OxyNEO – Comes to Canada
Controversial drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma has on the 27 October sent to the medical regulator of Newfoundland and Labrador an advice that it will be phasing out the opioid analgesic OxyContin ER and replacing it with OxyNEO.
OxyNEO is still oxycodone, still the same old Oxy that has been on the prescription drug market since 1996 as a safe, time release narcotic painkiller.
The facts behind the controversy about continued OxyContin use today include :
that prescription drug deaths have doubled between 1991, and 2004, mainly due to an increase in the use of narcotics for pain relief,
oxycodone related deaths rose by 500% after the introduction of the drug to the Toronto drug formulary in the year 2000,
oxycodone prescriptions, issued by medical doctors, rose by 850% between 1991 and 2004
oxycodone related deaths rose by 41% after it was added to the drug formulary in 2000,
most people dead from Oxy overdose had a receieved a prescription from their doctor within one month prior to death,
most people dead from Oxy overdose died accidentally from administration of a single opioid, and did not suicide, nor die from poly-drug use as many authorities suggest.
see article http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_industryweapons44.htm
In 2007, Oxy manufacturer Purdue Pharma settled a prosecution for false advertising of OxyContin. The issue was not whether or not OxyContin is addictive at prescription dose – like all narcotics, OxyContin is addictive.
The issue was that a misrepresention of the drug effects, by means of a time line graph, claimed OxyContin to be a safe time release preparation, when in fact it was not.
Although Purdue paid a massive fine of over $600 million, no one was actually punished, or identified as having been responsible for creating the misleading advertising upon which OxyContin gained access the prescription drug market in the first place.
Purdue being under pressure to do something about its prescription killer drug, in April 2010 released OxyNeo in the USA, a “harder to tamper with product”, that determined users have no difficulty in treating by various methods, to ensure that they can obtain the full strength of the oxycodone in one immediate hit.
Oxy deaths, needless to say, have continued to increase.
If the new OxyNeo was such an effective barrier to Oxy abuse, one would think that Canadian authorities would have approved it for use in Canada straight away. In fact, since OxyNeo was first introduced to the market, in early 2010, it has taken Canadian authorities until August 2011 to approve it.
Now the medical regulators for Newfoundland and Labrador are asking Purdue when the “new” drug, OxyNEO will become available to the Canadian market, and Purdue, although not committing to a time, has said that they will phase it in. Anyone who thinks that Canada is about to get some safer, new wonder drug in the form of OxyNeo will be disappointed to realize that it is only the same US product that has been around since April 2010.
Anyone who thinks that Canada has missed the boat, in limiting its consideration of pain relief options to an evaluation of the “new” OxyContin might very well be right.
Sure, we all have a need for pain relief, but why do we have to use drugs?
The error of current public thinking and funding in the field of pain management is an apparent belief that the body is a helpless thing, crippled up in it’s pain that needs the white knight pharmaceutical industry to provide it with an array of painkilling drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth, than believing that we need to administer toxic chemicals into the body to achieve pain relief.
Not many people realize that all drugs are toxic to the body, which is why there are side effects – side effects are the poisonous effects of the drugs that we use, on organs of the body, other than the principle “target”.
Not many people understand that there is a large psychosomatic component to the experience of pain. Depression, tension, and fear exacerbate the intensity of pain, whereas optimism, relaxation and being tension free will rapidly reduce pain if not eliminate it completely.
If people use natural methods to gain for themselves antidepressant effects, and develop techniques to enhance the production of natural endocrine pain relief there are simply no adverse side effects, and the natural healing potential of the body is encouraged and enhanced, instead of being depleted, as it is by synthetic drugs.
Our persistent use and insistence upon need for pharmaceutical drugs is due to a lack of public awareness of alternative pain treatment methods, and the conditioning of our society towards a belief that drugs are a superior method of pain relief compared with the natural capacity of the body.
Medical research strives daily to produce more effective and specific drugs to treat disease, disorder and pain. Drugs in the body contribute to the inability of the body to repair and restore itself to optimal health.
Drug free natural support for the body, that enables true recovery from disease, disorder, pain and addiction is ultimately the way to go.
The more we continue to use and place reliance on drugs such as OxyNEO the more we will continue to suffer from chronic pain and disorders of body and mind.
All of this nonsense about Oxycontin is ridiculous.
