Hello dstaley,
As I stated, I'm glad for those who get relief from the patch. I'm sure there are many who do use them without adverse reactions. I'm sure that I (one person)can't get them removed from the market, but I think I'm seeing a broader picture, with all the sites I have found where people are not as tolerant of the drug as you are. I know of people in my area who lost a loved one to what they suspect was the patch, one was actually a doctor himself, whose elderly father went to sleep and did not wake up, from what he was SURE was caused by the
Duragesic patch. One 43 yr. old lady told me that after she used the patch for a few days/weeks, her children would come in from school and find her in the house, passed out. This was determined to be from the patch and she may have been closer to death than she realized. She had to go through detox to get off. I also know of others, and these are the people and cases that you don't hear a lot about. I get automatic e-mail alerts from a site and every time news or somethings related to the patch comes out, I get an automatic message. MOST of the news is where someone else had DIED from overdose or thinking they can cut them open and get high, only to end up DEAD. I used
Vioxx and got relief that nothing else would give for aches and pains. However, we see where Vioxx is today (not sure, they may have put it back on market).I'm just saying from all I have found (even from some doctors) the
fentanyl patch can be a deadly drug. I know you can overdose on
aspirin or alcohol. But from what many people are saying about the patch is they would rather suffer the pain than deal with the side effects or the withdrawal symptoms when they tried to come off. One person even said the patch was "evil." Obviously this person suffered such horendous symptoms that he/she said they'll just deal with the pain or find something else. Many people just don't report adverse events to the manufacturer or the FDA--you can do this online with the FDA. It probably didn't amount to much, but I felt a responsibility to report to both when my father died. Since it seems like I won't be able to get legal representation because of his age, the least I can do is let other people know what my family knows, that this patch can kill you. I don't know what's worse, seeing a person in excruciating pain (suffering) or seeing someone gasping for breath, sweating and basically dying right in front of your eyes, the way we saw my father suffer. Of course, I hold his doctor totally responsible for what happened. This drug is a Schedule II controlled narcotic, which carries certain guidelines and laws in prescribing, one of which the doctor bound (by DEA and FDA law) to inform us of the risks with the patch, then get our consent and let MY FAMILY decide if we wanted dad to have it, all of which the doctor did not do. The biggest issue is I just don't know why he prescribed it in the first place, could money have been the motive? Is it possible that he is abusing them, after all, healthcare workers are the biggest abusers, even stealing them off of patients and corpses! Was he just tired of treating my father? To be honest, from everything that happened and all that this doc said, I really believe that he KNEW that more than likely, this drug would probably kill him. As far as cancer patient getting relief from it, there is a thin line between people who die from their cancer and actually dying from overdose of
morphine or fentanyl patches,
oxycontin, etc. That is where the family or the person suffering comes in. It is the suffering person's decision on what they want or their family's decision, this right is not just turned over to a doctor to decide. I have not wanted to see this doctor since his death, much less talk to him. My plan is to file a complaint with the state medical board because I KNOW he broke some very important laws and rules concerning prescribing pain narcotics. My whole intent for posting is the alert or raise awareness to the POTENTIAL dangers to the drug--maybe this is the only recourse I have and maybe, just maybe it will save someone's life. I'm not trying to frighten anyone by doing this, those that get relief, please continue to use them. Best of luck with your health, but just keep in mind what I have said.
God Bless