For decades, service members have been prescribed painkillers to deal with various ailments and injuries. Unfortunately, with these drugs being so readily available, dependency sneaks up on the road to recovery. For those using Tricare there may now be a solution to this problem.
A proposed change by the Department of Defense could enable Tricare to cover the cost of drug substitution therapy, thereby helping those suffering from painkiller dependency.
Medical substitution therapy is often covered by most private insurers, but hasn’t been available to Tricare beneficiaries. The change would allow Tricare to support medical treatment that combines prescribing therapeutic, but dependency-causing, substances for a known addiction-causing drug with counseling.
Medical drugs such as Methadone and Suboxone are proven medications for treating opiate addicts, serving as substitutes for heroin and prescription painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin. Both drugs help to eliminate the physical symptoms of dependency, like nausea and tremors, as well as the cravings of narcotics withdrawal.
Under the current policy, Tricare covers Suboxone only for intense detoxification. The new rule would allow the military health activity to support it for long-term maintenance treatment.
The current period of the proposed change ends Feb. 27, with changes going into effect about 90 days after the final rule is published.
A 2010 Army report estimated that one in seven soldiers has received a prescription for an opiate.
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All well and good. I just want the VA to make proven acupuncture treatment easily available. Every year I have to spend months jumping through hoops to get acupuncture approved for the next year.
Agreed. The appointments I get for acupuncture at the VA is few and far in between so any improvement in my health regresses by the time I get followup treatment. BUT the VA is so quick to dispense painkillers. I have too many meds–vicodin, percocet, tranquilizer, tramadol,….I don’t want them. I want acupuncture and therapy.
Suboxne is just as addictive as Opiates!!!
They had me on 800MG Motrin for about a decade, then my stomach went bad, so I take Omeprazole for that. They substituted 5/500 Vicodin for the Navy Candy, next step is methadone, then morphine. Nice. When I went to the VA ortho guy, he didn’t even look at the MRI, just looked at me and told me I was to young for hip replacement. The 3 Cm wedge gap in the head of my femur isn’t enough, I need to be 65. Think I could get hooked in ten more years? I now have to advocate for medical MJ, I’ve seen it work wonders, and you don’t have to get “high” or smoke weed to benefit from the medications. Of course, the VA will deny all claims to its usefulness.
Let’s face it, is this about pain that Vets suffer from, or is it about “addiction”? Or, is it really about cost cutting? I’ve been on Vicodin for several years now, never upped the dosage, it just helps me function in life. Am I now an “addict”? Or am I just expensive?
And to think that a simple X-Ray in 1979 could have alleviated all this.
Too bad my Primary care, Dr. Wojtas, Ft. Meyers, VA Clinic, Florida, never thought of my withdrawls from Morphine and Hydrocodone when i was refused refills over the Holidays. Im still in intense pain and with-drawls for over 2 weeks now. With no period of time mentioned for any pain relief or withdrawl treatment. After, heart surgerey last March, my “TENS” unit couldnt be used with the pace-maker. A pain consult without me, I couldnt take the 6hr round trip without severe pain for weeks, ordered changes. But my Doc didnt think of my pain and withdrawls when she cut off my pain meds, without ordering me any replacements. Happy New Year, and no meds in hand as we speak
What is the point of substituting one addicting drug for another? in the first place, addiction is probably the wrong word. There is a difference between building a physical dependence upon a long-term pain-killer, and addiction, which is a mental/emotional craving as well as physical dependence. Long-term opiate (or opiate synthetics) is going to create some degree of dependence. People act like it is somehow a crime. There are conditons that are painful that are not going to be cured in our lifetimes, at least. Allowing people to suffer is worse than allowing them to develop a dependence on a drug they need anyway. So long as dosage is controlled the user isn’t lying or stealing to get more, what’s the problem? Until/unless a painkiller that works better than the opiate family is developed, use what works and live with the results.
Addiction or expense – does it matter? Both issues need to be addressed. And as far as acupuncture, you go Dave! This is a viable treatment and worth the trouble to get it approved.
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