First of all, the major increases in deaths that they are speaking about started in a period after the drug was added to the Toronto drug formulary. You’ll notice that I didn’t say “deaths attributed to Oxycontin.” In approximately 45% of these deaths the official cause of death was listed as suicide or “no definitive cause. Therefore, attributing these deaths to the drug Oxycontin is not only incorrect but it’s downright stupid.
The increase also did not start until the drug was added to the Toronto formulary meaning that you now have the drug in the hands of people who are desperately poor and far more likely to redirect the drug than people who had been prescribed the drug up until that point. Redirect, as in sell, and the end result being the drug ending up in the hands of junkies. Who do you suppose is involved in the highest percentage of drug overdoses? Junkies perhaps?
OxyNeo that is going to be distributed in Canada is not the exact same product as is being prescribed currently in the US. In the US BPA, yes that same BPA that causes cancer, is used in the formula as a bonding agent. In Canada BPA is classed as a toxic substance and therefore cannot be used in the OxyNeo that will be sold here.
I have already heard much talk from patients in the US stating that the new formula being prescribed is not nearly as effective in managing pain for some odd reason.
I suffer from Fibromyalgia and a chronic lower back issue and currently take both Oxycontin and Oxycodone to somewhat alleviate the constant pain that I am in. I have been on the same dose for about 1.5 years without an increase even though my pain levels have increased and I have developed a tolerance to the drugs.
Because of all of this ridiculous nonsense my doctor is now scared to increase my dosages for the fear that the government will somehow or for some reason target him as a result.
I am not alone in this position but family doctors being so hard to come by and the nature of my treatment involving narcotics, just what am I to do?
As there is no generic equivalent, Oxycontin had already made it to the list of approved painkillers for most insurance carriers in the US.
Most insurance companies in the US will only cover generic drugs on their plans and were were caught with their pants down when suddenly Oxycontin was being replaced with OxyNeo, that wasn’t on their approved as covered list, and many patients all of a sudden had no plan coverage for their medication. The patients were forced to either pay out of pocket, if they could, or switch to another pain medication that was most likely not as effective as Oxycontin.
The key factors that the Canadian/Provincial government authorities are missing is that chronic pain patients are the least likely to redirect or abuse their medications. We also do not become addicted to the medication and rather become dependent and tolerant.
These new guidelines/rules/laws that the government is developing and implementing will not do much, if anything, to decrease redirection and abuse but they will most certainly harm patients’ ability to manage their chronic pain or to be able to afford their medication if they have no coverage.
This is all so very wrong that it sickens me. Doctors are standing idly by and watching this happen. I was under the impression that “do no harm” was one of the credos of the medical profession so why are doctors not banding together to try and stop something that is going to harm their patients?
The bureaucracy is so mentally deficient that it is incapable, apparently, of managing the problems of drug redirection and abuse without harming the people who responsibly use their medications to improve the quality of their lives. In Ontario, our minister of health Deb Mathews, doesn’t have any background, training or education, in the medical field or health sciences yet there she is spearheading this bologna in my province. It’s maddening to say the least!
Chicken Little is running about screaming that the sky is falling and it’s Oxycontin’s fault. The government is unfortunately, and completely mistakenly, listening.
The idiot who wrote this article doesn’t even have the facts straight. Very rarely does a person overdose from a narcotic alone. In a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in December 2009, (“Deaths related to the use of prescription opioids”) – the exact article that they are supposedly quoting for the above article – the article states “Most deaths related to the use of prescription opioids occur in conjunction with (i.e., are likely co-caused by) one or more nonprescription-opioid substances. In the case of oxycodone-related deaths in Ontario, 92% involved a non-opioid depressant of the central nervous system (e.g., alcohol, benzodiazepines, cyclic antidepressants or a combination of these).”
92% !!!! So, as long as you take your medication as prescribed – don’t mix it with Xanax, or a rum&coke, you’re going to be fine!!!
So, why does the above article state “most people dead from Oxy overdose died accidentally from administration of a single opioid, and did not suicide, nor die from poly-drug use as many authorities suggest.” This goes against what the CMAJ says – that 92% of people who died on narcotics died because they mixed their prescription with another depressant. If you’re going to write an inflammatory, slanderous article like this, at least get your facts straight!
