Sunday, August 24, 2008

Tastes Like Candy

A comment in my most recent thread has brought up a question that we often wonder while at work. Just why are Tramadol and Carisoprodol not controlled substances?

You can't use the 'well the abuse potential is lower' bullshit because anyone who deals with it knows it's a load of crock. Our worst patients are the tramadol customers who are often verbally and physically abusive while in the store. The Lortab patients, while can be equally bitchy, usually just try and sneak in an early fill, but generally don't get pissed at us.

We once had a patient who was getting 300 Carisoprodol every three weeks. 300 fucking tablets. Granted we should not have been dispensing those to him (that's another story), but that is utterly amazing. The guy would come in and would be higher than a fucking kite.

And yet these are not controlled by the government. Sweden has yanked Carisoprodol off the market. The EU is in the process of doing the same thing. In America though its only slightly more restricted than the candy on our shelves (heavy on the sarcasm here). Then again this is the same country that allowed drugs like Vioxx and Baycol to find their way to the marketplace. Shit maybe I should just move to Sweden.

If anyone can give me a logical explanation to this, my ears are open.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Carisoprodol is a controlled drug in the state of Texas, where I work. Also, I believe I read that tramadol is a controlled drug in the state of Arkansas.