Hulu’s final episode of Dopesick aired yesterday. “I cancelled my Hulu account,” says my guest, Claudia Merandi. “I called it Dopesickening. Hollywood had to profit off the pain community… I refuse to watch.”
Claudia Merandi has suffered from Chrohn’s disease since she was a child, as documented in her book Crohn’s: The Other ‘C’ Word: Crohn’s Disease, Court Reporting, and Custody Battles and her children’s book Dotty on the Potty. It wasn’t until she was an adult that the condition became so painful that she needed medication. After years of safely and responsibly taking opioid pain medication for Crohn’s, only in the last decade was Claudia labeled “drug seeking” and had trouble receiving adequate pain medication.
As a response to what has been labelled an “opioid crisis”, the CDC released opioid prescribing guidelines in 2016. Soon the DEA got involved in the name of busting “pill mills”, but instead, responsible doctors were regarded as pill pushers and treated like criminals for caring for pain patients. Groups like Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) have created an industry for themselves as experts in this new front in the War on Drugs. Chronic pain patients, the elderly, terminal cancer patients, and others are now being routinely refused medication all over the country and in Canada. Some turned to kratom, others turned to suicide.
“I don’t fight like other advocates,” says Claudia. “I don’t stop until I hit bone… We’ve been put in this horrible situation, and the pain patients have been too nice. It’s time to fight fire with fire.”
Claudia’s links:
- https://www.thedoctorpatientforum.com/ The Doctor Patient Forum, lots of great info, “here to advocate, educate, and defend the rights of patients; to protect all providers, who tirelessly work to treat their patients, and to bring awareness to the general public regarding restrictions upon medical providers.”
- https://dontpunishpainrally.com/ Don’t Punish Pain Rally – stay aware of the latest news and events in the fight to defend pain patients
- https://www.instagram.com/cmerandi2/
- https://twitter.com/CMerandi
- https://www.amazon.com/Crohns-Disease-Reporting-Custody-Battles/dp/1979960941/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=claudia+merandi&qid=1637193088&sr=8-1
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZC68XKM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
NPR’s 1A episode with previous Kratom Science Podcast guest Maia Szalavitz discussing NARXCARE (mentioned by Claudia) https://the1a.org/segments/against-the-pain-the-opioid-crisis-and-medication-access/
Music: Risey, “Memories of Thailand”
The Kratom Science Podcast is written and produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com
Disclaimer: None of the content of the Kratom Science Podcast, Kratom Science Journal Club, or KratomScience.com consists of medical claims or medical advice.