Lyrica / pregabalin: A Current Affair program Australia

[ChessieCat]

This video is from last night.  In the future it might be available on YouTube.  You could try searching for: A Current Affair Aussie families and doctors issue painkiller addiction warning.  If it does become available on YouTube then the transcript of the video will probably be available and could be copied and pasted in this topic.

 

https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/painkiller-lyrica-accused-of-being-addictive-dangerous-tearing-families-apart/cec6d9a7-6256-4c2a-9ad0-e5c8f29f4d60

 

I am posting the following from the website in case in the future it is no longer available:

 

 

Aussie families and doctors issue painkiller addiction warning

 

By Dimity Clancey

 

A cheap painkiller prescribed to millions of Australians each year is "like Santa Claus in a pill," according to Sydney psychiatrist Dr Tanveer Ahmed.

 

He said the drug Lyrica has "become all things to all people," leaving increasing numbers of patients addicted.

 

"One of the reasons it has become dangerous is because it has become all things to all people, it is being dished out like lollies," Dr Ahmed told A Current Affair.

 

 He said it's much easier for GPs to prescribe Lyrica than other painkillers like codeine, which are heavily regulated to prevent addiction.

 

"There really is very little restriction, you can go and get a repeat at a pharmacy without question, you can go to doctors and there is very little monitoring," he said.

 

Finance broker Christalla Andreadis started taking Lyrica after suffering severe spinal injuries in a car accident in 2017, and now she's struggling to stop.

 

"Now everyone is going to know my dirty little secret," she said.

 

"I can't go on like this, you suffer in silence and when you're thinking, 'I can't do this anymore', I don't want to grow old like this." 

 

The 52-year-old was embarrassed to admit she was outsmarted by a simple painkiller.

 

"This drug gets its claws into your soul. It has taken every fibre of my being, is what it has taken me to try and come off it," Ms Andreadis said.

 

In the past two years Ms Andreadis has managed to reduce the dosage, but she can't quit cold turkey.

 

Gayle Wilson's daughter Anita died after taking a deadly combination of Lyrica and opioids.

"I feel as though I failed her. I couldn't find anything else to do, to keep her alive," Gayle said.

Anita's death at 33-years-old followed years of addiction to pain medication, which started after she had her wisdom teeth out in 2017. 

 

Lyrica, also known as pregabalin, was originally prescribed to treat epilepsy and nerve pain.

Manufactured by Pfizer, it was added to Australia's pharmaceutical benefits scheme in 2013.

Pfizer launched a marketing blitz, investing $3.8 million into almost 500 education events to teach Aussie GPs about the drug.

 

Pregabalin scripts skyrocketed from 36,000 a year in 2012 to more than four million by 2018.

In America, Pfizer was prosecuted over its marketing of Lyrica.

 

"They agreed to pay $2.3 billion for a healthcare fraud settlement, they were illegally marketing four different drugs and Lyrica fell under that umbrella," Amy Kawaa explained.

 

Ms Kawwa started a support group for patients who beat an addiction to Lyrica.

 

When A Current Affair approached Pfizer, we initially received a one sentence response, saying Pfizer no longer owns Lyrica.

 

Pfizer directed the program's questions to a company called Viatris, which was created late last year when a division of Pfizer merged with another pharmaceutical firm.

 

Despite Pfizer trying to distance itself from Lyrica, its branding is still plastered all over the box and even the pills.

 

Pharmacist Said Khodary said the number of Lyrica scripts he has filled has more than doubled in the past three years.

 

"Anyone on a healthcare card, pension card, can pick it up for $6," Mr Khodary said.

 

He's well-seasoned at spotting doctor shoppers.

 

"They try to come up with lots of excuses, sometimes they're sweating, they're nervous, they're a bit anxious sometimes," he said.

 

Victoria is the only state which has mandatory monitoring for Lyrica prescriptions.

 

"There is no way for us to really monitor if they're getting prescriptions elsewhere. It would really help a lot," Mr Khodary explained.

 

© 2021 Nine Digital Pty Ltd

 

[ChessieCat]

The video has now been posted on Youtube here:

 

Painkiller addiction warning | A Current Affair

 

Approximately 11 minutes long

 

Here is the transcript copied from the above video:

 

 

Quote

 

 

it can be highly addictive and it's

taken by millions a painkiller that's

readily prescribed by doctors around the

country but as you're about to see in

our investigation there's a sinister

side to this drug

i feel as though i failed my daughter

this is a very dangerous drug it's a

very dangerous drug

this drug lyrica is like santa claus in

a pill

if i knew then what i know now i never

ever would have taken this drug

when we experience pain we often look

for a quick fix pill to try and take it

away most recently for many australians

that pill has been lyrica for patients

it's cheap it's accessible and millions

of scripts are written every year it's

been a blockbuster drug for pfizer who's

made hundreds of millions of dollars

from aussies using the painkiller

now everyone's gonna know my dirty

little secret

it's taken great courage for christala

and reedus to share her story i can't go

on like this

sorry

[Music]

