H E A LT H C A R E RANSON THOMAS, GAINESVILLE
Ranson Thomas is an RN, MSN in nursing education.
VIRAL COP ‘OVERDOSES’ FUEL FENTANYL MISINFORMATION
Fentanyl has been in use by physicians for the treatment of pain since the 1960s, but over the last few years news stories related to fentanyl have been everywhere. From contributing to record numbers of overdose deaths, to a number of police officers having what appear to be near-fatal episodes following contact with the drug, there’s a lot of fear and paranoia regarding fentanyl and the danger it poses. Is this fear justified, and A deputy of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department collapsed on July 3, what’s behind the sudden explosion in the 2021 in a viral video posted by the San Diego Sheriff, after claiming to have illicit use of fentanyl? handled fentanyl. The video has been widely discredited by public health experts. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid analgesic frequently prescribed to patients by physicians to treat pain, and it’s typically adminis- in 2016 a training video that spreads these made billions of dollars over the years from need to take private pharmaceutical compatered via oral tablets, patches, or injections. exact falsehoods. “[J]ust touching fentanyl selling drugs like Oxycontin, another opioid nies like those that lied and profited off the Fentanyl is a powerful pain reliever, used for or accidentally inhaling the substance… can narcotic, and lying about the evidence they opioid epidemic under democratic workers’ the long term management of chronic pain, result in absorption through the skin and that had regarding its addictive nature. control. post-surgical pain, labor pain in pregnant is one of the biggest dangers with fentanyl. Even though big pharma companies push This would mean that health care comwomen, and management of cancer pain. The onset of adverse health effects, such as narcotics on Americans, why have so many panies wouldn’t be out to profit off the illWhile it’s sensationalized as “50-100 times disorientation, coughing, sedation, respira- people even needed pain medicine to begin ness of people but would instead be geared stronger than morphine,” fentanyl is pre- tory distress or cardiac arrest is very rapid with? One key factor is the toll which work towards actually curing and healing the sick scribed in much smaller doses. and profound, usually occurring within min- in the U.S. puts on the bodies and minds of and injured, while also prioritizing treatment Perhaps the most sensational examples of utes of exposure,” the video claimed. average people. The state with the highest for those who are still addicted to opioids and the harm fentanyl can cause are the stories The DEA has since removed this video rate of overdose deaths in the U.S. is West other drugs. This would also mean increased of police officers nearly dying from fentanyl from their website, but it was live as recently Virginia, and the DEA acknowledges that one production and distribution of drugs like exposure. These stories have generated mil- as March 2021. of the primary reasons for this is the high con- naloxone – a drug used to treat narcotic lions of reactions on social media since as centration of blue collar industrial jobs which overdose – as well as mental health theraearly as 2015, but more viral instances con- Who Is Fentanyl Endangering? have high rates of workplace injury which can pists trained and made available to addicts, tinue to show up, like that posted by a San leave people in chronic pain and injury even and more treatment centers geared towards While many of these accounts of contact after their immediate injury has healed. Diego sheriff in 2021. In truth, police offikeeping people safe while they are addicted cers face no harm at all from direct contact overdoses are complete fabrications, fentanyl It’s not just West Virginia; in 2021, while also working to help them break out of with fentanyl. Physicians, nurses, and other overdoses and deaths are possible and in fact Amazon had a total of 38,300 workplace addiction. common. Accord- injuries throughout its U.S. facilities, twice healthcare providThe opioid epidemic is rooted in the capiing to the CDC, in the rate of injury of its closest competitors. talist system and the greed of the billionaires ers come into the Drug overdoses are extremely 2021 drug over- Companies like Amazon eschew workplace who run it. It would be utopian and unrealissame kind of contact with fentanyl dangerous, but not to people who dose deaths sur- safety and paid time off so they can exploit tic to say that in a socialist society problems on a daily basis might come into casual contact with passed 100,000 their workers and their bodies at such a like addiction would never occur. But in a in the U.S., with without adverse pace that the average Amazon ware- socialist society, addiction and other health the drug through their work or in deaths from opioid brutal reactions. house worker only stays in the position for problems would be treated with the goal of overdoses specifi- eight months! “It’s extremely their community. actually healing and preventing further injury. cally increasing by unlikely that law The billionaires and politicians want to Fentanyl and other opioids are dangerous, almost 50% from paint the opioid crisis as an individual moral but not in the way typically presented by the enforcement The people actually suffering are the previous year. failing on the part of those who are addicted, media – and that danger was created by the officials or other The reality is, rather than placing the blame where it billionaires who run our health care indusfirst responders the individuals addicted to opioids drug overdoses belongs: on big pharma and for-profit health try and the politicians who protect and fund will experience especially care. an overdose after due to nationwide epidemic that has and paramilitary policing, not the individuals who brief, uninten- overwhelmingly victimized working- opioid overdoses have been sacrificed to addiction in the name are extremely dantional exposure class people. of corporate profits. J Fighting The Root Cause Of gerous, but not to while caring for people who might Addiction individuals who used opioids,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a phy- come into casual contact with the drug To really address the dangers that fentanyl sician and medical analyst for CNN. Wen through their work or in their community. and other opioids pose to society, socialists The people actually suffering and at risk explained that opioids are not absorbed well would attack the root cause. We need to fight through the skin except through prolonged from fentanyl overdoses are the individu- for higher wages, better working conditions, ONE contact, and are not aerosolized outside als who have become addicted to opioids and unions at every workplace, especially AMERICAN FAMILY extreme circumstances, meaning it’s not as part of a nationwide opioid epidemic that those at places like Amazon where workers possible to quickly overdose from breath- has overwhelmingly victimized working-class face extraordinary levels of physical exploiMADE $12 BILLION PUSHing it. To date, there has not been a single people, and which was manufactured by tation. Safer workplaces mean less injury ING PAIN KILLERS ON SICK AND confirmed case of a police officer having a giant pharmaceutical companies which lied and better wages, and access to healthto and deceived the public in the name of fentanyl overdose from accidental exposure. care means workers getting appropriINJURED PATIENTS. THIS FAMILY, THE Despite this, small studies indicate that expanding their own profits. ately treated for their injuries and having For years, opioid manufacturers lied about the overwhelming majority of police officers SACKLERS, OWN PURDUE PHARMA adequate time off to heal when they do, believe that touching or breathing fentanyl is the addictive effects of opioid narcotics like not having to rely on quick fixes which AND ARE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE fatal – along with potentially untold amounts fentanyl to healthcare providers and to the put them back to work and at greater of regular working people who are in contact public. This was so that the drugs would risk for lifelong chronic injuries. FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS IF NOT be prescribed more often, increasing their with opioid users on a day-to-day basis. The most important step would be to It’s no big shock why this misinforma- profits, while also attempting to shield them- end for-profit health care. Medicare For HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF tion tends to stick. The U.S. Drug Enforce- selves from the fallout once people became All is the absolute minimum that workers in OVERDOSE DEATHS. ment Administration (DEA) itself published addicted. Companies like Purdue Pharma the U.S. should expect, but beyond that, we
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