Pharmacies Owned by GOP Rep. Peddled Massive Number of Opioid Doses in Small Communities

[RandySF]

Two Louisiana pharmacies owned by Republican Rep. Ralph Abraham, Clinic Pharmacy of Mangham and Adams Clinic Pharmacy of Winnsboro, sit just 12.5 miles apart and serve a combined community of approximately 6,000 people. Yet despite serving relatively sparse populations, the two pharmacies reportedly prescribed a total of 1,478,236 doses of opioid painkillers from 2006 to 2012, more than 35 doses per person, according to a report from the Bayou Brief.

The report, which is based on numbers from the Drug Enforcement Administration database published by the Washington Post in July, shows that Abraham’s Winnsboro pharmacy more than doubled the number of opioids it peddled to patients over the seven-year period, with opioid prescription fillings skyrocketing by 67-percent. It also states that Richland county, one of the least populated in Louisiana, ranking 46 of 64, ranked eighth in total number of opioid prescriptions filled. Since 2017, the number of opioid prescriptions has outpaced the human population, with 113 prescriptions being dispensed for every 100.

Abraham is a physician who has spoken about the medicinal benefits of treating pain with opioids.

“In the medical profession, for these chronic pain, poor cancer patients that need help, we have other alternatives that work better, Dilaudid, OxyContin, you name it, Oxycodone, we have several options that do a much better job for chronic pain,” Abraham said during a 2014 election debate. “I’ve had hundreds of patients unfortunately with cancer that I’ve treated, they do well with these drugs.”

Abraham has also been stringently opposed to state and municipal lawsuits against the manufacturers and distributors of opioids. In a 2017 interview with a local radio station, Abraham said the blame lies with those who abuse the drugs and that manufacturers were “simply meeting a demand,” though he did equivocate as to whether any physicians were at fault for over-prescribing.


https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/report-pharmacies-owned-by-gop-rep-prescribed-massive-amount-of-opioids-to-community-of-6000/

[magicarpet]

2. Full blast unbridled capitalism brought the opioid crisis.

Money mongers opened the opioid spigot full blast and let the bath tub and sink overflow for years and years because it gave them the opportunity to bank some serious money. Greed and gluttony and unbridled capitalism is a very dangerous thing absent checks and balances.