NO LEGITIMATE USE FOR OXYCODONE?

Banner Viewpoint

Yesterday, on the final day to introduce bills in the W.Va. Senate, Mingo
County Senator Truman Chafin introduced a bill which would put oxycodone
into Schedule I of the list of controlled substances.

What that means in layman's terms is that the bill would ban the use of
oxycodone. Schedule I drugs are those drugs which have no legitimate
medical uses. The problem is that oxycodone has legitimate medical uses.

It has been so used for decades. Tylox, a very commonly used pain killer,
has been around for quite some time.

The senator said his bill was spurred by OxyContin abuse. Oxycodone is the
active substance in OxyContin.

So, what Chafin apparently believes is that because people abuse OxyContin,
a cancer patient ? in excruciating pain and dying ? Shouldn't receive the
benefits of the pain relief provided by OxyContin.

If you are in a car wreck and break a major bone which requires surgery,
W.Va. Senator Truman Chafin doesn't want you to be able to get a
prescription for Tylox for pain relief. What are Chafin's motives in
introducing this bill. Does he really want sick people to be deprived of
the medicine which they need?

Chafin is running for re-election this year. His opponent is Mingo County
physician Diane Shafer, who, as an orthopedic surgeon, undoubtedly
prescribes potent pain-killers in her professional practice.

Will Chafin run his campaign on the backs of West Virginia's sickest residents?