Sure, it’s wonderful to blame “Big pharma” as the “drug pushers”. Do you know what happened in the US when Oxycontin’s formula was changed to make it less abusable? First, within a matter of days drug forums had instructions on how to defeat the new formula (drug users are a brilliant bunch of people). Secondly, oxycontin users switched to other narcotic drugs – Opana, Dilaudid, fentanyl. Thirdly, heroin use increased.
The real losers in this whole situation are the chronic pain patients. Many can’t get the pain relief they need because doctors are scared shitless to prescribe anything stronger than Tylenol3. To those of you rallying against the use of narcotics without knowing the “real” facts. The day will come when you or a loved one can’t get the pain relief you need because a doctor is too scared to prescribe a pain reliever to you, and I hope you think back to this ridiculous article you wrote and feel ashamed at yourself.
anyone who does oxys for any reason or any way other than prescribed is a frickin moron!!! period! if u abuse them, u deserve to die if your that stupid!
oxys should only be prescribed for terminal patients only!! if they werent given away like smarties on Halloween we wouldnt have such a pandemic on our hands, im so sick of almost everyone i know being hooked on them. Stop the fuckin madness and take em off the market already!!! or only give thme to those who are dying!!!
@joe mama…I’m not going to waste a lot of time on you. Although abusing oxycontin is not a good idea, wishing death on someone just makes you an absolute idiot, scumbag, piece of shit.
@john doe…There are many conditions that are not terminal but cause sufficient amounts of pain to warrant narcotic pain medication. In Canada they are not generally handed out like smarties as you suggest.It’s obvious from your post that you have no idea what you are talking about. Taking oxycontin off of the market will only force addicts on to another drug, that is a proven fact. The other result from taking it off of the market is that you will have people, like myself for example, that have legitimate medical conditions that require strong pain medication in order for them to lead a normal life. I’d be willing to bet that if you experienced the amount of pain that I do on a daily basis you would be curled up in the fetal position crying for your mommy.
You’re just another idiot without a clue, running your mouth when you should just be keeping your trap shut.
whatever, you are just here work pay taxes and die…that’s what the government wants you to do…God forbid if you do something you enjoy…alll they did is make people switch to heroin…i hate this fucking society….you think you are inthe land of the free? ya yest you are,, to work and give all the free loader your money…re egazmine things and truly look what you are free to do….past working paying taxes and behaving like e drone to feed the elite…go ahead do some thing that you are free to do that costs someone money…..you’re not free, there s no land of the free, its all bullshit and i hate it all. been born so i can work and so the government can steal my money, than the provincial can steal some more…than the municipal can steal some more….i mean really? fn bullshit. all you with your blinder on. And the people who wrote the article…have absolutely no idea about opiates. i’d like to see a disaster that seen 99% of people on this planet vaporize, i would like nothing more.
I would first like to address one of the silliest things I read in these comments which is that dependant and tolerant does not mean addicted. for the sake of ease I have used “thefreedictionary.com” to define addict for you.
ad·dict (-dkt)
tr.v. ad·dict·ed, ad·dict·ing, ad·dicts
1. To cause to become physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance
The problem with Oxycotin is that you become tolerant. As was stated above by the person suffering from Fybromialgia, their body has become used to the drug and therefore is not as effective as it was when they first started taking it.
a little lesson on how drugs work, I have taken a paragraph from an online encylcopeadia so you don’t think I’m pulling this out of my ass, however this is something I have studied in school as well as on my own;
“Drugs generally work by interacting with receptors on the surface of cells or enzymes (which regulate the rate of chemical reactions) within cells. Receptor and enzyme molecules have a specific three-dimensional structure which allows only substances that fit precisely to attach to it. This is often referred to as a lock and key model.
Most drugs work because by binding to the target receptor site, they can either block the physiological function of the protein, or mimics it’s effect.” (http://www.edinformatics.com/interactive_molecules/how_drugs_work.htm)
through this action your body slows down the production of the enzyme or hormone that normally is used by the cell because there’s an abundance of it from the drug one is taking. Because the body has slowed down production, you need to continue to take the drug to make up for the loss and bring your levels back or to keep up the work done by the drug. This is dependency. The tolerance comes the fact that your body makes less and less of the enzyme or hormone and therefore you need more and more to balance things out. Often people complain of pain getting worse when in reality it’s your body just needing more of the drug to do the same work. Together these things become addiction!
