“Medical Racism Is Fueling the Black Overdose Crisis, Advocates Say,” FROM MIKE LUDWIG TRUTHOUT MAGAZINE

REPORTED BY

NORMAN J CLEMENT RPH., DDS, NORMAN L.CLEMENT PHARM-TECH, MALACHI F. MACKANDAL PHARMD, BELINDA BROWN-PARKER, IN THE SPIRIT OF JOSEPH SOLVO ESQ., IN THE SPIRIT OF REV. C.T. VIVIAN, JELANI ZIMBABWE CLEMENT, BS., MBA., IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HON. PATRICE LUMUMBA, IN THE SPIRIT OF ERLIN CLEMENT SR., WALTER F. WRENN III., MD., JULIE KILLINGWORTH, WILLIE GUINYARD BS., JOSEPH WEBSTER MD., MBA, BEVERLY C. PRINCE MD., FACS., RICHARD KAUL, MD., LEROY BAYLOR, JAY K. JOSHI MD., MBA, ADRIENNE EDMUNDSON, ESTER HYATT PH.D., WALTER L. SMITH BS., IN THE SPIRIT OF BRAHM FISHER ESQ., MICHELE ALEXANDER MD., CUDJOE WILDING BS, MARTIN NDJOU, BS., RPH., IN THE SPIRIT OF DEBRA LYNN SHEPHERD, BERES E. MUSCHETT, STRATEGIC ADVISORS

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https://truthout.org/articles/medical-racism-is-fueling-the-black-overdose-crisis-advocates-say/?fbclid=IwAR1GSEnc9qjOK88XsqAflSdDB0z-VaBILFlQAkGm5qArYj3iQAo8S-bWqZg

“They treated me exactly like a criminal,” said Aaron Howard, a Black pharmacist in Florida who was raided by the DEA in 2018, in an interview.

BY

MIKE LUDWIG

The New Victims: Pain Patients

“The opioid overdose wave has prompted a police crackdown, although its nature has been somewhat different from that of the “crack era.” Law enforcement fixates on “diversion,” the idea that prescription drugs are falling into the wrong hands — perhaps drug dealers or the “opioid naïve” white people portrayed in news stories.

Opioid prescribing plummeted by 60 percent over the last decade, thanks to a mix of regulation, electronic surveillance, and old-fashioned drug raids on clinics and pharmacies that have terrified providers and put hundreds in prison.

The outgoing Trump administration declared that the “prescription opioid epidemic” is over, but the total number of drug overdose deaths more than doubled since 2011.

Prescription pills are much safer than street drugs, as potency is measured down to the milligram, making it easier for users to know how much they’re taking.

Yet pharmacies in Black communities are less likely to carry painkillers than pharmacies in whiter areas, and discrimination in the job market has left Black patients with fewer insurance options to cover pain management and addiction treatment.

Across the country, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has suspended or revoked pharmacy licenses for dispensing painkillers, and Black pharmacists say they are unfairly targeted.

“They treated me exactly like a criminal,” said Aaron Howard, a Black pharmacist in Florida who was raided by the DEA in 2018, in an interview.

The DEA claimed Howard failed to “resolve” so-called “red flags” for diversion when a handful of patients were prescribed more than one controlled substance and chose his small pharmacy over others located closer to their homes.

The DEA regularly tracks the distance between a patient’s address and the pharmacy where they fill prescriptions, according to multiple DEA search warrants reviewed by Truthout, but most patients are unaware of this surveillance.

Howard said he’s known the patients for years, and to his knowledge, they are still taking the medications as prescribed by their doctors. 

Counterfeit pills are now common in the informal market, where people facing barriers to health care are known to seek relief.

As police have aggressively pursued illegal heroin, traffickers have turned to potent synthetics that mimic heroin’s effects but can be transported in smaller packages. In some areas, low-level sellers improvise by mixing drugs into dangerous combinations when the supply of opioids runs short.

At the same time, some drug dealers practice harm reduction to protect their clients by warning clients about strong batches, testing drugs for adulterants, and distributing test strips and other safety supplies. Experts say drug sellers are an under-utilized resource for preventing overdose.”

“WHEN IS BLACK-MEDIA GOING TO ACT LIKE MEDIA AND STOP WAITING ON PERMISSION FROM OTHERS TO WRITE ABOUT THESE ATTACKS THAT HAS DEFILED OUR HEALTHCARE”

“norm dds”

From the Prophet Hosea I take:

My people are destroyed

for lack of knowledge.

ignorance can support irresponsibility and irresponsibility is not forgiven

WHEN IS CONGRESS GOING TO CLEAN UP THIS MESS

“They treated me exactly like a criminal,” said Aaron Howard, a Black pharmacist in Florida who was raided by the DEA in 2020, in an interview.

FOR NOW, YOU ARE WITHIN

THE NORMS