Veterinarians Find Themselves in the Middle of the Opiate Problem
The opiate problem in the United States has been a far-reaching problem that’s affected more than those who are addicted. It’s affected not only themselves, but their friends, families, doctors, lawyers and yes, even their veterinarians. As the crackdown on opiates continues, painkillers are becoming a little harder to obtain, meaning more users are turning to heroin. But what do you do when your “connect” runs out of heroin? Do you just go through the withdrawals and deal with it? Not likely. Once the sickness really kicks in and the nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea start, many addicted individuals will take drastic measures just to feel better.
Veterinarians are some of the unlikely professionals who have found themselves smack in the middle of the opiate epidemic. Some vets are saying a lot of opiate users are now stealing their pets pain medications to either get high or stave off the detox symptoms when they run out of their own drugs. Veterinarians even say addicted individuals will take drastic measures and even intentionally hurt their pets in order to take them to the vet and get prescribed painkillers. Dr. Lisa Ciucci, veterinarian and owner of Gardens Animal Hospital in Palm Beach Gardens said, “to think about an animal in pain because the owner is abusing it is the last thing we want to think about." In 2014, a woman in Kentucky was taken into custody by police and charged with intentionally cutting her dog with a razor so she could inevitably steal the dog’s pain pills. Dr. Ciucci said those person’s names get flagged in their systems. “"There are names that get bounced from vet to vet that says don't work with this person, don't prescribe them medication.”
Apparently, Xanax, Valium and Tramadol are the most commonly requested drugs by addicted pet owners. Dr. Ciucci said these days veterinarians are up against a moral dilemma… do they not prescribe an animal the medication it needs because the owner may abuse the animal and end up stealing the medications for themselves? “We train, we live, our entire existence is to do the best for the animals… to have to think about, 'do I have to deprive a patient of something they need for not having it be abused by the owner' is a terrible thing,” said Ciucci. This problem is so out-of-control that some vet schools are requiring its students to get trained on how to deal with addiction and drug users who are attempting to abuse their pet’s medications.
I’m an animal lover and to me, this is an all-new low for our society. We’ve let the opiate problem progress so far, to the point where now our pets are at risk. They’re at risk because people who are addicted to drugs and can’t even take care of themselves sometimes own pets. A lot of these animals are abused and neglected because their owners are drug users. Secondly, we now have a subset of people who are stealing and abusing their pet’s medications where now, veterinarians must be careful about what they prescribe and to who, sadly sometimes at the cost of an animal’s physical well-being. This is a huge problem and the opiate crisis needs to start getting handled. If we don’t start to get a handle on this thing, who knows what’ll happen next.
For a free addiction consultation, call Narconon Suncoast today at 877-850-7355
Sources Used:
http://www.wcvb.com/article/opioid-addicts-turn-to-pet-medications-to-get-high/10280985
