Cost of Drug Addiction V WLS

[Spikeyjaycee]

Don't know if anyone saw the news last night. They were talking about a pilot ssheme where the NHS is funding drug addicts to have FREE drugs at a cost of £30K per person. Now when you compare that with WLS at a 3rd of that price.......why isn't the government funding WLS for everyone who needs it?

 

[Caroline101061]

You sure this is correct?

 

[Lostinmy30's]

OMG someone quick tell that daft bird that writes for the Daily Hate.....this has been my argument all along.....I have worked and paid my stamp and taxes since I was 16 so I have every right to my WLS on the NHS - lets have a brief look at all the junkies trooping into the chemist while we stand in line and they come in and get their free methadone - do we think they are all currently contributing to the cost???.....am thinking no...but I could be wrong....
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article646418.ece

 

[quetiapina]

I totally agree with you Julie - everyone who needs it should be funded on assessment of needs/ probability of success.

Of course us good ol' fatties don't go burgling and mugging to fund out habits and generally we are able to bring our kids up despite the usual and weight specific difficulties. We don't litter the park with used needles heavy with HIV and Hep.
So, apart from our size, we are invisible.

There's going to be no Cross-Service concerns (ie Police and Medical and Social Services), it's not going to improve very many statistics e.g.

Now that Jenni has had her WLS she's stopped breaking into the other houses in her road, we don't have to arrest her, take her to court, send her to jail/do a tiny bit of Community Service, the residents will be happy and will send back their Service questionnaires with a smiley face on it.

Equally it wouldn't show on Social Services stats - Jenni has managed a reasonable job of bringing her child up despite food addiction and doesn't go out leaving my kids alone so she can go be a Hooker to earn enough for Mr. Kipling the dealer.

And, despite a problem with sugar, it has been found that Jenni does not mainline it and leave sugarcoated needles for people to fall on and catch HIV/Hep?Fatty liver/obesity etc.

On the whole, we rarely OD on a park bench and need an ambulance with Narcan to bring us round alive ( and then smack him one as we were enjoying the buzz and now we're gonna have to go and fork out some more money and have to mug someone first).

So, by being a thoughtful lot and generally only harming ourselves, we are really quite invisible.

There needs to be a serious study done to see how much money we are saving NHS/Social Services etc. Even then though; with Central Government's whole plan for everything, it's about putting off until tomorrow what needs to be done today - afterall - why bother - by the time any serious study has findings, someone else will be in power.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Lostinmy30's]

brilliant.... does mugging the kids for their party bags count?...i figure if i pay for the gift the birthday cake is rightfully mine....

 

[quetiapina]

brilliant.... does mugging the kids for their party bags count?...i figure if i pay for the gift the birthday cake is rightfully mine....

Ha! V Good

 

[pinkylin]

oh jeni i agree and you have totally made me pmsl here hahahahahahaha.x

 

[Snowcrystal]

I have never taken drugs...neither did my husband nor our kids....I am a lucky woman...I'm not grieving the loss of the child I brought into the world who was weak willed, needy, or had an addictive personality.

Drug addicts are just that..."addicts"...no different to our addictions with food really (if you are the type that has food addictions)....Having an addictive personality...it is a disease...just like obesity, anorexia, bulimia, transference addictions are all psychological diseases.

I'm sorry, but I could not be the one to tell the grieving mother that her son or daughter's need for help was less deserving than my obesity surgery. That my need for WLS was more important than trying to keep her son or daughter alive with clean drugs and clean needles.

It's not just that the NHS are giving this stuff away..it's a way to draw them in, and to try and help them get off the stuff altogether...and it's way of trying to keep joe public safer too...they will be less likely to try mugging, or burglary...less likely to become infected with hepatitis, less likely to develop HIV.

TBH...I don't think you can compare someone right to deserve over another...And let's be honest, who really knows that it won't happen in your family...your son, your daughter or your grand children...it can start with just pain meds.

(((hugs)))

 

[candie]

If we did the amount of crimes drug addicts, and alcoholics often do, there would be no hassle with getting WLS
Unfortunately a food addiction often isn't seen as serious enough for the peeps at the top

 

[quetiapina]

I have never taken drugs...neither did my husband nor our kids....I am a lucky woman...I'm not grieving the loss of the child I brought into the world who was weak willed, needy, or had an addictive personality.

Drug addicts are just that..."addicts"...no different to our addictions with food really (if you are the type that has food addictions)....Having an addictive personality...it is a disease...just like obesity, anorexia, bulimia, transference addictions are all psychological diseases.

I'm sorry, but I could not be the one to tell the grieving mother that her son or daughter's need for help was less deserving than my obesity surgery. That my need for WLS was more important than trying to keep her son or daughter alive with clean drugs and clean needles.

It's not just that the NHS are giving this stuff away..it's a way to draw them in, and to try and help them get off the stuff altogether...and it's way of trying to keep joe public safer too...they will be less likely to try mugging, or burglary...less likely to become infected with hepatitis, less likely to develop HIV.