[Applause]

so you suffer in silence and when you're

thinking on a day i can't do this

anymore i don't want to grow old like

this

cristala suffered severe spinal injuries

in a car accident in 2017 she was

prescribed lyrica to manage her chronic

pain i trusted the doctors i trusted

what they said to me

now the 52 year old wishes she'd never

taken that first pill a finance broker

chris is embarrassed to admit she was

outsmarted by a simple painkiller you

take it at first and you don't really

notice

very many differences and you go back to

the doctor so i'm still in pain i'm

still not feeling well i've still got

nerve pain i said well up the dosage and

you up up up up and before you knew it i

was taking 450 milligrams a day and

that's when this drug gets its claws

into your soul it's taken her two years

just to reduce the dosage but chris

still can't go cold turkey it is taken

every ounce every fibre of my being to

try and come off it

gail wilson's 33 year old daughter anita

was full of fun

[Music]

in 2017 after getting her wisdom teeth

out anita was prescribed strong

painkillers

and she would then say i have got period

pain i'll go to and get some panadeine

fort

i'll get more enzone

and she doctor shopped in no time

anita's life became one big sedation

she would take a deadly combination of

opioids and lyrica he gave her

exactly what she wanted because of her

addiction as many tablets as she could

possibly get and he gave it to her

feeling helpless gail started to record

anita

she hoped it would shock some sense into

her

lyrical one at one stage was 350

milligrams four times a day so i thought

i'll ring up and make an appointment to

see doctor and when i went in i said i'm

here about my daughter your patient and

i said she's asleep all the time and i

said it

and he said well she's going she's going

to die if she keeps doing that

and i said i realize that

but what can you do

no one could save anita

she overdosed last year

i feel as though i failed her i

i couldn't find anything else to do

to keep her alive

lyrica also known as progabalin was

originally prescribed to treat epilepsy

and nerve pain

manufactured by pfizer it was added to

australia's pharmaceutical benefits

scheme in 2013.

right away pfizer launched a marketing

blitz

3.8 million dollars was thrown into

almost 500 education events

to teach aussie gps about the drug

that investment paid dividends

pregabalin scripts skyrocketed from 36

000 a year in 2012 to more than 4

million by 2018 and research tells us 50

of those prescriptions are now handed

out for much more than nerve pain

you're in so much pain i nearly ended up

in hospital i started to forget things

these people have all had a battle with

lyrica over the years my brain just went

too much i did want to end my life

coming off it

um

and geez that's a bit touchy to talk

about um many feel like they were

dismissed when they asked for help if

the addiction gets worse today

psychiatrist dr tanveer ahmed is here to

listen i'm seeing more patients who talk

of the suicidal thoughts and some

studies have also shown that what

warnings come with this drug vicky there

was absolutely no warning

about any potential side effects

um and i wasn't made aware of any

potential side effects everyone can have

a look at rhiannon is 27.

she's addicted to lyrica i have lost six

to seven years of my life

on this drug and it's stolen my life

i've never i've never been the same

i can't get off here

eliza says her lyrical pain started when

she was 18. then all of a sudden

my mental health went

downhill it just made my mind dark and

it was a horrible horrible feeling it

sucks

the life out of you

it does it really does the day isn't bad

the not wanting to breathe

the fact that all joy

is

sucked out of you

but you keep going because you've got a

family to look after but i think that's

the other thing is it doesn't

discriminate you know you guys are just

normal everyday working people

completely debilitated by this like my

doctor actually said that

your withdrawals are what a heroin

addict will go through you're

experiencing exactly what a heroin

addict definitely and the withdrawals

are freaking horrendous they're sweating

the i can't talk properly i'm sitting

here with my mother and i can't even

have a conversation with her well

rhianna and you just gave a absolutely

perfect description of the drug's

addictive potential but you also

described how it gets worse i guess an

answer to the pain management rhiannon

is you need what's called a

multi-disciplinary team and that needs

to be appropriately resourced by

authorities i guess it's that that that

holistic you know team support

is that readily available for the people

who are out there well rhiannon's been

referred and she's waiting so often it's

really hard to access particularly in

outer metropolitan and regional areas

and that's actually where we see the

worst uh problems with drugs like lyrica

they would all agree getting proper help

is expensive yeah i actually had to stop

seeing my psychologist because i

couldn't afford it anymore you can't get

public help

you've got to go private what's happened

in australia is other types of pain and

medication have been restricted and

arguably for some good reasons like

codeine opiates and i think that's why

lyrica has taken the space pfizer was

part of a lie amy started the lyrica

survivor group

she explains in the us pfizer has been

prosecuted over its marketing of lyrica

pfizer has paid some of the largest

fines in the industry they agreed to pay

2.3 billion

for health care fraud settlement they

were illegally marketing four different

drugs and lyrica fell under that

umbrella one criminal count stemming

from the improper promotion and is it is

it a case that these big pharma

companies go

we'll cop the fine because what we make

of it make from it is

worth it i would say that's very

accurate and

i could see that um

indicative of the numbers that you just

quoted in australia i mean the amount of

prescriptions has exploded when we

approached pfizer we received a one

sentence response saying it no longer

owned lyrica we were directed to a

company called beatrice it was created

late last year when a division of pfizer

merged with another pharmaceutical firm

despite pfizer trying to distance itself

from lyrica its branding is still

plastered all over the box and even the

pills

[Music]

save kadari is a pharmacist

in the last three years the number of

lyrica scripts he's filled has more than

doubled

we went from just over 6 000

prescriptions

in total across all the strengths across

all our stores to just over 13 000

anyone on a

health care card or a pension card

can pick it up for you know six dollars

mr kadari says he's well seasoned at

spotting doctor shoppers they

try to come up with lots of excuses

sometimes they're sweating they're

nervous they're a bit anxious sometimes

what's your warning victoria is the only

state which has mandatory monitoring for

lyrica prescriptions there's no way for

us to really monitor exactly if they're

getting prescriptions elsewhere in

certain instances it would really help

us a lot and doctors too we as a medical

community but also the broader community

didn't think it was addictive didn't

think it was that dangerous we now get

taught that if you give someone a lyrica

almost expect them to take double the

amount you've given them when does

lyrica become so much of a problem that

you that the regulators will step in at

what point does it have to get to well i

think we're getting pretty close to it

now and you know we see from the

response here that i think we're very

close to it where does this end

i can't see light at the end of the

tunnel i really can't be careful

just be careful

[Music]

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