Innovative Pain Disk May Save People from Addiction

July 6th, 2012 | Add a Comment

Recently Jon Hopkins University researchers have been meticulously trying to solve the problem of addiction in cancer patients from opioid abuse. In countries that are less privileged, prescription drug costs are considered lofty, creating crime because people are stealing and abusing them, resulting in a huge black market for opiates. JHU has been working to restore safety to our society created by the havoc that pain medication abuse plays a huge role in; diminishing opiates, while still giving desperate relief to cancer patients worldwide. With constant attempts to do so, they have finally come up with a possible solution, a small implantable disk that can be placed under the skin that is the size of a button. The disk is good for thirty days, secreting continuous amounts of pain medication giving the person nonstop reprieve. In time this disk will subsequently discontinue the massive amounts of opiates being supplied to these patients, making it easier for them, while expectantly allowing for a dent in the growing substance abuse issue affecting our community.

In the course of his widespread travels around the world throughout his life and profession, Dr. Stuart A. Grossman, an expert in pain management at JHU helped design and create the pain disk. Grossman saw how troubled many terminal cancer patients were when it came to acquiring the right pain medications in developing countries. Sadly for these individuals, receiving funds for their pain drugs is hard because those funds go to programs trying to produce the means to prevent and cure deadly diseases through vaccines or antibiotics. Due to extensive drug abuse in some countries, addiction, abuse, and crime is the result, making doctors less eager to prescribe any cancer patient treatment. With pain medication so costly, this problem goaded Grossman to create the disk, with an objective of lowering the cost of pain medications, making it as cheap as possible for patients to receive treatment.

When I had my wisdom teeth removed I abused pain medication, taking more Hydrocodone than prescribed, relieving the excruciating pain I was experiencing in that moment but later not having enough left for future aching. I’m an alcoholic but my brain is wired to abuse any mood-altering substance that is in front of me, so I used my pain medication addictively. I can relate, completely to any individual going through cancer causing pain, who then unfortunately, becomes addicted to their medication. Dr. Grossman feels that the disk will solve this problem, greatly assisting past addicts who need pain relief along with preventing future drug abuse in other patients since they will not have the ability to up the dosage, taking more than which is secreted into their body at one time.

Unlike previous methods to treating pain, this disk will be a revolutionary way to resolve many of our problems with abusing drugs and future addiction in patients while taking more pills off of the streets, reducing crime and addiction, keeping our communities safer.

Work Cited

“New Pain Disk Implant May Help Curb Prescription Drug Abuse.” Michael’sHouse. Michael’s House. 13 June 2012. Web. 2 July 2012.

By Matt B.