictive substance?, madness. I don't think they were trying to cure him but more like drain his bank account. Apparently he went through a ketamine assisted therapy with a psychologist, after the assisted therapy he kept asking for more but the psychologist refused so MP was able to buy it illegally in the black market then had his drug enabler assistant (who's not a doctor) injecting him every day, I think that's pretty telling on why this guy could not get of drugs... because those closest with him didn't have his best interests. Add to the fact he was leaving all his will to his assistant, you guys do the math...

I didn't mean that - it's a fantastic anaesthetic. I've needed it before because I'm allergic to certain components in the standard ones.

These were my thoughts on this tragedy too.

Like MJ

This made me so sad to read. Poor bastard. Being hugely rich really isn't the answer to everything. He would have been far better off never hitting the big time.