The problem with this for people with chronic pain is that they think because there is a legitimate reason for taking the drug the addiction is not a problem, however it is. I can’t personally understand the pain a person can have with some of these chronic diseases but I can say that protecting a drug that is so habitual that is can actually be categorized with heroine and cocaine is not going to be a solution that will end well. My experience in this comes from my father. My father was involved in a serious accident in which his back was injured. Due to the injury causing him regular shoulder and back pain the doctor suggested oxycotin. As time went on my father found the drug wearing off quicker and quicker and relieving the pain less effectively. So, he asked his doctor to increase the dose to accomodate. it wasn’t long before we all noticed a change. He could not function properly because his body was getting so used to the drug that he was taking more than recommended and running out of pills before it was time to have them refilled. Now I want to make sure its understood my father was a great man. He always took us kids on adventures, spent time helping me with my homework, he was always there for us! unfortunately the oxy’s took him down a dark path. Sometimes he would pass out shortly after and at one point almost burned down our house because he was so out of it he didn’t notice a fire burning right under him(cause of the fire was a heating blanket he was laying on). Now just to emphasize this was only oxycotins, he wasn’t taking any illegal drugs. My parents split up because of his problem. At this point the drugs had become so useless as pills he began smoking and injecting the medication. On December 24th, 2007 my father was found dead due to a drug induced heart attack. when we cleaned out his apartment we had found an empty bottle for a perscription that had just been filled a few days prior.
This was a man with a chronic condition who was treated for the pain with oxycotins which ultimately led to his death. If you think your pain will be gone once you hit the right dosage, or that your tolerance will end your wrong. it will be your life before the pain goes away.
As for this new Oxyneo, I think this a said attempt to fix a problem caused by a drug like this. If heroine and cocaine are illegal so should this drug be.
Themacguy’s a fuckin junkie himself… To be this upset with somethin they’re tryin to fix all cuz ur 80′s aren’t as potent… My mom takes them for her back and claims they don’t work… So now she’s high as fuck, thinks she’s not and still in pain… But keep these things around… You may use big words and try to sound smart macguy but from wat I’m readin you popped an 80 and just went to town…
We use pain medication the same reason that we use antibiotics for an infection-I suppose this person thinks drugs for cancer kill the patient and only alternative medicine should be used to treat cancer as well. Nothing in the writer’s article is factual. OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
RR
Well we all know how this is going to play out. Driving the “addiction” underground is going to solve nothing but create a whole market for this. We need to address the situation for sure. The doctors are aware and are culpable for the “halloween” candy mentality. There are and always will be legitimate needs for this but there is a huge culture around this drug that is abuse ridden. Lets address the real issue shall we?
All forms of Oxycontin should not be approved for sale. It is extremely addictive and widely abused. We now have parts of Canada where whole communities are addicted. Families ruined and lives lost. The pharmaceutical companies are driven by profit, we need the government to be proactive. The government has the authority to revoke approval. That needs to be done now.
After reading everyones opinion and thoughts I just want to say as a mother thank god or whoever that this oxycontin evil black negative energy will be finally set on fire to burn out and turn to ashes.Not sure what the outcome will be but I assure you nothing I have ever dealt with in my life has more power then that little pill.It has touched the inner core of my heart for years now even though I do not and have never taken it my heart sincerly goes out to the ones who have since I have seen what this evil pill is capable of.One thing for sure it will give at least one person a chance to survive and climb above and that is much better then nothing.My prayers have been finally answered after many painful days and nights living my life on my knees.A divine intervention is what I would call this!!!!!!
Whoever wrote this piece is an idiot. Yes, it is possible to treat many types of pain without pain medication, but there are instances where pain medication is the best and possible only way of bringing relief to chronic pain sufferers. As someone with Crohn’s Disease, I had a three year flareup where I was in so much agony that I tried to kill myself twice because the suffering was too much to handle (imagine having an extreme case of the flu every day for three years, with high fever, having to go to the bathroom 20-30 times a day, and severe, crippling pain from intestinal blockages that made me feel like someone was stabbing me in the gut). Finally, my pain was suitably managed with, first, OxyContin, and then later, Hydromorph Contin, and I was afforded some quality of life.
Finally, it was deemed necessary for me to have surgery to remove the affected parts of my intestines (1.5 m total), and then I no longer needed pain medication, so I weaned myself off. Had it not been for the pain meds, though, I most certainly would be dead from suicide. Unless you have chronic pain issues that do not respond to other treatment modalities (e.g. mindfulness meditation), you have no idea what you’re talking about. Pain is already vastly undermanaged, and withholding pain medication from those who need it because some people become addicted is completely unreasonable.