TBH...I don't think you can compare someone right to deserve over another...And let's be honest, who really knows that it won't happen in your family...your son, your daughter or your grand children...it can start with just pain meds.

(((hugs)))

I agree Snow, a member of my family had major problems with Crack and Methamphetamine. It was a horrible, hellish time. I was constantly fearing the knock at the door and the situation regularly became violent (thanks to the nature of these particular drugs).

What I feel is that WLS should be made as available as services are for people with other addictions.

There is also disparity for the care and treatment of people with different eating disorders - people with anorexia quite rightly have services available but people with obesity are also having a dysfunctional and deadly relationship with food and receive far less understanding and care at a primary level, obviously WLS is the next level of care and this is woefully underfunded in my area and doubtlessly is under other postcodes too.
Lv Jen x

 

[gaelic girl]

I'm with you Snow doesn't matter what we are addicted to its still an addiction that needs help. I work with people(and the kids themselves) who lose their kids into care as a result of behaviours that result from drug or alcohol addiction and some of them are screaming for help so thet can try to get their kids back and live a better quality of life. These kids too deserve the right to hope that they can go back and live with mum and dad. I am not for a minute saying that anyone has priority over others for nhs treatment and in an ideal world everyone who can improve their quality of life and ultimately save the nhs money should be given treatment whatever that may be. I understand why people feel the way they do and believe me i struggle to work with some of the parents i do given what they hve done to their children but ultimately they are still someones mum,dad, brother, sister regardless of my personal feelings x

 

[Big an Bouncy]

My hubby who worked from 15 to 61 has been told he cant have incap anymore and to look for a job.His shoulders are wrecked from plastering and heavy work.One shoulder has been operated on.Waiting for the other next year.Said he couldnt do anything but building work and was no longer able to.The (12 year old)At the job centre said have you thought of retraining for office work! Err builder age 61 bad shoulders!are they on a different planet or just reading from a script!So he gets the princely sum of 40 quid a week jsa cos he paid into a works pension,which he paid tax on earning it,then more tax as a pension now penalised again!Then someone we know said there son gets extra social money cos he says hes hooked on heroin and an alcoholic!!Aged 33 and never worked a day in his life.The lunatics have definately taken over the asylum.

 

[CCPM]

Its a finite pot of money that someone has to try to share round. Choices will always have to be made. What do you stop..someone somewhere will always think their case should have priority e.g do we need to fund IVF treatment - no-one's ill, the elderly have less life expectancy so is it worth it, the very expensive yet unproven cancer treatment etc etc ......I pity those making the choices they're always going to dash someone's life/hopes and that of their families in many cases.

Just a thought

M

 

[gaelic girl]

Yeah don't fancy that Job CCPM. Can see your point BB my mum is blind and takes 15 tablets a day just to keep her going on a daily basis and she gets minimum DLA cause she can't go out!!!. I guess i have experience of both sides and i guess my job goes a long way into looking at it from different angles x

 

[Sambucca]

Its a finite pot of money that someone has to try to share round. Choices will always have to be made. What do you stop..someone somewhere will always think their case should have priority e.g do we need to fund IVF treatment - no-one's ill, the elderly have less life expectancy so is it worth it, the very expensive yet unproven cancer treatment etc etc ......I pity those making the choices they're always going to dash someone's life/hopes and that of their families in many cases.

Just a thought

M

Very well said M. I like to think that I'm not a judgemental person, but I would hate to be the person deciding how the NHS budgets were going to be spent in my area.

 

[Lostinmy30's]

ok so this has kept me awake....:sigh:

I am not being judgemental - my own father is an alcoholic - sober for over 18 years thanks to the AA - but here's the thing if it any point the NHS had offered to pay for his alcohol (and yes there is such a benefit out there) I would not have welcomed it and neither would any of my family I assure you. He had to do it the hard way ( and he is of the opinion that chemical detox is not a reliable way of getting sober) and as his family it was our decision to stand by him through that which we did.
I went to school on a road known locally as Heroin highway and me and my friends had to make that choice to go the way of drugs or not as it was in front of us on a daily basis - we all decided not to go that way with our lives.
If you lived where i do you can stand in any chemist for around ten minutes and I guarantee you will see someone come in for their methadone - the issue is that rife. I have also worked with people on methadone programmes and they would tell me - as great it was to be back in a work place - it wasn't solving their problem.
I guess what I am saying is....i think its unfair that the NHS are investing money in this when there are people being told 'no funding' for infertility treatments, WLS, certain cancer treatments..I could go on all day...i suppose this is where having a national health service falls down?
Hope some people think of me a little more kindly now...I'll get me coat..

 

[quetiapina]

Those are really interesting points Lost. I think that AA is the most powerful alcohol detox there is - proven by the thousands and thousands of people it has helped since it started in the 30's (?).

It doesn't cost the NHS a penny - in our area the NHS even charges for the meeting rooms - my friend goes and is pretty disgusted by this meanness with AA saving so many people's lives. NA gets it free at one of the many local drug drop-ins which is a good thing but not really fair.

Very best wishes
Jen x