In the wake of the tragedy that has been the COVID-19 pandemic, an unnecessary group of tragic fatalities added to the misery of 2020. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) estimated that as of September 2020, 87,000 deaths could be attributed to Fentanyl.
Obviously, the number of addictions, overdoses and deaths continued through the year. Between 2013 and 2016, there was a year-to-year increase in Fentanyl deaths of more than 110 percent. Reportedly, starting in 2018 then 2019, the number of deaths was dropping, but 2020 had again shown a spike.
The good news in the fight against Fentanyl addiction was recently released by Boston Children’s Hospital and the University of Houston, where a “vaccine” has been developed where, according to researchers, “the vaccine would work to protect the brain and nervous system by stimulating the body to create antibodies that target and bind to opioid molecules, preventing them from crossing the blood-brain barrier to reach the brain.”
Huge Cost
The development of the vaccine was funded by the National Institutes of Health to the tune of $25 million, a mere drop in the bucket in a government program titled: The American Rescue Plan. The rescue plan totals more than $1.5 billion for the prevention and treatment of drug abuse, plus tens of millions set aside to help addicts on a local basis. I worry when experts describe treatments such as this vaccine as “game changers.”
To change the game, there needs to be an ethical shift on the part of the pharmaceutical industry which doesn’t appear to be coming. Fentanyl is a highly effective and safe anesthetic and painkiller when tightly controlled in clinical settings.
Due to the highly addictive nature of the drug, when Big Pharma first released it, the lack of ethics in the way it was marketed and doled out – and then was allowed to “leak out” through unscrupulous reps and pharmacies, created a national catastrophe. Those on the inside knew it could be 100 times more powerful than heroin. It was no secret. But there was no oversight as to what the sales reps were doing.
Yes, it has cost the pharmaceutical industry billions in fines, but fines are simply the cost of doing business. It was a risk that was undertaken, and for a while, the risk became a huge reward. Big Pharma, despite the soft, glossy commercials and heartfelt sentiment, is in business to make money. That is their need. As witness to my conjecture are the exorbitant profits of the industry.
Big Pharma can rationalize Fentanyl and indeed, in its tightly controlled applications it is extremely effective. They can rationalize the drug’s creation in the context of its use. However, in the beginning it was given out and uncontrolled as one might, in my opinion, distribute candy. While I am being facetious, as the lawsuits began to roll in, exposing numerous bribes and kickbacks, ethically I am not far out on a limb.
The industry can rationalize the good that Fentanyl does but they can’t walk away from the harm they inflicted. The fact that it became a street drug and still wreaks havoc, can be attributed to the industry’s once laissez faire attitudes.
There was no oversite and millions of dead and/or addicted paid the price. It leads me to an important thought, should there be an independent ethics panel composed of retired healthcare professionals and medical ethicists offering an ethical opinion on potentially addictive drugs?
I applaud the development of a vaccine however unless there is a profound shift in curbing illicit Fentanyl usage, what is to be gained in the long run?
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