I can’t believe this is happening! I suffer on a daily basis like pain you wouldn’t believe. I feel like I’m standing in a fire.. it’s called Neuropathic pain from MS. One of the only thing that works for me is Oxycontin. I don’t get high on them I don’t feel a buzz for me it’s like taking an aspirin and the pain mostly goes away and I can put clothes on. That’s right I’m in so much pain it hurts me to wear clothes.
Thanks to all these yahoos that abuse this drug are now going to make it difficult for me to make the transition from Oxycontin to this oxyneo. What makes me more upset are the people looking in create a stigma that anyone taking this drug either sells it crushes it up and snorts it or even shoots it. Tell me something where are the police in all this? Don’t look at me as an abuser snorter or shooter! I’m a human being making his way in life the very best he can. Shame on you people that may look at me as anything less than a patient and what happens between me and my doctor should not be scrutinized in any way. Good luck to all you legitimate people who take Oxycontin I will stand back on the sidelines and await your comments!
I am a working professional that became addicted to oxycontin in my mid-40s. I am now on methadone and that has helped quite a bit. During my entire life, I have never experienced such horrific withdrawal symptoms like I did on oxy’s. Starting from shakes, diarhea, nausea, vomitting, hot/cold flashes and unable to sleep—all of this combined into lower backpain that was so unbearable….it was just searing, throbbing pain…..the pain went so deep into your bones that you would think that your bone marrow was on fire or boiling to the level of unbearable limits that you just wished for death to take you out of this pain. I would not wish this pain on my worst enemy. Folks, before you offer any type of an opinion, please make sure its an informed opinion or at least speak from experience.Please do not publish my name or email address, thank you.
As being part of this from the other side of the story, the big worry is that the changes to the formula means that the
new form of the medication wouldn’t be as effective at relieving our pain. I have chronic pain and have been on oxycontin
for 10 years now, with only one change in dosage and only recently. I have not ever abused my medication in anyway.
Before I started my treatment I wasn’t able bodied; “NOT ABLE TO FUNCTION”, and not work… With the medication
I’m an UNDERGROUND MINER!! And a DAMN GOOD ONE.. But not on them, I can’t get out of bed or even put on my socks.
I’m NOT one of those welfare junkies your thinking about. I’m a HIGHLY trained, HIGHLY skilled proffesional who
takes HIGH pride in what I do.. As soon as I think of not being able to refill my prescription I have many fears
going through my thoughts. “I’m not only in store for a boat load of pain”, but “How am I going to support my family”!
I’ve been through 2 years of PHYSIO, CHIRO AND REHAB since my accident. It’s ONLY because of the positive effects of the
mediaction that I’m not on a pension or some sort of Government Support for my family. Yes, at times it has taken some
will power to avoid taking more than I should; due to the pain on days. Those days are few in between and shortly after
I try and lower my tolerance by taking even fewer for a few days. If people would respect modern medicine for the blessings
it brings and just be adults and responsible for OUR actions as adults. It’s not Purdue’s fault, it’s the abuser’s fault, and
the people who decide to give in to temptations. Now legitamately injured and suffering people are worried about “CAN WE STILL
LIVE A RELATIVELY NORMAL LIFE ANYMORE”! That’s what those of us are worried about.. Will it be as effective, will it last as long,
will it continue to make our lives barable and allow us to be functionable, will we be able to try and enjoy our lives or will we fall
back into the dark abyss of the pain that had consumed our lives and was truly destroying us and our families.
These are the questions, these are the fears. Thank you.
@mike…It’s painfully, pardon the pun, obvious from your post that, not only are you poorly educated and resentful of anyone that actually has a decent education and can express themselves in a succinct manner, but you are also completely ignorant of the facts of this situation. Just looking at the netspeak you use in your post is enough to discount any possibility that you have even half of a brain cell with which to formulate any type of valid opinion.
You should probably stick to playing video games online where you can talk trash to 12 year olds and make yourself feel like a big man. While you’re at it, you should probably move out of your mom’s basement. being a chronic pain patient she has enough on her plate and doesn’t need to look after you as well.
All you would need is one day living with the pain that a lot of chronic pain sufferers have and you wouldn’t be talking shyte out of the side of your face!
people do abuse prescription drugs and die because of an o.d. don’t justify it otherwise.
