Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 22:43:56 GMT -6
Sept 10, 2016 23:50:52 GMT -6 @soulman said:
Belli after reading both articles I would agree that the distribution of pain killers by NFL teams is not as great as it once was but much like any other situation where the NFL or any other entity is self policing enough back doors have been left unlocked to assure alternatives to those teams and those players who require it and are willing to take certain risks.There were quite a few caveats stated in the first article as well not the least of which it is still the NFL teams who hire their own team physicians and the league itself who hires the supervising local physicians for the visiting teams not the AMA or the DEA or any independent party. So the potential for a conflict of interest does exist because the league itself does the hiring. Maybe the greatest potential for abuse in dodging these new guidelines is found in the second article.
According to a DEA spokesperson, it is commonplace for NFL team doctors to acquire and store large quantities of prescription painkillers with no patient in mind -- the idea being that team doctors are then prepared when players are injured, in pain and in need of relief. The practice is legal.
So while the distribution of pain killers may not be as out in the open or widespread as it once was it seems these new rules or guidelines may be as much for appearance sake as they are having an impact on those who feel they require those pain killers to perform. By one means of another, including buying them themselves on the street, some players can get them if they want.
These guys are holding down jobs that can pay millions of dollars a year that require them to play and play well each week if they expect to keep their job. Spending a few thousand dollars of their own money to assure they can isn't out of the question either as the testimony of some of those interviewed for those articles indicates. They can get them if they want them. That's all I'm saying.
hydromorphone (Dilaudid), methadone (Dolophine), meperidine (Demerol), oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet), fentanyl (Sublimaze, Duragesic), morphine, opium, and codeine.
The DEA audit all this pretty rigorously. This I know because my son is a pharmacist and I work in the Pharma industry for the inventor of Vicodin fwiw. Any patient receiving unusually high amounts of these drugs (either as 1 drugs or a combination of any Schedule II drugs) does trigger audits and inspections.
Now none of the above guarantees that a NFL team cannot get compliant doctors to prescribe these meds. But from my and my son's personal experience the DEA is all over this stuff and any doctor doing so is running a serious risk of losing his or her license. And any pharmacy caught actively participating in illicit distribution will lose its license as well. So I expect the teams are being pretty careful. Not that this will eliminate all overprescribing and use just that they days of handing it out like candy are long gone.
The only way the NFL can detect over use is by testing for it often and very randomly since depending on the method of testing 3-4 days is the longest it will be detectable by urine or blood testing and like alcohol the concentration will drop over time. You understand that too.
I'm not saying they can't and haven't caught over use but I do believe it's far more widespread than is being acknowledged and I also believe it's being caught more in fringe players than top shelf starters as it always has. How many games was Brett Favre ever suspended for?
