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hank you for your recent article re- garding the change in hydrocodone


combination products from Schedule III to Schedule II. (See “Feel- ing the Pain,” January 2015 Texas Medicine, pages 37-41.) I know this coun-


try has a drug problem, but there must be ways to combat the problem without intimidating and inconveniencing doctors and prevent- ing people with real pain and incapacitat- ing anxiety from get- ting the medications they need. Physicians are afraid to prescribe Xanax, Valium, Soma, and similar drugs, even in patients who clearly need the medications and are not abusing them.


This change in schedule for hydro- codone combination


products requires phy- sicians to remember to take with them their own controlled sub- stance scripts each time they go to the hospital, leave the scripts in the car (not a good idea), or make the patient come to the office for a script after discharge. I am an obstetri- cian-gynecologist. A C- section is a major sur- gery. A number of pa- tients want to leave on post-op day 2. Because of the change regarding hydrocodone combina- tion products, many, if not most, of the OBs in our hospital are sending C-section patients home with nothing stronger than Tylenol #3 and Motrin. In my opinion, that is not adequate af- ter major surgery, but we are forced to send the patient home with inadequate pain relief or keep her at least another


day (driving up hospital costs). Making the non-


narcotic Tramadol a controlled substance is another problem. Shouldn’t we stop


treating all our patients as if they were drug abusers and start to re- ally deal with their pain and anxiety, unless they give us indication they are misusing their medi- cations?


RONALD K. MCCRAW,DO NEDERLAND


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To submit a letter, email it to Texas Medicine Editor Crystal Zuzek, crystal.zuzek@texmed.org. Please limit letters to 250 words.


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March 2015 TEXAS MEDICINE 7


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