@Canadian Miner…Well said. My situation is pretty much the same as yours.
My big worry is the evidence already coming out of the US that has confirmed the new formula is not as effective as the old. In addition to that, our new formula contains material that are best described as a co-polymer that is added to make the pills harder to crush. I don’t know about you but I have no desire to ingest a substance that is most likely toxic over time. Oxycontin in itself is less harmful to your body, and especially your liver, than Tylenol.Add to all of this the long list of new negative side effects, and I especially am looking forward to the chronic diarrhea, and we are left in a position where we really don’t want to be taking the new formula.Unfortunately, in most cases, there is nothing that is as effective or as controllable in dosing, as the Oxycontin.
For years my doctor filled my scripts without an issue and all of a sudden, in the last month, I have been subjected to 2 urine tests, questioned why benadryl showed up on my urine test, and am now only able to get 1 months medication at a time where previously I was getting 3.It turns out that people use benadryl to potentiate their Oxycontin. Guess what? I have never taken benadryl in my life yet it showed up on my urine test and I was hauled in to see my doctor to explain. It turns out that Gravol shows up the same in a urine sample as benadryl.Still, I had to justify why something that is an OTC medication showed up in my urine sample. That is ridiculous.
For a bit of a comparison, I also take Adderal because of the fatigue problem with Fibromyalgia. For anyone that doesn’t know, Adderal is basically Speed/Amphetamine. My doctor has no problem giving me 3 months of it at a time and never questions my use of it.It becomes pretty obvious at that point that the government is putting the screws to doctors over Oxy and Oxy alone.
This is a very sad state of affairs indeed that, because of a very small minority of abusers, the rest of us are being punished unfairly.
I am 42 years old, I had a severe lower back injury while on the job at 19 years of age. Now I have been on almost every painkiller/muscle relaxants, narcotics of several different types, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, anti-inflammatory, Valium, and anti-depressants…all at the the same time in an attempt to find the right drugs and doses to help me remain mobile, sleep etc. In 1997 was introduced to Oxycontin. I can honestly say that this medication took away 80-85% of my pain followed up by a break through medication,(also narcotic), that took away even more of my severe and debilitating pain. I have been on these medications for going on 15 years. Over these years I have tried other powerful and just as dangerous narcotics but received nowhere near the relief from my pain like Oxycontin has provided. Over the years I have developed a tolerance to the drug needing periodic increases, but with proper support and an aggressive pain management program, I have been able to keep my doses at the same levels for about 7 years now. Oxycontin is not to blame here. It is the prescription for low or moderate pain given to patients by doctors who are suppose to be prescribing these meds. to people who have long term severe pain, cancer patients or terminally ill people who are in such pain. I have no objection to OxyNeo as long as it provides me the same relief as the Oxycontin. As for people who do the drug by injection, it has been my observation that no matter how the drug is packaged, these users will always find a way to inject any medication. Now it would be unfair to just blame doctors for problems with Oxycontin. Canada’s National Registry of narcotic prescription medications was a long time coming but gave hope to people like myself that abused narcotics, such as people selling these on the black market would be weeded out, causing a severe reduction in any abused narcotic causing death to our adolescent community. In closing I would have to say that I know there are people like me who benefit greatly from Oxycontin and these people, myself included find it ridiculous that all the good that this drug can provide for severe pain, has been attributed to deaths, that may have nothing to do with those deaths or how much the media is responsible for blowing Oxycontin related deaths out of proportion. No matter what narcotic is being used for serious pain there is always potential for abuse and getting rid of them is only an answer to misguided and misinformed citizens of this great country.
Purdue loses its monopoly this year or early 13, then generacs will be available for those not covered by insurance companies. I will not lower myself to make negative comments.I also have fibro, and 18 titaniun screws and 12 rods in my back, 4 in my neck, face reconstruction, knee surgeries(6)and have been on Oxycontin for 10 years on and off-pain is something you cannot describe when you have searing burning in your body,unable to walk without searing burning aches in your back and legs,sciatic nerves pinched,all this cause some drunk tboned me,I can function on the controlled amount I am on,and I get monthly injections(nerve blocks)and epiderals,I do not abuse have never and quality of life for me is helped by these,I also do not consider myself an addict,as I am switched to other opiate pills every year,my body does not build a tolerance.