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News: Hundreds affected by pain drug switch

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Verybuffed

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Hundreds affected by pain drug switch

Hundreds of Victorian ambulance patients have been administered tap water instead of pain relief following the theft of the drug fentanyl from Ambulance Victoria.
But the ambulance service has reassured the patients they are safe from harm.
One paramedic has been stood down as police investigate the theft of the high-powered pain killer from vials using a syringe. The drug was then replaced with tap water.
Ambulance Victoria chief executive Greg Sassella said all affected patients had been identified and contacted.
"We have been able to identify all those patients that may have come into contact with this issue and we have been in direct contact with them and we can assure them they are safe," he told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.
"We apologise for any sub-optimal pain relief they had, remembering they may then have been given morphine due to the non-effect."
Fentanyl is a quick acting analgesic which can be administered by paramedics as a nasal spray for pain relief.
Mr Sassella said Ambulance Victoria has already responded to the theft by changing its protocols around the use of fentanyl.
"As of today we are the first state to introduce a new vial of fentanyl, it has less fentanyl in the vial and the vial has a more robust steel cap," he said.
He said Ambulance Victoria had previously contacted the drug's manufacturer to complain about the rubber cap securing the fentanyl vials, which can be penetrated with a syringe.
Mr Sassella said paramedics require electronic key cards to access the drugs stored in safes which are also monitored by CCTV cameras.
He said this type of act was a rarity and Victorians should maintain faith in their paramedics.
"This type of incident is extremely rare and the community should be assured they are safe," he said.
"Our paramedics with the exception obviously of at least one are utterly trustworthy."
Mr Sassella would not reveal whether the drugs were stolen from ambulances or stations while the police investigation was ongoing, but he said paramedics had reported the issue to management.
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http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2012/10/16/11/04/hundreds-affected-by-vic-pain-drug-switch

Sorry about the format. That is the new NineMSN format.
 
Shit, glad I didn't need an ambo in the last few days. Reminds me I need to sign up for ambo cover again.
 
^LOL Captain, you crack me up sometimes

I read this article this morning and it irritated me for a few reasons - two of which I will express below in a massively compressed style:

1. Some people can be very inconsiderate (possibly the understatement of the year, but anyway)

2. Incidents like these further perpetuate the idea that opiate-users are selfish bastards who care about nothing other than their next fix
 
^ While possible, it seems unlikely that hundreds of vials (as reported on ABC) were for personal use. Though it could easily be that extras were sold to further fund the habit.

In my opinion this is far worse than stealing money.
 
Yeah saw this on the telly, that's got to be crossing some serious fucking lines! Ambo's using /selling fent! and people in extreme pain going without (if the allegations prove to be accurate)

It actually makes me feel like good person having never done anything as bad as that, although I have bought alot of fent patches and lolly pops from what I was always told were left over from someone with cancer that died before they could use it.

All the images on TV seem to be liquid in vials and are probably so much better.
 
I agree it's a terrible thing to do, having said that the person interviewed on the 7pm project seemed to think that if it didn't seem to be taking affect they would quickly give another substance to get rid of the pain. I suspect this may have had something to do with how he got caught (e.g. high rate of people being given fentanyl and being non-responsive so another drug was administered) . I think he deserves to be fired and get a short term jail sentence, but I don't think the patients suffered as much as some of the media may leed you to believe.
 
Terrible as it is, i'd be curious to know if there was any placebo relief for those administered with the water. (like that MASH episode for any of those old enuf to remember)
 
^ I can't remember where I heard/read it, maybe even here in BL, but it was said that the reason they'll always tell you 'I'm giving you pain relief now' is because the placebo effect is such an important part of the pain relief. Not sure if it's exactly called a placebo effect if you're getting the real thing, but it's the same process. The claim was pain relief works better if you know you're getting it, and worse if you don't think you're getting it.
 
footscrazy said:
^ I can't remember where I heard/read it, maybe even here in BL, but it was said that the reason they'll always tell you 'I'm giving you pain relief now' is because the placebo effect is such an important part of the pain relief. Not sure if it's exactly called a placebo effect if you're getting the real thing, but it's the same process. The claim was pain relief works better if you know you're getting it, and worse if you don't think you're getting it.
Click to expand...

qft

Many people really underestimate the power of the placebo effect.
 
Divine Moments said:
qft

Many people really underestimate the power of the placebo effect.
Click to expand...

OT but does QFT mean quit f@$king talking? I always thought it did up until I saw it written in this context now I know it can't be. Can someone please enlighten me?
 
Reminds me of Breaking Bad series 5 ep. 5, although very different.. it just came to mind...
 
Yeah I hate this sort of attention on opiates....it won't last long but it is intense. For about a week this is all we will hear and I am pretty much scared and pissed off, in the fact that their attention might start to turn towards OTC pain medication, or start to talk about regulating other aspects that relate to opiates/pain killers.

Today on the radio it was also revealed that in the past FIVE years, there has been SEVEN cases of ambulance staff stealing Fentanyl (including this one)!
 
teological said:
Yeah I hate this sort of attention on opiates....it won't last long but it is intense. For about a week this is all we will hear and I am pretty much scared and pissed off, in the fact that their attention might start to turn towards OTC pain medication, or start to talk about regulating other aspects that relate to opiates/pain killers.

Today on the radio it was also revealed that in the past FIVE years, there has been SEVEN cases of ambulance staff stealing Fentanyl (including this one)!
Click to expand...

Great. More dodgy Paramedics. I have always treated Paramedics with god like status. I really hope this doesn't smear the whole lot.

Still I can see how you could develop a habit dealing with that kind of stuff all day.
 
Verybuffed said:
OT but does QFT mean quit f@$king talking? I always thought it did up until I saw it written in this context now I know it can't be. Can someone please enlighten me?
Click to expand...

Bahaha, quit fucking talking, that's awesome. You must have been getting completely the wrong impression whenever someone has said qft!
 
Shit, and all this time I thought QFT in this thread stood for "Quash Fentanyl Theft". Boy, is my face red!

(from embarrassment, not histamine reaction)
 
Yeah I really hope no one that was in extreme pain was only given water because, well the power of the mind is extraordinGIVEMEFUCKINGIVEMEFORTHEPAIN!!!!!!
 
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